Confirm whether the energy code the jurisdiction enforces points the project to ASHRAE 90.1, and record the edition and compliance path. Then trace envelope, HVAC, controls, service water heating, lighting, and power values from the compliance documents into the drawings and schedules. AI can flag conflicts; the designers document compliance.
What does ASHRAE 90.1 cover?
ASHRAE describes Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Sites and Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, as providing the minimum requirements for energy-efficient design of most sites and buildings, except low-rise residential buildings, and as a benchmark for commercial building energy codes in the United States.
ASHRAE’s 90.1 page offers the 2025 edition. The U.S. Department of Energy’s determinations page lists its most recent commercial determination for Standard 90.1-2022, issued March 6, 2024. Both checked October 5, 2026. Neither date establishes what a state or city enforces; energy codes are adopted separately and often lag the newest edition.
Many jurisdictions adopt the IECC, whose commercial provisions the IECC guide covers; record which document the project documents compliance against. Ventilation and equipment beyond energy questions follow the IMC guide.
Gather the compliance documents and the systems they describe
Collect the energy compliance documents (forms, software reports, or the energy model summary), the code analysis naming the energy code and path, wall, roof, and floor assemblies, the glazing and door schedules, mechanical equipment schedules, sequences of operation and controls drawings, lighting plans, fixture schedule, and lighting controls, service water heating schedules, electrical drawings for metering and receptacle control where applicable, and the related specification sections.
Compliance documents are often prepared once and not updated. Check their dates against the current drawing issue.
Trace the compliance values through each system
| Review question | Sources to compare | Decision to record |
|---|---|---|
| Edition and path | Code analysis, compliance documents, specifications | Confirm one edition and one compliance path across documents. |
| Envelope | Compliance documents, assemblies, glazing schedule, specifications | Match insulation, assembly, and fenestration values to the drawings. |
| HVAC equipment | Compliance documents, equipment schedules, specifications | Match equipment types and efficiencies across forms, schedules, and specifications. |
| Controls | Sequences of operation, controls drawings, compliance documents | Check that controls the forms claim appear in the sequences. |
| Lighting | Lighting plans, fixture schedule, lighting controls, compliance documents | Reconcile fixture counts, wattages, and control zones with the forms. |
| Water heating and power | Plumbing schedules, electrical drawings, compliance documents | Confirm equipment and controls the forms rely on appear in the drawings. |
Controls connect to the HVAC controls specifications guide, glazing to the glazing specifications guide, and lighting to the lighting specifications guide. The mechanical checklist covers the rest of the HVAC set.
Example: the compliance form describes an earlier storefront
Hypothetical example. The envelope compliance documents list one glazing assembly for the storefront. A later glazing schedule changes the storefront to a different product with different performance values, and the elevations add glazed area on one facade.
The glazing schedule and elevations show a different storefront product and more glazed area than the envelope compliance documents. Please confirm the glazing selection and update the compliance documentation to match the current drawings.
The architect updates the compliance documentation. Whether the building complies is the designer’s and code official’s decision; the finding is that the forms describe a different building.
Review energy documents with Groundbook
Upload the current drawings and specifications to Groundbook, and state the edition, amendments, and review scope in your instructions. Add the ASHRAE 90.1 edition the project uses from a copy you are licensed to use, where the license permits uploading it, and the jurisdiction’s published amendments. See how Groundbook works with local and licensed codes.
Compare the energy compliance documents with the code analysis, assemblies, glazing schedule, mechanical schedules, sequences of operation, lighting plans and controls, water heating schedules, and specifications. Flag a conflicting edition or compliance path, values that differ between the forms and the drawings, and claimed controls missing from the sequences. Use the supplied ASHRAE 90.1 edition and cite both sources.
Groundbook links each potential finding to the sheets and forms involved. It compares the values the documents state; it does not run an energy model or compliance software.
Document review does not certify energy compliance or replace the designers, energy modeler, or code official.