In August 1976, the United States Congress mandated energy conservation standards for new buildings. Responsibility for the development and promulgation of the energy performance standards came to rest at the Department of Energy (DOE). Much of the analytical work in formulating so-called "Design Energy Budgets" focused upon the conservation impacts of ASHRAE 90-75R and of building modifications supplemental to the ASHRAE standard. The intent of the Carter administration and of the Department of Energy was to formulate and introduce national compulsory energy performance standards for new commercial and residential buildings. Notwithstanding this intent, many of the prescriptions of the ASHRAE 90-75 Standard have been incorporated in state-level energy codes.

One of the first energy conservation stances of the Reagan administration was their intent to make the Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) voluntary. Short of this, interest was expressed by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) of the DOE in the pros arid cons of implementing the"prescriptive" ASHRAE 90A-1980 Standard as either compulsory or voluntary. A salient recognition arising from the BEPS analytical design effort was the need of the building industry for energy-conserving design information.

1. If the standards are reasonably accurate in anticipating discounted energy price expectations and if they are translated into practicable design options for builders, they can provide mutual economic advantage to builders, building owners and operators, and consumers and induce a more efficient allocation than would otherwise occur.

2. The derivation process for short-term standards can be beneficial in itself -- it can spread the risks associated with innovative building designs, it can compensate for the lack of economies of scale in buildings-science research in a decentralized buildings industry and, hence, permit profit-making opportunities.

In what follows, the ASHRAE 90A-1980 standard is examined in the context of the first reason .for a short-term standard . Although what constitutes the "derivation process" is not the focus of this paper, it does draw on commercial building energy-load simulation analysis performed to monitor ASHRAE 90-75R conservation impacts.