Chapter 2 [RE] Definitions

ACCESSIBLE. Admitting close approach as a result of not being guarded by locked doors, elevation or other effective means (see "Readily accessible").

ADDITION. An extension or increase in the conditioned space floor area, number of stories or height of a building or structure.

AIR BARRIER. One or more materials joined together in a continuous manner to restrict or prevent the passage of air through the building thermal envelope and its assemblies.

[NY] AIR-IMPERMEABLE INSULATION. An insulation having an air permeance equal to, or less than 0.02 L/s-m² at 75 Pa pressure differential tested according to ASTM E2178 or E283.

ALTERATION. Any construction, retrofit or renovation to an existing structure other than repair or addition. Also, a change in a building, electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system that involves an extension, addition or change to the arrangement, type or purpose of the original installation.

APPROVED. Acceptable to the building official.

APPROVED AGENCY. An established and recognized agency that is regularly engaged in conducting tests furnishing inspection services, or furnishing product certification, where such agency has been approved by the building official.

[NY] AREA WEIGHTED AVERAGE. A mathematical technique for combining different amounts of various components, based on proportional relevance, into a single number. Weighted averaging may be used where there is more than one R-value for floor, wall, or ceiling insulation, or more than one U-factor for fenestration in a building. As an example, the area weighted average for window fenestration U-factors equals (Area 1 × U-factor 1) + (Area 2 × U-factor 2) + …/Total Area = maximum allowable fenestration U-factor.

[NY] ASHRAE 90.1—2016. The publication entitled "ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1—2016, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-rise Residential Buildings" (October 2016, printing) published by ASHRAE, formerly known as the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE 90.1—2016 is published by ASHRAE and is jointly sponsored by the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and the American National Standards Institute, and is also known as "ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 90.1—2016" or "ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA 90.1—2016.").

[NY] ASHRAE 90.1—2016 (AS AMENDED). ASHRAE 90.1—2016, as said publication is deemed to be amended by 19 NYCRR Part 1240.

AUTOMATIC. Self-acting, operating by its own mechanism when actuated by some impersonal influence, as, for example, a change in current strength, pressure, temperature or mechanical configuration (see "Manual").

BASEMENT WALL. A wall 50 percent or more below grade and enclosing conditioned space.

[NY] BUILDING. Any structure used or intended for supporting or sheltering any use or occupancy or for affording shelter to persons, animals or property, including any (i) mechanical systems, service water heating systems and electric power and lighting systems located in such structure, and (ii) any mechanical systems, service water heating systems, and electric power and lighting systems located on the building site and supporting the building. The term "building" shall include, but shall not be limited to, factory manufactured homes (as defined in Section 372(8) of the Executive Law) and mobile homes (as defined in Section 372(13) of the Executive Law).

BUILDING SITE. A contiguous area of land that is under the ownership or control of one entity.

[NY] BUILDING CODE OF NEW YORK STATE. The 2020 edition of the publication entitled "Building Code of New York State," published by the International Code Council, Inc. (publication date November 2019).

[NY] BUILDING OFFICIAL. The officer or other designated authority charged with the administration and enforcement of this code, or a duly authorized representative.

[NY] BUILDING SYSTEM. The term "building system" means a combination of central or terminal equipment or components or controls, accessories, interconnecting means, and terminal devices by which energy is transformed so as to perform a specific function, such as heating, ventilation and air conditioning, service water heating or illumination.

[NY] BUILDING THERMAL ENVELOPE. The exterior walls (above and below grade), floors, ceiling, roofs and any other building element assemblies that enclose conditioned space or provide a boundary between conditioned space and unconditioned space.

CIRCULATING HOT WATER SYSTEM. A specifically designed water distribution system where one or more pumps are operated in the service hot water piping to circulate heated water from the water-heating equipment to fixtures and back to the water-heating equipment.

CLIMATE ZONE. A geographical region based on climatic criteria as specified in this code.

COMMERCIAL BUILDING. For this code, all buildings that are not included in the definition of "Residential building."

CONDITIONED FLOOR AREA. The horizontal projection of the floors associated with the conditioned space.

[NY] CONDITIONED SPACE. An area or room that is enclosed within the building thermal envelope and that is directly or indirectly heated or cooled using fossil fuel or electricity as the energy source. Spaces are indirectly heated or cooled where they communicate through openings with conditioned spaces, where they are separated from conditioned spaces by uninsulated walls, floors or ceilings, or where they contain uninsulated ducts, piping or other sources of heating or cooling using fossil fuel or electricity.

CONTINUOUS AIR BARRIER. A combination of materials and assemblies that restrict or prevent the passage of air through the building thermal envelope.

CONTINUOUS INSULATION (ci). Insulating material that is continuous across all structural members without thermal bridges other than fasteners and service openings. It is installed on the interior or exterior, or is integral to any opaque surface, of the building envelope.

CRAWL SPACE WALL. The opaque portion of a wall that encloses a crawl space and is partially or totally below grade.

CURTAIN WALL. Fenestration products used to create an external nonload-bearing wall that is designed to separate the exterior and interior environments.

DEMAND RECIRCULATION WATER SYSTEM. A water distribution system having one or more recirculation pumps that pump water from a heated water supply pipe back to the heated water source through a cold water supply pipe.

DUCT. A tube or conduit utilized for conveying air. The air passages of self-contained systems are not to be construed as air ducts.

DUCT SYSTEM. A continuous passageway for the transmission of air that, in addition to ducts, includes duct fittings, dampers, plenums, fans and accessory air-handling equipment and appliances.

DWELLING UNIT. A single unit providing complete independent living facilities for one or more persons, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking and sanitation.

ENERGY ANALYSIS. A method for estimating the annual energy use of the proposed design and standard reference design based on estimates of energy use.

[NY] ENERGY CODE. The New York State Energy Conservation Construction Code adopted pursuant to Article 11 of the New York State Energy Law.

ENERGY COST. The total estimated annual cost for purchased energy for the building functions regulated by this code, including applicable demand charges.

ENERGY SIMULATION TOOL. An approved software program or calculation-based methodology that projects the annual energy use of a building.

[NY] ERI REFERENCE DESIGN. A version of the rated design that meets the minimum requirements of the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code, and which establishes the index value of 100 on the Energy Rating Index scale.

[NY] EXISTING BUILDING CODE OF NEW YORK STATE. The 2020 edition of the publication entitled "Existing Building Code of New York State," published by the International Code Council, Inc. (publication date November 2019).

EXTERIOR WALL. Walls including both above-grade walls and basement walls.

FENESTRATION PRODUCT, SITE-BUILT. A fenestration designed to be made up of field-glazed or field-assembled units using specific factory cut or otherwise factory-formed framing and glazing units. Examples of site-built fenestration include storefront systems, curtain walls and atrium roof systems.

[NY] FIRE CODE OF NEW YORK STATE. The 2020 edition of the publication entitled "Fire Code of New York State," published by the International Code Council, Inc. (publication date November 2019).

HEATED SLAB. Slab-on-grade construction in which the heating elements, hydronic tubing, or hot air distribution system is in contact with, or placed within or under, the slab.

INFILTRATION. The uncontrolled inward air leakage into a building caused by the pressure effects of wind or the effect of differences in the indoor and outdoor air density or both.

[NY] INSULATED SIDING. A type of continuous insulation with manufacturer-installed insulating material as an integral part of the cladding product having an R-value of not less than R-2.

LABELED. Equipment, materials or products to which have been affixed a label, seal, symbol or other identifying mark of a nationally recognized testing laboratory, approved agency or other organization concerned with product evaluation that maintains periodic inspection of the production of such labeled items and whose labeling indicates either that the equipment, material or product meets identified standards or has been tested and found suitable for a specified purpose.

LISTED. Equipment, materials, products or services included in a list published by an organization acceptable to the building official and concerned with evaluation of products or services that maintains periodic inspection of production of listed equipment or materials or periodic evaluation of services and whose listing states either that the equipment, material, product or service meets identified standards or has been tested and found suitable for a specified purpose.

LOW-VOLTAGE LIGHTING. Lighting equipment powered through a transformer such as a cable conductor, a rail conductor and track lighting.

MANUAL. Capable of being operated by personal intervention (see "Automatic").

[NY] MECHANICAL CODE OF NEW YORK STATE. The 2020 edition of the publication entitled "Mechanical Code of New York State," published by the International Code Council, Inc. (publication date November 2019).

OPAQUE DOOR. A door that is not less than 50-percent opaque in surface area.

[NY] PLUMBING CODE OF NEW YORK STATE. The 2020 edition of the publication entitled "Plumbing Code of New York State," published by the International Code Council, Inc. (publication date November 2019).

PROPOSED DESIGN. A description of the proposed building used to estimate annual energy use for determining compliance based on total building performance.

RATED DESIGN. A description of the proposed building used to determine the energy rating index.

READILY ACCESSIBLE. Capable of being reached quickly for operation, renewal or inspection without requiring those to whom ready access is requisite to climb over or remove obstacles or to resort to portable ladders or access equipment (see "Accessible").

[NY] REGISTERED DESIGN PROFESSIONAL. An individual who is a licensed and registered architect (RA) in accordance with Article 147 of the New York State Education Law or a licensed and registered professional engineer (PE) in accordance with Article 145 of the New York State Education Law.

REPAIR. The reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing building for the purpose of its maintenance or to correct damage.

REROOFING. The process of recovering or replacing an existing roof covering. See "Roof recover" and "Roof replacement."

[NY] RESIDENTIAL CODE OF NEW YORK STATE. The 2020 edition of the publication entitled "Residential Code of New York State," published by the International Code Council, Inc. (publication date November 2019).

ROOF ASSEMBLY. A system designed to provide weather protection and resistance to design loads. The system consists of a roof covering and roof deck or a single component serving as both the roof covering and the roof deck. A roof assembly includes the roof covering, underlayment and roof deck, and can also include a thermal barrier, an ignition barrier, insulation or a vapor retarder.

ROOF RECOVER. The process of installing an additional roof covering over a prepared existing roof covering without removing the existing roof covering.

ROOF REPAIR. Reconstruction or renewal of any part of an existing roof for the purposes of its maintenance.

ROOF REPLACEMENT. The process of removing the existing roof covering, repairing any damaged substrate and installing a new roof covering.

R-VALUE (THERMAL RESISTANCE). The inverse of the time rate of heat flow through a body from one of its bounding surfaces to the other surface for a unit temperature difference between the two surfaces, under steady state conditions, per unit area (h • ft² • °F/Btu) [(m² • K)/W].

SERVICE WATER HEATING. Supply of hot water for purposes other than comfort heating.

SOLAR HEAT GAIN COEFFICIENT (SHGC). The ratio of the solar heat gain entering the space through the fenestration assembly to the incident solar radiation. Solar heat gain includes directly transmitted solar heat and absorbed solar radiation that is then reradiated, conducted or convected into the space.

[NY] STANDARD REFERENCE DESIGN. A version of the proposed design that meets the minimum prescriptive and mandatory baseline requirements of this code. The standard reference design, as the code baseline, is used to determine the maximum allowable annual energy use requirement for compliance. The proposed design is measured against the standard reference design in an annual energy use simulation and is based on total building performance. Parameters of the standard reference design and the proposed design are specified in tables contained in Section R405.

SUNROOM. A one-story structure attached to a dwelling with a glazing area in excess of 40 percent of the gross area of the structure's exterior walls and roof.

THERMAL ISOLATION. Physical and space conditioning separation from conditioned spaces. The conditioned spaces shall be controlled as separate zones for heating and cooling or conditioned by separate equipment.

THERMOSTAT. An automatic control device used to maintain temperature at a fixed or adjustable setpoint.

[NY] TOWNHOUSE, OR TOWNHOUSE UNIT. A single-family dwelling unit constructed in a group of three or more attached units in which each unit (1) extends from the foundation to roof, (2) has open space on at least two sides, and (3) has a separate means of egress.

U-FACTOR (THERMAL TRANSMITTANCE). The coefficient of heat transmission (air to air) through a building component or assembly, equal to the time rate of heat flow per unit area and unit temperature difference between the warm side and cold side air films (Btu/h • ft² • °F) [W/(m² • K)].

[NY] UNIFORM CODE. The New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code adopted pursuant to Article 18 of the New York State Executive Law, as currently in effect and as hereafter amended from time to time.

VENTILATION. The natural or mechanical process of supplying conditioned or unconditioned air to, or removing such air from, any space.

VENTILATION AIR. That portion of supply air that comes from outside (outdoors) plus any recirculated air that has been treated to maintain the desired quality of air within a designated space.

VISIBLE TRANSMITTANCE (VT). The ratio of visible light entering the space through the fenestration product assembly to the incident visible light, Visible Transmittance, includes the effects of glazing material and frame and is expressed as a number between 0 and 1.

WHOLE HOUSE MECHANICAL VENTILATION SYSTEM. An exhaust system, supply system, or combination thereof that is designed to mechanically exchange indoor air with outdoor air when operating continuously or through a programmed intermittent schedule to satisfy the whole house ventilation rates.