Section 120.2 — California Energy Code (Title 24, Part 6)

REQUIRED CONTROLS FOR SPACE-

CONDITIONING SYSTEMS

Nonresidential and hotel/motel buildings shall comply with the applicable requirements of Sections 120.2(a) through 120.2(k).

(a) Thermostatic controls for each zone. The supply of heating and cooling energy to each space-conditioning zone or dwelling unit shall be controlled by an individual thermostatic control that responds to temperature within the zone and that meets the applicable requirements of Section 120.2(b). An energy management control system (EMCS) may be installed to comply with the requirements of one or more thermostatic controls if it complies with all applicable requirements for each thermostatic control.

Exception to Section 120.2(a): An independent perimeter heating or cooling system may serve more than one zone without individual thermostatic controls if:

All zones are also served by an interior cooling system; and
The perimeter system is designed solely to offset envelope heat losses or gains; and
The perimeter system has at least one thermostatic control for each building orientation of 50 feet or more; and
The perimeter system is controlled by at least one thermostat located in one of the zones served by the system.

(b) Criteria for zonal thermostatic controls. The individual thermostatic controls required by Section 120.2(a) shall meet the following requirements as applicable:

Where used to control comfort heating, the thermostatic controls shall be capable of being set, locally or remotely, down to 55°F or lower.
Where used to control comfort cooling, the thermostatic controls shall be capable of being set, locally or remotely, up to 85°F or higher.

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NONRESIDENTIAL, HOTEL/MOTEL OCCUPANCIES, AND COVERED PROCESSES—MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

restaurants, grocery stores, churches and theaters equipped with 7-day programmable timers.

The control shall automatically restart and temporarily operate the system as required to maintain: A. A setback heating thermostat setpoint if the system

provides mechanical heating; and

Exception to Section 120.2(e)2A: Thermostat setback controls are not required in nonresidential buildings in areas where the Winter Median of Extremes outdoor air temperature determined in accordance with Section 140.4(b)3 is greater than 32°F. B. A setup cooling thermostat setpoint if the system

provides mechanical cooling.

Exception to Section 120.2(e)2B: Thermostat setup controls are not required in nonresidential buildings in areas where the Summer Design Dry Bulb 0.5 percent temperature determined in accordance with Section 140.4(b)3 is less than 100°F.

Occupant sensing zone controls. Where the system providing space conditioning also provides the ventilation required by Section 120.1 and includes occupant sensor ventilation control as specified in Section 120.1(d)5, the occupant sensing zone controls shall additionally comply with the following: A. In 5 minutes or less after entering occupied-standby

mode as described in Section 120.1(d).

i. Automatically set up the operating cooling tem perature set point by 2°F or more and set back the operating heating temperature set point by 2°F or more; or

ii. For multiple zone systems with Direct Digital

Controls (DDC) to the zone level, setup the operating cooling temperature setpoint by 0.5°F or more and setback the operating heating temperature setpoint by 0.5°F or more. B. In 5 minutes or less after entering occupied-standby

mode, mechanical ventilation to the zone shall remain off whenever the space temperature is between the active heating and cooling setpoints.

least +5°F (+3°C) in cooling mode and set down at least -5°F (-3°C) in heating mode.

Exception to Section 120.2(e): Systems serving healthcare facilities. (f) Dampers for air supply and exhaust equipment. Outdoor air supply and exhaust equipment shall be installed with dampers that automatically close upon fan shutdown.

Exception 1 to Section 120.2(f): Equipment that serves an area that must operate continuously. Exception 2 to Section 120.2(f): Gravity and other nonelectrical equipment that has readily accessible manual damper controls. Exception 3 to Section 120.2(f): At combustion air intakes and shaft vents. Exception 4 to Section 120.2(f): Where prohibited by other provisions of law. (g) Isolation area devices. Each space-conditioning system serving multiple zones with a combined conditioned floor area of more than 25,000 square feet shall be designed, installed and controlled to serve isolation areas.

Each zone, or any combination of zones not exceeding 25,000 square feet, shall be a separate isolation area.
Each isolation area shall be provided with isolation devices, such as valves or dampers, that allow the supply of heating or cooling to be reduced or shut off independently of other isolation areas.
Each isolation area shall be controlled by a device meeting the requirements of Section 120.2(e)1. Exception to Section 120.2(g): Zones designed to be conditioned continuously. (h) Automatic demand shed controls. See Section 110.12 for requirements for automatic demand shed controls.

(i) Economizer fault detection and diagnostics (FDD). All newly installed air handlers with a mechanical cooling capacity over 33,000 Btu/hr and an installed air economizer shall include a stand-alone or integrated Fault Detection and Diagnostics (FDD) system in accordance with Subsections 120.2(i)1 through 120.2(i)8.

The following temperature sensors shall be permanently installed to monitor system operation: outside air, supply air, and when required for differential economizer operation a return air sensor, and
Temperature sensors shall have an accuracy of ±2°F over the range of 40°F to 80°F; and
The controller shall have the capability of displaying the value of each sensor; and
The controller shall provide system status by indicating the following conditions: A. Free cooling available;

B. Economizer enabled;

C. Compressor enabled;

D. Heating enabled, if the system is capable of heating;

and E. Mixed-air low limit cycle active.

Exception 1 to Sections 120.2(e)1, 2, 3: Where it can be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the enforcing agency that the system serves an area that must operate continuously.

Exception 2 to Sections 120.2(e)1, 2, 3: Systems with full load demands of 2 kW or less, if they have a readily accessible manual shut-off switch.

Exception 3 to Sections 120.2(e) 1 and 2: Systems serving hotel/motel guest rooms, if they have a readily accessible manual shut-off switch.

Hotel and motel guest rooms shall have captive card key controls, occupancy sensing controls or automatic controls such that, no longer than 30 minutes after the guest room has been vacated, setpoints are set up at

76 2022 CALIFORNIA ENERGY CODE

NONRESIDENTIAL, HOTEL/MOTEL OCCUPANCIES, AND COVERED PROCESSES—MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

The unit controller shall allow manual initiation of each operating mode so that the operation of cooling systems, economizers, fans and heating system can be independently tested and verified; and
Faults shall be reported in one of the following ways: A. Reported to an Energy Management Control System

regularly monitored by facility personnel.

B. Annunciated locally on one or more zone thermo stats, or a device within five (5) feet of zone thermostat(s), clearly visible, at eye level, and meeting the following requirements:

i. On the thermostat, device, or an adjacent written

sign, display instructions to contact appropriate building personnel or an HVAC technician; and

ii. In buildings with multiple tenants, the annun ciation shall either be within property management offices or in a common space accessible by the property or building manager.

C. Reported to a fault management application

which automatically provides notification of the fault to a remote HVAC service provider.

The FDD system shall detect the following faults:

A. Air temperature sensor failure/fault;

B. Not economizing when it should;

C. Economizing when it should not;

D. Damper not modulating; and

E. Excess outdoor air.

The FDD System shall be certified by the Energy Commission as meeting requirements of Subsections 120.2(i)1 through 120.2(i)7 in accordance with Section 110.0 and JA6.3.

Exception to Section 120.2(i)8: FDD algorithms based in direct digital control systems are not required to be certified to the Energy Commission. (j) Direct Digital Controls (DDC) . Direct Digital Controls to the zone shall be provided as specified by Table 120.2-A.

The provided DDC system shall meet the control logic requirements of Sections 110.12(a), 110.12(b) and 120.1(d) and be capable of the following:

Monitoring zone and system demand for fan pressure, pump pressure, heating and cooling;
Transferring zone and system demand information from zones to air distribution system controllers and from air distribution systems to heating and cooling plant controllers;
Automatically detecting the zones and systems that may be excessively driving the reset logic and generate an alarm or other indication to the system operator;
Readily allow operator removal of zone(s) from the reset algorithm;
For new buildings, trending and graphically displaying input and output points; and
Resetting heating and cooling setpoints in all noncriti - cal zones upon receipt of a signal from a centralized contact or software point as described in Section 110.12(b). (k) Optimum start/stop controls. Space conditioning systems with DDC to the zone level shall have optimum start/ stop controls. The control algorithm shall, as a minimum, be a function of the difference between space temperature and occupied setpoint, the outdoor air temperature, and the amount of time prior to scheduled occupancy. Mass radiant

TABLE 120.2-A DDC APPLICATIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS

BUILDING STATUS	APPLICATIONS	QUALIFICATIONS
Newly Constructed Buildings	Air handling system and all zones served by the system	Individual systems supplying more than three zones and with design heating or cooling capacity of 300 kBtu/h and larger
Newly Constructed Buildings	Chilled water plant and all coils and terminal units served by the system	Individual plants supplying more than three zones and with design cooling capacity of 300 kBtu/h (87.9 kW) and larger
Newly Constructed Buildings	Hot water plant and all coils and terminal units served by the system	Individual plants supplying more than three zones and with design heating capacity of 300 kBtu/h (87.9 kW) and larger
Additions or Alterations	Zone terminal unit such as VAV box	Where existing zones served by the same air handling, chilled water, or hot water systems that have DDC
Additions or Alterations	Air handling system or fan coil	Where existing air handling system(s) and fan coil(s) served by the same chilled or hot water plant have DDC
Additions or Alterations	New air handling system and all new zones served by the system	Individual systems with design heating or cooling capacity of 300 kBtu/h and larger and supplying more than three zones and more than 75 percent of zones are new
Additions or Alterations	New or upgraded chilled water plant	Where all chillers are new and plant design cooling capacity is 300 kBtu/h (87.9 kW) and larger
Additions or Alterations	New or upgraded hot water plant	Where all boilers are new and plant design heating capacity is 300 kBtu/h (87.9 kW) and larger

NONRESIDENTIAL, HOTEL/MOTEL OCCUPANCIES, AND COVERED PROCESSES—MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

tioned space shall include, or be protected by, a Class I or Class II vapor retarder. All penetrations and joints shall be sealed.

Pipe insulation buried below grade must be installed in a water proof and noncrushable casing or sleeve. (c) Insulation thickness
For insulation with a conductivity in the range shown in Table 120.3-A for the applicable fluid temperature range, the insulation shall have the applicable minimum thickness or R -value shown in Table 120.3-A.
For insulation with a conductivity outside the range shown in Table 120.3-A for the applicable fluid temperature range, the insulation shall have a minimum R -value shown in Table 120.3-A or thickness as calculated:

MINIMUM INSULATION THICKNESS EQUATION

floor slab systems shall incorporate floor temperature onto the optimum start algorithm.

Exception to Section 120.2(k): Systems that must operate continuously.

Note: Authority: Sections 25213, 25218, 25218.5, 25402 and 25402.1, Public Resources Code. Reference: Sections 25007, 25008, 25218.5, 25310, 25402, 25402.1, 25402.4, 25402.8, and 25943, Public Resources Code.