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Energy Cost Savings
Are your office heating and cooling costs average?
Start your evaluation by “benchmarking” the energy performance of your building. For a quick and dirty analysis, just assemble 12 months of energy bills, add up the dollar total for the year and divide by the approximate square footage of the conditioned space served. An average figure for general office space is around $1.25 per square foot. If your analysis generates a figure of $2 or more per square foot, you should consider taking steps to improve your energy efficiency.
PENNSYLVANIA Uniform Construction Code (UCC)
On December 10, 2009 the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (IRRC) approved the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry's regulatory package adopting the 2009 versions of the International Code Council’s family of codes. As a result of this approval, compliance with the 2009 International Codes began January 1, 2010.
The Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code is comprised of the following ICC Codes:
2009 International Building Code
2009 International Residential Code
2009 International Energy Conservation Code
2009 International Plumbing Code
2009 International Mechanical Code
2009 International Fire Code (as referenced in the IBC 2009)
2009 International Existing Building Code
2009 International Fuel Gas Code (LPG requirements per PA Propane and Liquefied Petroleum Gas Act)
2009 International Performance Code for Buildings and Facilities
2009 International Wildland-Urban Interface Code
The 2009 International Building Code references the 2008 National Electrical Code. Also, the 2009 International Residential Code contains Part VIII Electrical Provisions (Chapters 34 through 43), which is a compilation of provisions extracted from the 2008 National Electrical Code® (NEC®), which is produced and copyrighted by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). All Codes were submitted without amendments and therefore include the Arc-Fault Circuit Interrupter, Tamper-Resistant Receptacle, and Residential Fire Sprinkler requirements. But wait...see next paragraph.
House Bill 377 was signed into law in Pennsylvania on April 25th, 2011, thus becoming Act 1 of 2011. In lieu of protecting the whole house with fire sprinklers, this act requires certain floor assemblies to be provided with fire protection. Options for this are, installing fire sprinklers in the basement, or installing a 1/2" gypsum wall board membrane, or a 5/8" wood structural panel membrane, or equivalent, on the underside of the floor framing members.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is the price
per square foot of a new home in Adams County?
Formula: Selling price of building divided by square feet of heated living
space = Price per Square Foot
The price per square foot to build a new house is
typically determined by taking the selling price and dividing it
by the square feet of heated living space. Therefore do not include
in your square feet factor: garage space, unheated space above the garage, porches,
attached decks, driveways/walks, nor unheated basement and crawl spaces.
There are many variables that affect the square foot price. For example,
when a contractor purports to build a new home for $85.00 per square
foot, what you don't know is whether or not the selling price features
the best of the material specifications, or even includes the following
high-dollar features: domestic water well, sewage, garage, porches,
driveway, fences, landscaping, kitchen appliances, heating system
type, composition of roof shingles, basement / crawl space, one
story or two, etc.
Therefore, as you can see, there really is no way
to compare the prices of new homes using the "square foot"
method. The price/SF is merely the result of two variable factors
and only serves as a gauge to let you know the rough estimate of
similarly constructed homes on similar building sites. Imagine if
you compared the price of a BMW to the price of a Geo, dividing
the price of each by its four wheels. This would give you the price
per wheel of the vehicle but that information would not serve much
practical use for comparing the differences. |
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