Date: January 7, 1999

Location: Radisson Hotel, SeaTac

Committee Members Present: Charles de Montigny, Chair; Rita Harvey, Vice Chair; Mike McEnaney; Stan Price; Larry Ward; Judy Wilson

Committee Members Absent: None

Other Council Members Present: Sue Alden

Visitors Present: Dave Moore, Don Kaiser, Jeff Harris, John Hogan, Jan Conklin, Larry Westling, Donovan Quebedeaux, Scott Rushing, Kraig Stevenson, Jim Chandler

Staff Present: Judith Darst, Nathan Brown, Tim Nogler, Al Rhoades, Krista Braaksma, Gary Blickem, Sue Mathers

The meeting was called to order by Charles de Montigny, Committee Chair, at 1:13 p.m. Everyone was welcomed, and introductions were made.

The agenda was reviewed. Charlie noted an addition under "Staff Report:" Judith will give an update on the New Buildings Institute (NBI). Nathan noted a Mechanical Code error and asked for Committee direction. The Mechanical Code deficiency was added under "Other Business." With those amendments, the agenda was approved.

The minutes of the November 12, 1998 meeting were reviewed and approved as written.

Stan Price, Energy Code TAG Chair, reported that the TAG has been meeting on a monthly basis. A comparison of the Washington State Energy Code with the International Energy Conservation Code has been completed through Chapter 5. Stan commended the TAG for completing that volume of work. Future meetings will include an Open Mike Session that will give the authors of potential code changes an informal discussion of the pros and cons of changes before formal submission to the Council. He said that anyone interested in presenting a potential code change during an Open Mike Session should let Judith Darst know so adequate meeting time can be allotted.

Rita Harvey, Mechanical and Ventilation Code TAG Chair, reported that the TAG has completed chapter-by-chapter comparisons of the radon section, the ventilation section, and all of the Mechanical Code except for Chapters 10, 14 and 16. TAG members will attempt to propose ratings for the chapter comparisons they authored to staff by

February 15. A code comparison document, including ratings, will then be typed and available for mailing prior to a March 11 meeting. At that meeting, the TAG will review interpretations to find out which are still applicable to the current code and discuss the proposed chapter code comparison ratings. Subsequently the TAG will meet on April 13 for a full day in SeaTac to complete chapter comparison comments and ratings. At the recommendation of the Energy TAG, the Mechanical/Ventilation TAG will review one paragraph of the International Energy Conservation Code dealing with outside air dampers on unoccupied buildings. Time permitting, the TAG will also review Seattle's example of the VIAQ/UMC comparison. Finally, the TAG will review ASHRAE 62.89 and do a simplification review to integrate the Ventilation Code with the Uniform Mechanical Code or the Uniform Building Code.

John Hogan asked what the appropriate time is to make recommendations for code changes. Rita responded that they should probably be made after June 1999. Stan agreed that midsummer is a reasonable estimate.

Charlie predicted, and Tim Nogler agreed, that the Mechanical, Ventilation and Energy Codes Committee may take committee action on proposed code changes next fall.

Judith pointed out that the City of Medina's interpretation request is included in the FYI packet that was mailed out. She recapped that the Committee granted preliminary approval of the response to the City of Medina's interpretation request at its November meeting. However, the Administrative Procedure Act and the Open Public Meetings Act both require that final action cannot be taken until the interpretation request and answer are available for public inspection. Therefore, the issue is before the Committee again today.

The Committee has also received a letter from the City of Medina in response to the preliminary interpretation to inform the Committee of their proposed procedure and to ask if it meets the intent of the Council. Larry proposed, and Charlie directed staff, to send a letter to the City of Medina telling them that it is not the purview of the Mechanical, Ventilation and Energy Codes Committee to advise the City of Medina how to use the response to their interpretation request.

Jim Chandler asked that the definition of small business include the provision that no city, town or county be considered a small business. Judith pointed out that "small business," as defined and used in the Energy Code, is "a manufacturer of window products," so that excludes cities, towns and counties. Rita added that since "for profit" is also part of the small business definition, cities and counties are excluded.

Judith said that she has drafted a letter to the New Business Institute saying that the Committee has considered their invitation to join the Institute but has decided to decline at this time. She also spoke with Jeff Johnson of NBI. He is very interested in giving a presentation on their organization to the Committee, but he wasn't able to attend today because of a schedule conflict. As soon as the Council votes in the 1999 meeting schedule, Judith will contact Jeff to schedule his presentation.

Nathan Brown told the Committee that the City of Spokane has pointed out that the Uniform Mechanical Code, in Section 901.4, #4, lists a wrong conversion factor for 1,000 BTUs. Nathan asked for direction from the Committee to correct the conversion factor.

Charlie said that Spokane has called him, and he confirmed that the conversion is wrong. He suggested that, rather than an interpretation, a letter be sent to the City of Spokane acknowledging the error. He said that the change is unimportant because it's just the conversion of units. Charlie said that the letter should be sent to all jurisdictions.

Krista Braaksma told the Committee that the letter should be an errata that goes to everyone who purchases the Uniform Mechanical Code. Larry suggested that the correction be posted on the Website. Charlie asked Nathan to meet with him about the wording of the correction, which will then be posted on the Website.

Scott Rushing asked for clarification of the intent of Exception 6 of the Residential Economizer permanent rule change. Charlie responded that a waterside economizer is required if there is no outside air. Judith added that cooling with outdoor air is not required when all space cooling is accomplished by circulating liquid in compliance with Exception 6. Charlie and Judith invited Scott to propose language for a code change to the Energy Code TAG during an Open Mike session.

Larry noted that this is Charlie's last meeting as Chair of the Mechanical, Ventilation and Energy Codes Committee. He thanked him, on behalf of the whole Committee, and wished him Bon Voyage. Everyone voiced the same sentiment and gave Charlie a round of applause. Charlie thanked everyone.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:45 p.m.