Does an office in an unconditioned warehouse need a heat pump?

Section 140.4(a)2H sets a heat pump for warehouse office spaces on the prescriptive route for single-zone direct-expansion systems up to 240,000 Btu/hr. New systems in additions and alterations are excepted, and the performance approach is the other route.

Can warehouse lighting power be used for the office?

No. Conditioned and unconditioned lighting allotments are calculated separately and cannot be traded under Section 140.6(b)1.

Warehouse Office Buildout Title 24 Requirements

An office built inside a warehouse is judged on three points: whether the space was ever occupied, whether the office becomes newly conditioned space, and what its lighting must do. The office gets its own lighting allowance and occupant sensing, separate from the warehouse floor, and its own route for the heat pump rule.

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First, how the buildout is classified

Part 6 defines a newly constructed building as one never used or occupied for any purpose. A first-time office buildout in a bare warehouse can therefore land on the new-construction side, and the Energy Commission manual (2022 edition) says that when the agency classifies it that way, every new-construction requirement applies, including controlled receptacles and circuit separation under Section 130.5. The building department decides, so ask before design starts. A previously occupied warehouse is an alteration instead, as explained under alteration or new construction.

Conditioning the office is an addition

Space converted from unconditioned to conditioned is newly conditioned space, and Section 100.1 says it must comply as an addition. See also the warehouse requirements page.

The heat pump rule depends on the route

Section 140.4(a)2H requires a heat pump, in every climate zone, for office spaces in warehouses served by a single-zone direct-expansion system of 240,000 Btu/hr or less, unless the performance approach is used. Section 141.0 switches that rule off for new equipment in additions (Exception 7 to 141.0(a)) and in alterations (Exception 1 to 141.0(b)2C). The same rooftop unit can face the mandate under one classification and not the other.

Lighting is counted office by office

Lighting installed for the first time must meet Sections 130.1, 130.2, 130.4 and 140.6 (141.0(b)2F). Under the Area Category Method the office is its own primary function area: 0.60 watts per square foot above 250 square feet, 0.65 at 250 or less, against 0.40 for the warehouse. Conditioned and unconditioned allotments are calculated separately with no trade-offs between them (140.6(b)1), so unused unconditioned-warehouse watts cannot pay for office fittings. The method is on lighting power allowance.

Offices of 250 square feet or less need occupant sensing that shuts all lighting off within 20 minutes (130.1(c)5). Larger offices need control zones of 600 square feet or less, shown on the plans (130.1(c)6D). Both are field tested on NRCA-LTI-02-A. If the warehouse lighting is also being replaced, see warehouse lighting retrofit; quotes start from the commercial page.

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