Masonry Magazine September 1975 Page. 12
FACTS ABOUT
Masonry's "M" Factor and LAS for 51b
This paper was presented by Thomas B. Redmond, P.E., Director of Technical Services, National Concrete Masonry Association, at the International Masonry Institute's Promotion Meeting held at Virginia Beach, Va., July 23rd. Mr. Redmond was a participant on a panel of engineers who covered various topics in relation to energy. In these remarks he covers (1) the procedure that should be followed to obtain a local acceptable standard (LAS) as a variance to the requirements prescribed in HUD's 51b and (2) the Masonry Industry Committee's Program to develop a "M" factor to give proper credit to the mass effect of masonry for energy conservation.
provided to us recently by HUD officials. They are shown
as follows:
| HUD REGION NO. AND CITY | ARCHITECTURAL ADVISOR | PHONE NUMBER |
|---|---|---|
| I Boston | Eugene Bourgeois | 617 223 4339 |
| II New York | Zera Taylor | 212 264 4703 |
| III Philadelphia | John Montemurro Charles Obey | 215 597 9566 or 215 597 9570 |
| IV Atlanta | Lyman Robertson | 404 526 3471 |
| V Chicago | Pat Papadopolous | |
| VI Fort Worth | Jack Hinman | 214 749 7521 |
| VII Kansas City | Lou Geiss | 816 374 2703 |
| VIII Denver | Glynn Harris | 303 837 3563 |
| IX San Francisco | George Panuska William Poole | 415 556 0803 |
| X Seattle | William Austin | 206 442 0246 |
Procedure For Obtaining A LAS
A local acceptable standard is the device provided by HUD to receive an exception to the requirements of their minimum property standard. Sometimes the LAS is used to get an exception on a non-repetitive or project basis. This type of application was recently used by a builder in Texas whose all masonry housing project was stopped by HUD because the walls did not meet the required U= 0.10. The application was approved but a project by project process is much too time consuming for builders to pursue.
The repetitive type or long-term LAS is what we must obtain in order to return masonry to a competitive position. The procedure for filing the repetitive type application has been specified by HUD and given to our masonry industry committee. Briefly, it consists of the following three steps:
1. Local Masonry Industry Groups or other interested parties must apply for the variance from the local HUD office. At this time, supportive materials should be presented and any additional material needed by HUD should be determined.
2. After the local office has reviewed the material it is forwarded to the regional office for action. The regional office is autonomous and can grant a hearing for the specific local field office or for the entire region.
3. After action by the regional office, the application may be sent to the central HUD office for review or approval.
Even though it is suggested that the group making application go first to the local HUD office, some members of NCMA have found that the local office is not even aware of 51b or the procedure for effecting a change. If this is the case, it may be advisable to contact the architectural advisor in the regional office and work through the local and regional offices concurrently. A list of the architectural advisors for each of HUD's 10 regions was
Part of the data which has been effectively used to obtain an LAS for two states is the result of computer analysis showing the difference in heating and cooling bills for houses with the different U-factors for walls. The computer program used to make this analysis is known as the NBSLD and covers some 300 variables. These variables may be divided into three categories: the weather conditions, the building, and the way the building is operated. In order to run this computer program, it is necessary to obtain weather data from a specific city which would be representative of the area for which application is made. This weather data is provided in the form of a weather tape which presents an hour by hour record of temperature, relative humidity, degree of cloud cover, etc. for one year period. It is important to use a weather tape which is considered to be representative of the most typical year for a ten year period. The NBSLD, which translated stands for the National Bureau of Standards Load Determining Program, is an expensive program to run. Many hundreds of dollars are used up in program time in order to make a simple comparison of one type structure with another in the same location. For this reason, it is important that the application for an LAS pertain to as large an area as possible. For example, successful applications for an LAS have been made (with a grant for variance obtained) for the states of Florida and Arizona. However, in another instance, where consideration was made for applying for an LAS for a full HUD region, it was found that the HUD officials required that the city weather tape to be used would have to be for the city with most severe weather condition. This would not be a fair treatment for most of the area of application and therefore, it was decided to make application on a state by state basis.
In addition to the computer analysis given theoretical fuel costs for the different building types, the following should be included with your application as supporting data:
1. Type and style of homes predominant in the area; that is, one story, two story, split level, basement or crawl space, or slab on grade, type of materials, etc.