Contents:
Q.
What is FlaRes?
A.
FlaRes is Florida's
residential energy code compliance software tool.
All new residences constructed in Florida must comply
with Florida's energy code, which is slightly more
restrictive than the national Model Energy Code (MEC).
While it is possible to comply with Florida's building
codes using forms that are filled out by hand, FlaRes
software is the method of choice in Florida by a margin
of about 9 to 1.
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Q.
What is ResFREE?
A.
ResFREE stands
for Residential Florida Ratings
for Energy Efficiency. ResFREE
is the authorized software for Florida's Home Energy
Rating System (HERS) and
is a companion software to Florida's residential energy
code compliance software (FlaRes).
Since Florida's building energy rating systems are
controlled by Florida Statute
and Florida Administrative Code (Rule
9-B60) to be uniform across the state, the only
authorized means of obtaining a home energy rating
in Florida is through ResFREE
software.
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Q.
What is a Home Energy Rating?
A.
A Home Energy Rating is an evaluation of the energy-efficiency
of a home using a uniform method of comparing the
Rated home's energy-efficiency with national standards
for envelope efficiency and heating, cooling and hot
water equipment efficiency. The national standard
configuration is called the HERS (Home Energy Rating
System) Reference Home. Its estimated energy use is
used as the basis for comparison with the Rated home's
estimated energy use. From this energy comparison
a relative score, called the HERS Score is computed.
The HERS score scale extends from 0 to 100, with a
score of 100 indicating zero purchased energy use.
A HERS score of 80 or greater indicates compliance
with the 1993 national Model Energy Code (MEC) and
a HERS score of 86 indicates qualification for the
EPA Energy
Star® label.
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Q.
Where do I get the free information brochure "Thinking
About Buying a New Home"?
A.
This free information brochure that describes Florida's
Building Energy Rating System is available in multiple
copies from the Florida Energy Gauge Support Office.
An e-mail message to info@energygauge.com
containing your full mailing address and the requested
number of copies is sufficient to have the brochures
shipped to you. If you only need one or a few copies
of the brochure, it is also available below online
in Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) suitable
for printing on 8-1/2" x 14" legal sized
paper. If you do not have Acrobat's free reader you
may download it by clicking on the link given below.
 Download
"Thinking about Buying a New Home"
(PDF format - 290 kB)
Download
Acrobat's Free Reader
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Q.
Who can purchase FlaRes and ResFree?
A.
Anyone
can purchase FlaRes.
Only certified Florida Raters may purchase ResFree.
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Q.
What
is the difference between FlaRes and FlaCom?
A.
FlaRes
computes and provides compliance reports for Florida
residential building code compliance and FlaCom
computes and provides compliance reports for Florida
Commercial building code compliance. They are different
software products and must be purchased separately.
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Q.
Can I use other software to comply with Florida's
energy codes?
A.
No, you must use FlaRes
for residential building code compliance applications
and FlaCom for
commercial building code compliance applications.
These code compliance softwares have been adopted
by Florida Administrative Code (Rule 9-B13) as the
only authorized software for code compliance in Florida.
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Q.
Must I use the same R-values and efficiencies as
in the baseline examples given in the EnergyGauge
software?
A.
No, absolutely not! Method 600A, which is the method
utilized by EnergyGauge software, is performance based.
This means that you can use any material R-values,
and equipment efficiencies as long as the e-Ratio
generated when all inputs are complete is less than
or equal to 1.0.
There
are however, certain minimum efficiencies which need
to be satisfied by the Florida Energy Code. The SEER
of the cooling system must be 10.0 or greater and
attic insulation must be at least an R-19. The efficiency
of the water heating system must meet the minimum
requirements for the number of storage gallons. (You
can find the water heater requirements in Table 6-12
of the Florida Energy Efficiency Code.)
Use
the HELP menu in the software to access the Florida
Energy Efficiency Code to find answers to specific
requirements necessary to meet the code.
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Q.
Must I use windows with a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient
(SHGC) of 0.40 or less?
A.
No,
you may use any type of windows you wish as long as
your proposed home does not exceed the point total
of the baseline home. The baseline home, which is
the geometric "twin" to your proposed home,
uses windows with a total area equal to 18% of the
conditioned floor area that are equally distributed
in all orientations with SHGC = 0.40. You may use
less efficient windows than this and then "make
up for" the efficiency difference elsewhere in
your proposed home in many other ways, including:
adding roof overhangs to your home design, improving
the orientation of your home, increasing the efficiency
of other envelope components, providing leak free
duct systems, upgrading the heating, cooling or hot
water equipment efficiencies beyond the minimum standards,
or by using renewable energy resources like solar
hot water systems.
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Q.
Our
company has 4 code compliance specialist with computers.
Can they all share one copy of the software?
A.
No,
I am afraid not. This software is sold with a single-user
license. That means that it may be installed legally
on only one PC at a time. Multiple people may use
that PC, but if the same software purchase is installed
on more than one PC at any given time, then the purchaser
of the software is in violation of the software's
copyright.
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