Proposed Modification to the Florida Building Code

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Proposed Modification to the Florida Building Code Official Form 9B-3.047-2004

Subchapter_13-2
SUBCHAPTER 2
DEFINITIONS


SECTION 13-201
GENERAL


201.1 Application of Terms . For the purpose of this code, certain abbreviations, terms,
phrases, words, and their derivatives, shall be construed as set forth in this chapter.

201.2 Words Not Defined. Words not defined herein shall have the meanings stated in the
Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, as revised.


SECTION 13-202
DEFINITIONS
[Change Section 13-202 as follows:]

ABOVE-GRADE-WALL. See WALL.

ACCESS HATCH. See DOOR.

ACCESSIBLE (as applied to equipment). Admitting close approach; not guarded by locked
doors, elevation or other effective means. (See READILY ACCESSIBLE.)

ADDITION. An extension or increase in conditioned floor area or height of a building or
structure.

ADJACENT WALL, CEILING or FLOOR. A wall, ceiling or floor of a structure that separates
conditioned space from enclosed but unconditioned space, such as an unconditioned attached
garage, storage or utility room.

ADJUSTED LIGHTING POWER (ALP). Lighting power, assigned to a luminaire(s), that has
been reduced by deducting a lighting power control credit based on use of an automatic control
device(s).

AEROSOL SEALANT. A closure product for duct and plenum systems, which is delivered
internally to leak sites as aerosol particles using a pressurized air stream.

AFUE (ANNUAL FUEL UTILIZATION EFFICIENCY). The ratio of annual output energy to
annual input energy including any non-heating season pilot input loss.

AIR BARRIER.
Relating to air distribution systems, a material object(s) which impedes or restricts the
free movement of air under specified conditions. For fibrous glass duct, the air barrier is
its foil cladding; for flexible non-metal duct, the air barrier is the non-porous core; and for
sheet metal duct and air handling units, the air barrier is the metal in contact with the air
stream. For mechanical closets, the air barrier may be a uniform panelized material
such as gypsum wall board which meets ASTM C36, or it may be a membrane which
alone acts as an air barrier which is attached to a panel, such as the foil cladding of
fibrous glass duct board.

Relating to the building envelope, air barriers comprise the planes of primary resistance to
air flow between the interior spaces of a building and the outdoors and the planes of
primary air flow resistance between adjacent air zones of a building, including planes
between adjacent conditioned and unconditioned air spaces of a building. To be classed
as an air barrier, a building plane must be substantially leak free; that is, it shall have an air
leakage rate not greater than 0.5 cfm/ft
2
when subjected to an air pressure gradient of 25 Official Form 9B-3.047-2004

Subchapter_13-2
pascal. In general, air barriers are made of durable, non-porous materials and are sealed
to adjoining wall, ceiling or floor surfaces with a suitable long-life mastic. House wraps and
taped and sealed drywall may constitute an air barrier but dropped acoustical tile ceilings
(T-bar ceilings) may not. Batt insulation facings and asphalt-impregnated fiberboard and
felt paper are not considered air barriers.

AIR CONDITIONING. The process of treating air to control its temperature, humidity, cleanliness
and distribution to meet requirements of the conditioned space.

AIR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS. Include all building elements (duct systems, air handling units,
cavities of the building structure and mechanical closets) through which air is delivered to or from
the conditioned spaces.

AIR DUCT. A passageway for conducting air to or from heating, cooling, air conditioning, or
ventilating equipment, but not including the plenum. For material requirements see local
mechanical codes.

AIR HANDLING UNIT. The fan unit of a furnace and the fan-coil unit of a split-system, packaged
air conditioner or heat pump.

AIR INFILTRATION. See INFILTRATION.

AIR POROSITY. The ability to transmit air through minute openings in a substance or material.

ALTERATION. Replacement or addition to a building or its systems and equipment; routine
maintenance, repair, and service or a change in the buildings use classification or category shall
not constitute an alteration.

ANNUAL FUEL UTILIZATION EFFICIENCY. Efficiency descriptor of the ratio of annual output
energy to annual input energy as developed in accordance with the requirements of U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) 10CFR Part 430.

APPLICATION PART-LOAD VALUE (APLV). A single number part-load efficiency figure of merit
calculated in accordance with the method described in ARI Standard 550 or 590 referenced to
modified rating conditions described in those standards.

AS-BUILT. Building components to be actually installed in a structure. In some cases, this may
be a worst case condition. See WORST CASE).

ASHRAE CLIMATE ZONE 1. Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe Counties.

ASHRAE CLIMATE ZON
E 2. All of Florida except Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe
Counties.

ATTIC. An enclosed unconditioned space located immediately below an uninsulated roof and
immediately above the ceiling of a building. For the roof to be considered insulated, roof
insulation shall be at least the R-value required to meet section
13-
404.
2.A
B
C
.1 in
Subc
Chapter
4 and section
13-
604.
1.
ABC.1 in
SubcC
hapter 6. See UNDER ATTIC; ROOF).

ATTIC RADIANT BARRIER. See RADIANT BARRIER.

AUTHORITY HAVING JURISDICTION. The agency or agent responsible for enforcing this
standard.

AUTOMATIC. Self-acting, operating by its own mechanism when actuated by some nonmanual
influence, such as a change in current strength, pressure, temperature, or mechanical
configuration.

AUTOMATIC CONTROL DEVICE. A device capable of automatically turning loads off and on
without manual intervention. Official Form 9B-3.047-2004

Subchapter_13-2

BALANCING. AIR SYSTEM Air: adjusting air flow rates through air distribution system devices,
such as fans and diffusers, by manually adjusting the position of dampers, splitter vanes,
extractors, etc., or by using automatic control devices, such as constant air volume or variable air
volume boxes.

BALANCING, HYDRONIC. Adjusting water flow rates through hydronic distribution system
devices, such as pumps and coils, by manually adjusting the position valves, or by using
automatic control devices, such as automatic flow control valves.

BALLAST. A device used in conjunction with an electric discharge lamp to cause the lamp to
start and operate under the proper circuit conditions of voltage, current, wave form, electrode
heat, etc.
(a) electronic ballast: a ballast constructed using electronic circuitry.
(b) hybrid ballast: a ballast constructed using a combination of magnetic core and insulated
wire winding and electronic circuitry.
(c) magnetic ballast: a ballast constructed with magnetic core and a winding of insulated wire.

BALLAST EFFICACY FACTOR FLUORESCENT. The ratio of relative light output, expressed as a
percent, to the power input, expressed in watts, under test conditions.

BASELINE. Building component performance target or the total building performance target
which is compared with the As-Built building performance.

BEDROOM. Any residential room which has an area of 70 square feet or more and a clothes
storage closet, and is not part of the common living area. For the purposes of this Code, the
number of "main" bedrooms for homes of three bedrooms or more is the total number of
bedrooms less one. In one and two bedroom homes, all bedrooms are "main" bedrooms.

BELOW-GRADE WALL. See WALL.

BOILER. A self-contained low-pressure appliance for supplying steam or hot water.

BOILER CAPACITY. The rate of heat output in Btu/h of the boiler, at the design inlet and outlet
conditions and rated fuel or energy input, measured at the boiler outlet, at the design pressure
and/or temperature, and rated fuel input.

BOILER, PACKAGED. A boiler that is shipped complete with heating equipment, mechanical
draft equipment, and automatic controls; usually shipped in one or more sections. A packaged
boiler includes factory-built boilers manufactured as a unit or system, disassembled for shipment,
and reassembled at the site.

BRANCH CIRCUIT. The circuit conductors between the final overcurrent device protecting the
circuit and the outlet(s); the final wiring run to the load.

BUDGET (Baseline). Building design: a computer representation of a hypothetical design based
on the actual proposed building design. This representation is used as the basis for calculating
the Method A energy cost budget.

BTU (British Thermal Unit). The standard unit for measuring heat energy, such as the heat
content of fuel. It is the amount of heat energy necessary to raise the temperature of one pound
of water one degree Fahrenheit. 1 BTU per minute = 17.6 watts.

BTU. Per Kilowatt Hour - See HEAT RATE.

BUILDING. Any structure that includes provision for any of the following or any combination of
the following: a space heating system, a space cooling system, or a service water heating