Design not a prediction

Regarding your editorial ("Pushback on green technology," Sept.), ASHRAE 90.1-1999 reads (p. 55): "Informative Note: The energy cost budget and the design energy cost calculations are applicable only for determining compliance with this standard. They are not predictions of actual energy consumption or costs of the proposed design after construction. Actual experience will differ from these calculations due to variations such as occupancy, building operation and maintenance, weather, energy use not covered by this standard, changes in energy rates between design of the building and occupancy, and precision of the calculation tool."

Lessons learned from monitoring these buildings can be used in the development of future design efforts to increase energy efficiency and operational effectiveness.

There are details in the construction documents that may not correlate to how a building is actually constructed. More care should be used in predicting how actual energy use will be affected by these nuances of the design and construction process.

Paul McCown, LEED AP, Smith Seckman Reid, Nashville, Tenn.

Sound walls tick him off

What ticks me off are the "sound walls" going up [adjacent to highways], solving noise pollution by creating an eyesore. Where is Lady Bird Johnson when we need her? They don't work. They are ugly. They won't be maintained. We don't have money for road repairs, bridges, or schools, but we can [waste] it on this.

Pat McGinty, Bay Village, Ohio