# Heating Plant Occupancy



## Mac (Feb 3, 2014)

Hello All. I have a new boiler house and boiler install under construction. It's not big, but it does have two 60,000 lb. gas boilers. Can someone suggest the occupancy type?


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## fatboy (Feb 3, 2014)

F-1.............


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## cda (Feb 3, 2014)

What occupancy is it attached to


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## Mac (Feb 3, 2014)

Its a stand alone building providing steam to about 35 academic and dorm buildings.


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## steveray (Feb 3, 2014)

I'm thinkin F1.....Tell them to build it at the bottom of the hill, not the top....Private joke....

The Ward Commission, charged with investigating public building contracts during the 1970s, concluded that the Tilson Farm steam plant fiasco was an all too typical byproduct of the greed and corruption ingrained in the system of awarding state government building contracts. Essentially the foxes had free rein in the henhouse with little to no oversight.

According to an abstract of the Ward Commission published in the Boston Globe (1/3/1981):

"The $9 million steam power plant is a white elephant - now standing idle because the 1.5-mile pipeline designed to carry steam to the campus contains irreparable defects caused by backward operation during startup. After $96,492 paid to contractors produced neither a solution of the problem nor even identification of its cause, workers renovated an old plant at a cost of over $2 million. Meanwhile, attempts to "mothball" the new plant resulted in corrosion of valves and pipes."

The "backward operation" probably seemed like a clever cost saving idea at the time: pulling steam into the plant from the older one located 1.5 miles away to heat it during the first winter of operation.

Attorney General Francis Bellotti eventually won a $970,000 lawsuit against the building designers but by then the $9.3 million steam plant was abandoned.


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## mtlogcabin (Feb 4, 2014)

> Its a stand alone building providing steam to about 35 academic and dorm buildings.


If it is strictly a large boiler room with no onsite operators then call it a "U" occupancy

If you have workers attending to the boiler on a regular schedule then an F-1 might be more appropriate.

312.1 General.

Buildings and structures of an accessory character and miscellaneous structures not classified in any specific occupancy shall be constructed, equipped and maintained to conform to the requirements of this code commensurate with the fire and life hazard incidental to their occupancy

No plumbing fixture requirements therefore no ADA issues,


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## nitramnaed (Feb 5, 2014)

I do a lot of pump/well houses (Similar use here) and have never been able to classify any building with a "U" occupancy.   I suggest you go with F-1, there shouldn't be any issues.  I do get nailed with the energy code though even on these unoccupied or semi-occupied structures.


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## Builder Bob (Feb 5, 2014)

nitramnaed said:
			
		

> I do a lot of pump/well houses (Similar use here) and have never been able to classify any building with a "U" occupancy.   I suggest you go with F-1, there shouldn't be any issues.  I do get nailed with the energy code though even on these unoccupied or semi-occupied structures.


C101.5 Compliance.

Residential buildings shall meet the provisions of IECC—Residential Provisions. Commercial buildings shall meet the provisions of IECC—Commercial Provisions.

C101.5.1 Compliance materials.

The code official shall be permitted to approve specific computer software, worksheets, compliance manuals and other similar materials that meet the intent of this code.

C101.5.2 Low energy buildings.

The following buildings, or portions thereof, separated from the remainder of the building by building thermal envelope assemblies complying with this code shall be exempt from the building thermal envelope provisions of this code:

1. Those with a peak design rate of energy usage less than 3.4 Btu/h • ft2 (10.7 W/m2) or 1.0 watt/ft2 (10.7 W/m2) of floor area for space conditioning purposes.

2. Those that do not contain conditioned space.


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## Mac (Feb 5, 2014)

Thanks folks, I just needed to verify my first instincts. There is a locker room with showers and all, control room, maintenance shop etc, all accessory to the F-1.


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## cda (Feb 5, 2014)

Mac said:
			
		

> Thanks folks, I just needed to verify my first instincts. There is a locker room with showers and all, control room, maintenance shop etc, all accessory to the F-1.


now you tell us,   M- Man Cave


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## nitramnaed (Feb 5, 2014)

Builder Bob said:
			
		

> C101.5 Compliance. Residential buildings shall meet the provisions of IECC—Residential Provisions. Commercial buildings shall meet the provisions of IECC—Commercial Provisions.
> 
> C101.5.1 Compliance materials.
> 
> ...


Number 2 is where they get us because the buildings are tempered with a unit heater.


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