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What Is in the Package?
Every Florida residential permit needs load calculations and energy compliance documentation before it gets reviewed, and the pieces are not really separable.
Manual J calculates how much heating and cooling the building actually requires, room by room, from the real orientation, the real window schedule and the real assemblies. Manual S selects equipment that matches that load at design conditions rather than rounding up to a familiar tonnage. Manual D sizes and lays out the distribution system to deliver the airflow that equipment needs at a static pressure it can work against. The energy compliance documentation then has to reflect all three, and the AHRI matching certificate confirms the indoor and outdoor units you are installing are a rated combination.
Break the chain anywhere and the pieces stop agreeing with each other. A load calculation run by one party and a duct design drawn by another, against equipment a third party picked off a truck, produces a permit package describing three different houses.
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Why These Are Sold Together
Because they are one calculation wearing four hats. Manual J produces a load, Manual S selects equipment against that load, Manual D sizes the ducts for that equipment, and the energy model reflects all three plus the envelope to produce a compliance result.
The practical reason matters just as much. When one party owns the whole chain, a change is a revision rather than a negotiation. The client wants a different window package, or the glass goes up, or the plan gets mirrored on a corner lot, and the whole package updates together instead of three people re-pricing three scopes.
What Rule-of-Thumb Sizing Does to a Florida House
Sizing residential equipment by square footage causes a specific and predictable set of problems in a hot humid climate:
A correctly performed Manual J on a modern Florida house, with a tight envelope and decent glass, frequently lands below what the rule of thumb would have specified. That is not an error in the calculation. It is the calculation telling you the envelope you paid for is doing its job.
How We Keep the Permit Package Simple
The quality of the output is bounded by the quality of the inputs, so the more we have up front, the fewer revisions later.
1.
Send the plans
Floor plans and elevations with the orientation the house will actually be built on.
2.
send the specifications
Window and door schedule with U-factor and SHGC, assemblies and insulation values, attic detail, and where the ducts and air handler are going.
3.
Diagnostics and Measurements
We run the load calculation, select equipment against it, size the duct system, and model the house for compliance.
4.
Package delivered by email
Manual J, S and D, the energy compliance documentation your jurisdiction wants at submittal, and the AHRI matching certificate.
5.
Revisions handled as revisions
A change to the glazing or the plan updates everything downstream rather than restarting it.
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Why Builders Choose Stellar Building Performance
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Other Areas We Serve
Energy and load calculations, blower door testing and duct leakage testing throughout Brevard County, Indian River County, St. Lucie County, Martin County, and Okeechobee County.
Recent Projects in Your Area
Checking in from the field. Highlights from recent projects across the Space and Treasure Coast.
Frequently asked questions about energy and load calculations
You can buy the load calculation alone, and sometimes that is all a jurisdiction asks for. It is worth knowing that a Manual J without Manual S and D leaves the two decisions that actually determine comfort unmade.
The more of this we have up front, the fewer revisions later:
Always needed:
Helpful if you have it:
Often, yes, on a well built modern house. That is the calculation reflecting the envelope you paid for rather than an error. An oversized system satisfies the thermostat quickly and never runs long enough to pull the humidity down, which is how a house ends up cool and still clammy.
Most jurisdictions in this service area require load calculations at submittal for residential HVAC, and the specifics vary by department. Tell us where the project is permitting and we will tell you what that department wants to see.
It confirms that the indoor and outdoor units you are installing are a rated, certified combination. A mismatched pair does not perform the way either component rating suggests, which is why reviewers ask for it.
Almost everyone uses R405, the performance path, because the prescriptive path requires meeting every requirement on its own terms with nothing traded between systems. We can run it either way and tell you what we see.
Energy and Load Calculation Reference
What Florida Requires at Submittal
Florida residential permits require energy compliance documentation under the Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation, and load calculations under the Florida Building Code, Residential. Most departments in this service area want both at submittal rather than at inspection. The references below cover the compliance paths and what changes in the 2026 cycle.
questions? give us a call, this is our specialty!
BIG CHANGES COMING IN 2026 FLORIDA BUILDING CODE UPDATES
Duct Leakage testing to be required on all homes with few exceptions, more stringent compliance targets, mechanical ventilation testing & more. Read our updates bulletin below.
2026 Florida Building Code Energy Conservation: What Builders Need to Know
This code line sets the envelope air leakage requirement your calculations have to assume.
R402.4.1.2 Testing.
The building or dwelling unit shall be tested and verified as having an air leakage rate not exceeding seven air changes per hour in Climate Zones 1 and 2, and three air changes per hour in Climate Zones 3 through 8. Dwelling units with an air leakage rate less than three air changes per hour shall be provided with whole-house mechanical ventilation in accordance with Section R403.6.1 of this code and Section M1507.3 of the Florida Building Code, Residential. Testing shall be conducted in accordance with ANSI/RESNET/ICC 380 and reported at a pressure of 0.2 inch w.g. (50 pascals). Testing shall be conducted by either individuals as defined in Section 553.993(5) or (7), Florida Statutes, or individuals licensed as set forth in Section 489.105(3)(f), (g) or (i) or an approved third party. A written report of the results of the test shall be signed by the party conducting the test and provided to the code official. Testing shall be performed at any time after creation of all penetrations of the building thermal envelope.
Exception: Testing is not required for additions, alterations, renovations or repairs of the building thermal envelope of existing buildings in which the new construction is less than 85 percent of the building thermal envelope.
During testing:
1.Exterior windows and doors, fireplace and stove doors shall be closed, but not sealed, beyond the intended weatherstripping or other infiltration control measures.
2.Dampers including exhaust, intake, makeup air, backdraft and flue dampers shall be closed, but not sealed beyond intended infiltration control measures.
3.Interior doors, if installed at the time of the test, shall be open.
4.Exterior doors for continuous ventilation systems and heat recovery ventilators shall be closed and sealed.
5.Heating and cooling systems, if installed at the time of the test, shall be turned off.
6.Supply and return registers, if installed at the time of the test, shall be fully open.
7.If an attic is both air sealed and insulated at the roof deck, interior access doors and hatches between the conditioned space volume and the attic shall be opened during the test and the volume of the attic shall be added to the conditioned space volume for purposes of reporting an infiltration volume and calculating the air leakage of the home.
This code line sets the duct leakage limits your calculations have to assume.
R405.2.2 Building air leakage testing.
Building or dwelling air leakage testing shall be in accordance with Sections R402.4 through R402.4.1.2. If an air leakage rate below seven air changes per hour at a pressure of 0.2 inch w.g. (50 pascals) is specified for the proposed design, testing shall verify the air leakage rate does not exceed the air leakage rate of the proposed design instead of seven air changes per hour.
Most projects use the R405 performance path, which models the whole house against a code-compliant reference building and produces a ratio. The prescriptive path requires meeting every requirement on its own terms with no trading between systems, which is why very few projects take it.
R403.3.3 Duct testing (Mandatory).
Ducts shall be pressure tested to determine air leakage by one of the following methods:
1.Rough-in test: Total leakage shall be measured with a pressure differential of 0.1 inch w.g. (25 Pa) across the system, including the manufacturer’s air handler enclosure if installed at the time of the test. All registers shall be taped or otherwise sealed during the test.
2.Postconstruction test: Total leakage shall be measured with a pressure differential of 0.1 inch w.g. (25 Pa) across the entire system, including the manufacturer’s air handler enclosure. Registers shall be taped or otherwise sealed during the test.
Exceptions:
1.A duct air leakage test shall not be required where the ducts and air handlers are located entirely within the building thermal envelope.
2.Duct testing is not mandatory for buildings complying by Section R405 of this code. Duct leakage testing is required for Section R405 compliance where credit is taken for leakage, and a duct air leakage Qn to the outside of less than 0.080 (where Qn = duct leakage to the outside in cfm per 100 square feet of conditioned floor area tested at 25 Pascals) is indicated in the compliance report for the proposed design.
A written report of the results of the test shall be signed by the party conducting the test and provided to the code official.
R405.2.3 Duct air leakage testing.
In cases where duct air leakage lower than the default Qn to outside of 0.080 (where Qn = duct leakage to the outside in cfm per 100 square feet of conditioned floor area tested at 25 Pascals) is specified for the proposed design, testing in accordance with Section R403.3.2 shall verify a duct air leakage rate not exceeding the leakage rate of the proposed design. Otherwise, in accordance with Section R403.3.3, duct testing is not mandatory for buildings complying by Section R405.
The 9th Edition takes effect December 31, 2026, and it makes the calculation more consequential rather than less. The maximum total e-Ratio tightens from 0.95 to 0.85, and the R405 duct testing exception is removed.
A house that cleared 0.95 with a little margin does not automatically clear 0.85, and the gap has to come from somewhere. In our experience a meaningful share of it is recoverable simply by modelling what the builder is already doing rather than modelling the minimum. Impact glazing frequently outperforms the prescriptive minimum, installed equipment is often a step above the specified floor, and competently built envelopes routinely land well under the code air leakage threshold.
Pull the calculations on the plans you will still be permitting into 2027 and look at where they land against 0.85, well before it becomes urgent.
R403.6.1 Whole-house mechanical ventilation system fan efficacy.
When installed to function as a whole-house mechanical ventilation system, fans shall meet the efficacy requirements of Table R403.6.1.
Exception: Where an air handler that is integral to tested and listed HVAC equipment is used to provide whole-house mechanical ventilation, the air handler shall be powered by an electronically commutated motor.
Review TABLE R403.6.1 WHOLE-HOUSE MECHANICAL VENTILATION SYSTEM FAN EFFICACY
R403.6.2 Ventilation air.
Residential buildings designed to be operated at a positive indoor pressure or for mechanical ventilation shall meet the following criteria:
1.The design air change per hour minimums for residential buildings in ASHRAE 62.2, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, shall be the maximum rates allowed for residential applications.
2.No ventilation or air-conditioning system make-up air shall be provided to conditioned space from attics, crawlspaces, attached enclosed garages or outdoor spaces adjacent to swimming pools or spas.
3.If ventilation air is drawn from enclosed space(s), then the walls of the space(s) from which air is drawn shall be insulated to a minimum of R-11 and the ceiling shall be insulated to a minimum of R-19, space permitting, or R-10 otherwise.
Need a Permit Package That Agrees With Itself?
Similar Services
Stellar Building Performance specializes in building performance diagnostics.
Duct Leakage Testing
Verify duct system airtightness using professional duct leakage testing required for new construction inspections.
Blower Door Testing
Measure whole house air leakage against the target your energy calculations actually committed the project to.
Helping Builders Stay on Schedule and Pass Inspections
Fast Scheduling
Builders get testing scheduled quickly to avoid delays.
accurate results
Professional equipment ensures reliable measurements.
immediate reports
Documentation provided immediately by email for inspection approvals.
