The purpose of the workshop was to provide an insight into the compliance and enforcement of the Tropical Energy Code that was adopted on Aug. 27, 2009 for residential and commercial buildings in the CNMI. To date, because of the added financial impact the code would have on residential consumers wishing to construct homes, the only compliance being enforced by the CNMI Building Safety Code Division is that for commercial buildings only.
89 participants attended the workshop on the first day comprising of engineers, architects, contractors and stakeholders as well as representatives from the Department of Public Works Building Safety Code Division from Saipan, Tinian and Rota, Division of Energy, Technical Services Division and from the Public School System.
The workshop provided information regarding mandatory energy-efficient building provisions of the Tropical Energy Code that covered the scope and application of the code for residential and commercial buildings with respect to building envelope, mechanical systems and lighting systems which include service water heating, power/lighting systems and cooling/ventilation for new residential and commercial buildings, including major alterations to existing buildings.
On day two, the presenter’s spoke and covered issues relative to building plan review for building envelope, mechanical and lighting systems that also included an inspection checklist for the review of three architectural and design plans used in the two-day event and site inspection of a building under construction at Marianas High School.
In addition, attendees were limited to only DPW and PSS personnel who had the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills they received on plan review and performing actual on-site inspection for compliance at the MHS campus in Susupe. At the site inspection, attendees were able to understand more what needed to be done and the things to look for in order to properly implement and enforce the Tropical Energy Code to ensure compliance.
During the site inspection, the presenters and attendees had the opportunity to also meet and network with representatives of the contractor, engineer-on-site to discuss issues of the building plan and lighting and cooling systems based on the plan review process and made comments towards how to better comply with the requirements of the code.
Because of the number of participants in attendance, it is recommended that this type of workshop and training be provided again in the future to ensure effective compliance enforcement of the Tropical Energy Code in order for the CNMI to become energy-efficient.
Funding opportunity for this workshop is made possible by the U.S. Department of Energy State Energy Program through a grant under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
