This 'manual is intended to supplement several other documents that are available from the California Energy Commission (Energy Commission).
The Standards - This manual supplements and explains California Building Energy Efficiency Standards, which is the main document that describes the requirements that all covered buildings must comply with; this manual explain those requirement in simpler terms but it does not replace or supersede them. Readers should have a copy of the Standards to refer to while reading this manual.
The Reference Appendices:
Reference Joint Appendices contain information that is common to both residential and nonresidential buildings.
Reference Residential Appendices contain information that is for residential buildings only.
Reference Nonresidential Appendices contain information that is for nonresidential buildings only.
The Nonresidential Approval and Reference ACM Manuals are primarily a specification for Compliance Software that is used for compliance purposes.
Note: High-rise residential and hotel/motel occupancies – For these occupancies’ location and design data, opaque assembly properties are located in the Reference Joint Appendices; while mechanical and lighting information is located in the Reference Nonresidential Appendices. Residential water heating information is located in the Reference Residential Appendices.
Material from these other documents is not always repeated in this manual. However, if you are using the electronic version of the manual, there are often hyperlinks in this manual that will take you directly to the document that is referenced.