• In the December 2010 issue of Forum, a monthly publication of the Las Vegas Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (page 11).
• On SMACNA of Southern Nevada's website: www.smacnalv.com/.
• On AON Fire Protection Engineering's website: www.aonfpe.com.  (Go to About Us, Events, to see the ad.)

Clark County will unveil a newly designed website and web address on Friday, December 10.

The county's new web address will be:
www.ClarkCountyNV.gov.

The new site will provide easier navigation, more features, greater ability to transact business, and greater accessibility. The site also has more information, a stronger search engine, more videos, more pictures, and is easier on the eye.

In addition to the new web address, county e-mail will change to reflect the new address.  All county employee e-mails will change from name@co.clark.nv.us to name@ClarkCountyNV.gov.

E-mail sent to county employees with the old co.clark.nv.us addresses will automatically be re-routed to the new ClarkCountyNV.gov addresses.

SN-ICC's Public Outreach Committee has provided Southern Nevada's jurisdictions with brochure racks that include information about the chapter, ICC, EduCode and building safety.  Look for the racks at the permit centers in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Henderson, Boulder City, Mesquite, and Clark County.

This past year I have been fortunate to receive a number of accolades. While I am touched, I remember that none of this could have happened without all of your help. I further want to congratulate the chapter on becoming Chapter of the Year. This is a designation we have worked hard and long to achieve, and we have come close many times in the past. Our success is owed to the support and strength of such people as Valarie Loper, Neil Burning, Mike Bouse, Connie Suckling, Bill Laub, Dawn Rivard, Fulton Cochran, Rick Wilburg, and so many others. I am proud to be counted as one of your members.

I wish each of you a warm holiday season and a wonderful new year.

Once again, thank you all.

Ron Lynn

SN-ICC President Neil Burning and ICC Immediate Past President Ronald L. Lynn.

SN-ICC held a special recognition meeting on December 1 to present ICC Immediate Past President and SN-ICC member Ronald L. Lynn with a proclamation from Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons declaring December 9 Ronald L. Lynn Day.

SN-ICC's executive board requested the proclamation to honor Ron for all he has done to promote building safety on a local, national and international level.  Ron's activities the past ten years on ICC's board of directors, as well as his committee work locally and nationally, has, in turn, made Southern Nevada a leader in promoting the safe built environment.

Ron told the crowd at the special recognition meeting, after receiving a standing ovation, that he accepted the proclamation on behalf of "all of us in the code enforcement profession."

The chapter also provided Ron and his wife, Denise, with the gift of travel.  Now that Ron's term as ICC president has ended, he will have time to enjoy fine wine and dining in Napa Valley on behalf of SN-ICC!

Congratulations Ron on a job well done!  SN-ICC is proud of you.

SN-ICC distinguished member Michael Bouse will retire from the city of Henderson on December 15.  But Mike's retirement will not be one of leisure.  He has accepted a job offer from ICC to work in Dubai.

Mike is yet another example of a southern Nevadan leading the nation - and now the world - in building safety.  His accomplishments include:

• Director of Henderson Building & Fire Safety since 1998.
• Member of SN-ICC's executive board from 2006 - 2010.
• SN-ICC president in 2009.
• Chair of the Southern Nevada Building Officials for multiple years until mid-2010.
• 2009 President of the International Accreditation Service.

As an SN-ICC member and leader, Mike was instrumental in establishing the chapter's Free Swimming Lessons for Toddlers Grant Program in 2009.  His dedication to his profession and the role of code officials in protecting the safe environment helped lend to the credibility and recognition SN-ICC has received recently as ICC's Chapter of the Year.

Please take a moment to visit SN-ICC's Facebook page   to post a farewell comment to Mike to tell him how much his professionalism, enthusiasm and laughter will be missed.

Congratulations Mike!  We'll miss you!

It wasn't supposed to happen. Not this soon, not this fast, certainly not yet. But it did. The cut-off date to reserve a discounted room at The Orleans Hotel for EduCode is December 30, 2010. And a quick 14 days later, early registration for EduCode ends on January 14, 2011.

To book a room at The Orleans, go to http://www.orleanscasino.com/groups. Please use the group code 1EDUC01 when making the reservation.

To sign up for EduCode classes, click here to register online.  Or if you prefer, use our PDF eMail/Fax/Mail registration form.

EduCode 2011 features highly specialized courses for working professionals, including architectural, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, and structural, fire protection, code enforcement, and leadership topics essential for building design, expanding your skills, and earning and maintaning certifications and other credentials.

See you at EduCode, January 31, 2011 - February 4, 2011, which also happens to be Super Bowl Weekend!

Bill Laub, Member
EduCode Committee

SN-ICC has received a $34,600 grant from the DOE and the Nevada State Energy Commissioner to provide scholarships to Nevada jurisdictional code officials to attend 2009 IECC training classes during EduCode.

The eligible classes are:

• "Inspection Requirements of the 2009 IECC-AM Session 46," offered Thursday, February 3, 2011. 
• "Plan Review Requirements of the 2009 IECC-PM Session 47," offered Thursday, February 3, 2011.
• "Door and Window Fenestration Requirements of the 2009 IECC-AM Session 65," offered Friday, February 4, 2011.
• "Third Party Testing Agencies and Their Role in Energy Efficient Homes-PM Session 66," offered Friday, February 4, 2011.

The grant will reimburse approved scholarship recipients for these classes after attending. Grant applications will be provided on our website, www.snicc.org/educode/, along with the rules for reimbursement, as soon as the state approves the final draft of the application and rules. Be aware that the grant applications are being offered statewide, and the energy office will consider the applications on a first come, first served basis. Grants will be approved until the grant money is depleted.

If you have any questions regarding this grant funding program, please direct your calls to Don White at (702) 229-5460 or dowhite@lasvegasnevada.gov.

SN-ICC President Neil Burning accepts ICC's Chapter of the Year Award.

SN-ICC was presented the Chapter of the Year Award during ICC's Awards Luncheon at the 2010 ICC Annual Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, on October 27. To earn this designation, a chapter must demonstrate a high degree of professionalism in promoting the vision, mission and goals of the Code Council.

At the Awards Luncheon, SN-ICC's efforts to reduce the high number of child drowning deaths in backyard swimming pools in Southern Nevada was mentioned as a contributing factor for selecting SN-ICC as Chapter of the Year. These efforts include:

• Serving on the committee that drafted the Nevada Child Drowning Prevention Act.
• The creation of the chapter's Toddler Swim Lesson Grant program, which awarded $12,000 to parks and recreation departments in Southern Nevada jurisdictions to provide free swimming lessons.

At the Awards Luncheon, SN-ICC President Neil Burning said, "the work the chapter accomplished this year would not have been possible without the outstanding support we received from the Southern Nevada building officials. I would also like to thank our board members and each one of our community volunteers for their outstanding leadership and dedication in the community. We also are very proud of our efforts to increase the awareness of the vital public safety role all code officials play in the built environment."

By Donald J. White
SN-ICC Secretary/Treasurer

(This article originally appeared in the November 2010 issue of Billboard, a newsletter produced by the Nevada State Contractors Board.)

With research, increased awareness and moderate alterations in building construction practices, commercial and residential owners can gain substantial energy cost savings to current and future buildings.

The 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) will move the base-minimum code (2006 IECC) to a 30 percent better energy performance level for new buildings by the year 2015.

IECC Residential

The residential code has a prescriptive section and table, Section 402, that "prescribes" the current minimum basic component requirements. For Southern Nevada, the significant changes are in window requirements. The new code requires a maximum U-factor of .50 (a rate of time it takes the warm side air temperature to transfer through the window glass and frame assembly to the cold side of the window), and a maximum solar heat gain coefficient of .30 (maximum 30 percent of the solar heat radiant temperature gain through window). These changes should not significantly increase the cost of a house, since the window manufacturers have been moving toward these base minimum changes for some time, have depleted older stock and efficiently incorporated window film and sealing improvements into their base production lines.

The significant residential changes for homes in Northern Nevada are in exterior wall requirements. These changes could add to the initial construction cost in both materials and labor.

Another significant change to residential energy compliance concerns the "tightness" of the house. Per the new code, either a blower-door test or thorough inspection, using the mandatory thermal bypass building sealing checklist of IECC Table 402.4.2, must be performed.

These inspections must be performed by the permitting jurisdiction or an approved, certified third-party inspection agency. There should be no additional cost with homes constructed to current Energy Star or equivalent standards.

The final major change in the 2009 residential portion of the code pertains to mandatory duct-blaster testing for all HVAC ducts installed in unconditioned spaces. All ducts within homes installed within unconditioned attic or crawl spaces, or in unconditioned basements, must be tested by a qualified third-party testing agency. (HERS raters or BPI certified energy auditors are examples of approved testers.) Homes built to RESNET above-code program standards may follow the testing protocol of their program. This requirement could increase the cost of home construction by an additional $150 to $200.

IECC Commercial Changes

There are several major changes affecting commercial requirements of the energy code. Minimum insulation requirements have increased 25 percent for all attics, from R-30 to R-38, and likewise for steel framed walls, from R-13 to R-13, plus 1 inch of R-13 with 1 inch of continuous foam insulation on the exterior side. Little change has occurred on the window efficiency side, but skylights must be 30 percent more efficient than required in the 2006 code.

Regarding other changes to the energy envelope, a major change is how jurisdictions in Southern Nevada looked at vestibules. In previous codes, we amended the vestibule exceptions section to match that of ASHRAE 90.1, exempting buildings under four stories in height. In the 2009 code, this exemption goes away. So, if you are using the IECC as your base code, vestibule requirements will now be strictly enforced. This could cause design professionals some consternation, especially if they are designing restaurants with dining patios.

The bulk of major changes in the commercial code center on Section 505, dealing with electrical power and lighting systems.  The affects of daylighting, or the strategic use of windows and skylights to bring in natural light in lieu of electric lighting, has been introduced into the code with a new Section 505.2.2.3. (This strategy will become more predominant, as future energy code editions develop.)

Initially, in this code, increased switching and sensing equipment will be required to decrease electrical lighting sources when adequate natural window lighting is available.

The most profound changes to the IECC lighting section is not how the code was written, but how we in Southern Nevada have amended and enforced the lighting power density requirements for interior and exterior lighting in the past. Previously, the industry requested rewriting power budget tables to allow lighting technology to "catch up" with code mandates. In this code cycle, requirements of Sections 505.5 and 505.6 will now be strictly enforced. Increased allowances for interior occupancy groups and bonuses for the height of fixtures are eliminated. We also removed the specific exemption from the lighting power density requirements for food establishments, convinced that more efficient lighting is now available to meet both energy code and health department requirements.

For an in-depth review of residential and commercial changes to the IECC, please attend SN-ICC's EduCode the last week in January 2011, or watch for subsequent seminars to be sponsored by the state Energy Office. To review the text of the Southern Nevada Building Officials Amending Ordinance to the 2009 IECC, view the EduCode course catalog and register, or to purchase code books at a discount, please visit: www.snicc.org

Donald J. White works for the city of Las Vegas Building & Safety Department. He serves as chair of the 2009 IECC Code Review Committee and a member of the ICC 2012 IECC Code Development Committee. He can be reached at: (702) 229-5460 or dowhite@lasvegasnevada.gov.

Kenneth Zarembski
Kenneth Zarembski is a principal and managing director at Walter P Moore Las Vegas with twenty years of experience in diversified aspects of structural engineering analysis, design and management. As Principal-In-Charge for Structural Engineering, Mr. Zarembksi is responsible for contractual performance, especially with respect to the level of service and client satisfaction. He assures that the firm's resources are appropriately available for the duration of the project, contributes to the development of all technical solutions, and  assures that the firm's quality assurance program is utilized for all aspects of the project.

Mr. Zarembski's experience includes principal in charge/engineer of record for McCarran International Airport, Terminal 3; Twentynine Palms Bachelor Enlisted Quarters and Parking Garage; Las Vegas Convention Center Master Plan Enhancement Project; Echelon Place Zone 3.1 - The Meeting Center; Echelon Place Zone 3.2 - North Parking Garage; and the Sheraton Phoenix Convention Center Hotel.