Local Law 87 Steam Balancing

Dave_S

My question is in reference to Local Law 87, which requires NYC buildings over 50,000 SF to have an energy audit and retro-commissioning performed every 10 years. The law requires:



"HVAC distribution balancing. All major systems that include chillers, boilers, cooling towers, air handlers, or pumps, must be tested for proper balance for current facility requirements. A major system as used in this subparagraph means a system that serves more than 10,000 square feet. If the system is found to be out of balance, the condition must be corrected and noted on the retro-commissioning report. System balancing may only be performed by an individual certified in the testing and balancing of HVAC systems by the National Environmental Balancing Bureau (NEBB), the Testing, Adjusting and Balancing Bureau (TABB), or the Associated Air Balance Council (AABC)"



It seems that steam distribution systems should be included in this law for all those old steam heated buildings in New York. I contacted NEBB, TABB, and AABC; however, none of them publish literature defining what is considered a balanced steam system or what is an accepted balancing methodology.



Is anyone else in the HeatingHelp community working on LL87 projects and if so, how have you handled this issue? Does anyone have suggestions?

jumper

out of date

Modern control systems often don't depend on balancing. If each steam heating terminal is thermostatically controlled what would you like to balance?

SWEI

Retro-commisioning

could be one of the best things that ever happened to a lot of the buildings I've seen.  I suspect I'd double my business in no time.