Title 24 is the California Building Standards Code.   According to the California Building Standards Commission's website it is a compilation of three different types of building criteria from three different sources which include the following:

• Building standards that have been adopted by state agencies without change from building standards contained in national model codes;
• Building standards that have been adopted and adapted from the national model code standards to meet California conditions; and
• Building standards, authorized by the California legislature, that constitute extensive additions not covered by the model codes that have been adopted to address particular California concerns

Title 24 applies basically to all occupancies in California except for modifications adopted by state agencies and local governing bodies.  Thus all builders, contractors and architects need to be familiar with Title 24 to ensure that any kind of work or addition to a building is done in accordance with California's Building Code.

San Francisco's ordinances require energy audits of commercial buildings 10,000 sq ft or greater.  If you are in the initial group of commercial buildings (approximately 1/3 of the building stock) with the November 15th deadline you need to make arrangements for an audit now.  It takes time to schedule an audit as you have to arrange with your property managers and tenants to allow full access to your building.  Also as there are so many buildings currently out of compliance it is going to prove harder and harder to find a qualified auditor/engineer who has time in their busy schedule to go through your property. 

The time to schedule an audit is now if you are in the first group.  You have only a month left to get your audit completed and filed with the Department of the Environment.  For more information about San Francisco's ordinance requirements check the compliance section of our website under San Francisco's “Existing Commercial Buildings Energy Performance Ordinance” 17-11.

When you look at all the areas where energy is used in a commercial building, how do you tell where you as a commercial property owner should focus on getting the greatest energy savings for your money spent?  One way is to identify where most of your energy costs are coming from.

This is an attempt based upon US DOE: 2003 US Commercial Building Data to give you an idea of where your energy in your building is going. 

24% Lighting
14% Space Heating
11% Space Cooling
9% Other
6% Water Heating
6% Refrigeration
6% Ventilation
6% Electronics
3% Computers
2% Cooking

This gives you an idea that you should be focused on Lighting and your Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems when looking for areas to save money on your energy bill and which areas you should be focused on making more energy efficient.