2019 Alternative Calculation Method Approval Manual for the 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards

This manual explains the requirements for approval of Alternative Calculation Methods (ACMs), which include compliance software. Compliance software is used to demonstrate compliance with the performance approach to the 2019 Building Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential and Nonresidential Buildings (Standards). The residential requirements of this document apply to buildings covered by the low-rise residential provisions of the Standards. All building types other than low-rise residential that are within the scope of the Standards are covered by the nonresidential requirements of this document.

The approval procedure for ACM compliance software is one of self-testing and selfcertification by the software vendor. The vendor conducts the specified tests, evaluates the results and certifies in writing that the compliance software passes the tests. The California Energy Commission performs spot checks and can require additional tests to verify that the proposed compliance software is suitable for compliance purposes. The vendor is required to develop a user manual explaining how to use the program to show compliance with the Standards. The user manual must include a tutorial, user guidance for each program input, and an index. The manual is checked by the Energy Commission for accuracy and ease of use.

Open source compliance software developed by the Energy Commission, called the Compliance Manager in this document, is made available at no cost to potential compliance software vendors, and is created and approved by the Energy Commission following the specifications of this Manual. The ACM tests submitted by the vendor either confirm and document that the Compliance Manager is successfully integrated into the vendor software, or demonstrate that the vendor software accurately achieves the same results as the Energy Commission’s software.