Improving Building
Energy Performance
Thomas H. Phoenix, P.E., FASHRAE
ASHRAE-Certified Building Energy Assessment
and Building Energy Modeling Professional
2013-14 ASHRAE President-Elect
ASERTTI Fall Meeting
Raleigh, NC
October 3, 2013
ASHRAE: Who We Are
• 53,000 volunteer members in over 130 countries
– More than 5,000 student members
– More than 170 chapters
– More than 250 student branches
– More than 7,500 young professional members
• Consulting engineers, contractors, manufacturers, manufacturing representatives, architects and students
ASHRAE: Who We Are
• Global membership
• Our members create our technologies
• A leader in the built environment industry
for technical advancements
• One of few HVAC&R organizations in
world with own research program
Tools for Improving
Building Energy
Performance
• Standards, Guidelines and Special
Publications
• eLearning
• Certification
• Building Energy Quotient (bEQ)
• Case Study: ASHRAE Headquarters
Why Are Tools Needed?
• Can’t manage what you don’t measure.
• Claims of high performing buildings made but
little evidence presented to verify
• Establish common set of measurements with
results reported against meaningful and
consistent benchmarks.
• Reliable and reproducible protocols needed to
give usable feedback to designers/operators
when measured performance does not match
design intent and expectations
Maintain to Sustain
“Modern air conditioning systems protect the health, comfort and productivity of building
occupants. Unfortunately, they consume a lot of energy while providing these benefits. When these systems are not operated
properly, the energy they use can increase by 50 percent or more. The elimination of non-value producing energy helps protect our
environment while saving the building owner money.”
-ASHRAE Presidential Member William Harrison
Maintain to Sustain
• Reduction not so much the result of changes in hardware and systems.
Reduction comes from improvements in software and operational
training.
• Study by the Energy Systems Lab at Texas A & M University indicated
energy use in buildings could be reduced by 10 to 40% by improving
operational strategies in buildings.
• Over reliance on experts has resulted in minimum transfer of
knowledge.
Standards and Guidelines
ASHRAE/IES ANSI Standard 90.1-2010,
Energy Standard for Buildings except
Low Rise Residential Buildings
• The Benchmark for Commercial
Energy Codes
• Used in All 50 States
• Sets Minimum Requirements for
Building Envelope, HVAC, Water
Heating, Power and Lighting
• Provides Procedures for Performance
Rating
Standards and Guidelines
ASHRAE/USGBC/IES ANSI Standard
189.1-2011, Standard for the Design of
High Performance Green Buildings
• Total Sustainable Design Package
• Defines Minimum Requirements for
Green Buildings Written in Code
Intended Language
• Includes Site, Water, Energy, IEQ,
Materials, and Construction
• Adopted as a Compliance Option for
ICC 2012 International Green
Construction Code (igCC)
Standards and Guidelines
ASHRAE/IES Standard 202-2013,
Commissioning Process for Facilities and
Systems
• Purpose: identify minimum acceptable
commissioning process for buildings and
systems
• Scope: provides procedures, methods,
documentation requirements for each phase of
project delivery from pre-design through
occupancy and operation phases, including:
– overview of Commissioning Process activities
– description of each phase’s minimum activities
– acceptance requirements
– minimum training requirements
• Newly published this month
Standards
and Guidelines
• Guideline 0-2005, The Commissioning Process,
describes commissioning process capable of verifying
facility and systems meet owner’s project requirements
• Guideline 1.1-2007, HVAC&R Technical Requirements
for the Commissioning Process, describes technical
requirements for application of commissioning process in
Guideline 0-2005
• Guideline 0.2P, The Commissioning Process for Existing
Systems and Assemblies
• Guideline 1.2P, The Commissioning Process for Existing
HVAC&R Systems
Standards and Guidelines
Guideline 32-2012, Sustainable, High Performance Operation and Maintenance • Provides guidance on optimizing
O&M to achieve lowest economic and environmental life cycle cost without sacrificing safety or functionality
• Assists those who operate and maintain buildings to achieve high performance: safe, productive indoor environments; low economic life cycle cost; low energy, water and resource use; and low impacts on environment
• Applies to all buildings, not just new ones
Standards and Guidelines
• ANSI/ASHRAE/ACCA 180-2008, Standard
Practice for Inspection and Maintenance of
Commercial-Building HVAC Systems,
establishes minimum HVAC
inspection/maintenance requirements that
preserve a system’s ability to achieve
acceptable thermal comfort, energy efficiency
and indoor air quality
Standard 111-2008, Measurement, Testing,
Adjusting and Balancing of Building HVAC
Systems
Standards and Guidelines
• Standard 214P, Standard for Measuring and Expressing
Building Energy Performance in a Rating Program
– Purpose:
• provide a standardized approach and methodology for
measuring and expressing building energy performance in
rating programs
• standardize formats and labels associated with building
energy rating programs
• establish minimum requirements for rating program
documentation
Standards and Guidelines
• Standard 214P
– Scope: new and existing buildings; building sites on which
buildings are located; all accessory structures; energy using
systems and equipment
– establishes requirements for disclosure of building energy use
via rating labels and supporting summary documentation
– modeling of buildings and building sites to estimate/predict
building energy use
– requirements for measuring and expressing energy use of
buildings and building sites that are in operation
– acceptable credentialing criteria for individuals applying standard
and reporting building energy use
– preoccupancy and post-occupancy conditions
– format and content of rating disclosure, labels and supporting
documentation
Performance Measurement Procedures
for Commercial Buildings: Best Practices
Guide
• Tools, techniques for measuring, managing, improving facility performance
• Provides specific best practices for – energy use
– water use
– four elements of indoor environmental quality
• thermal comfort,
• indoor air quality
• lighting/daylighting
• acoustics
• Companion book to Performance Measurement Protocols for Commercial Buildings
Advanced Energy
Design Guides
• Collaboration of professional organizations
AIA, USGBC, IES and DOE
• Provide design packages and strategies to
help owners and designers achieve 50% site
energy savings over ASHRAE 90.1–2004
• Present climate specific recommendations by
building types
• Whole building approach
– Opaque envelope and fenestration
– Daylighting and lighting
– HVAC and service hot water
– Plug and process loads
Existing Building
Guidance
• Set of two guidance documents
• Provides business case and
technical guidance for energy
improvements
• Demonstrates how to benchmark
performance against comparable
buildings
• Illustrates how energy use and
cost can be reduced by up to 30
percent
• Developed with BOMA, AIA,
USGBC, IES, GSA
ASHRAE GreenGuide
• Covers need-to-know
information
– what to do, what to suggest
– how to interact with other
members of the design
team in a productive way
• Updated version slated
for January 2014
Indoor Environmental
Quality
• Describes 40 strategies for
achieving critical IAQ objectives
related to moisture management,
ventilation, filtration and air
cleaning and source control.
• Highlights how design and
construction teams can work
together to incorporate good IAQ
strategies from initial design
through project completion.
• Joint effort of ASHRAE, AIA,
BOMA, U.S. EPA, SMACNA,
USGBC
• Free download at
www.ashrae.org/FreeIAQGuidance
New eLearning Website
• Simpler, more intuitive
navigation: subscriptions
and access to training
landing page
• Single sign on for ASHRAE
members
• Simplified purchasing
process
• More search tools:
o Browse by course, course
package or library
o Filter by training level or
subject
Certification
ASHRAE’s certification programs recognize
industry professionals who have mastered the
knowledge and skills reflecting best practices in
certain aspects of building design and operations.
Earning this recognized, high-quality industry
certification can demonstrate your value to the
design process and also serves as a springboard
for continued professional development. ASHRAE
has certified more than 1,600 HVAC&R
professionals.
Certification
• Building Energy Assessment Professional (BEAP)
• Building Energy Modeling Professional (BEMP)
• Commissioning Process Management Professional (CPMP)
• High-Performance Building Design Professional (HBDP)
• Healthcare Facility Design Professional (HFDP)
• Operations & Performance Management Professional (OPMP)
Building Energy Assessment
Professional (BEAP)
• Certifies ability to audit and analyze residential, commercial, and industrial buildings including: – Determining project scope
– Collecting data
– Analyzing building performance
– Interpreting results information
– Evaluating alternatives
– Recommending energy conservation measures
– Assisting with ECM implementation
• Exam currently being updated
• 184 Building Energy Assessment Professionals
Building Energy Modeling
Professional (BEMP)
• Certifies ability to:
– Evaluate and choose
– Use and calibrate
– Interpret results of energy modeling software
when applied to building and systems energy
performance and economics for new and
existing buildings
• Exam updated in 2012
• 290 Building Energy Modeling
Professionals
Commissioning
Process Management
Professionals
• ASHRAE’s most popular
certification; introduced in 2009
• Revision of exam completed in
2011; next revision slated for
2014 or 2015
• Developed first online practice
exam earlier this year
Commissioning Process
Management Professionals
• Helps building owners, developers,
operators recognize individuals capable of
assuring building systems and equipment
are designed, installed, tested, operated
and maintained according to their
operational needs
• 523 Commissioning Process Management
Professionals
“As the nation looks to reduce its
energy use, information is the critical
first step in making the necessary
choices and changes.”
Building Energy Labeling
Information for Consumers
to Allow Educated Choices
is Not New
Restaurant Sanitation Ratings
Car Fuel Economy Estimates
Nutrition Fact Label
Building Energy
Labels Provide
• Potential and measured energy use
• Feedback on a building’s energy
performance
• Insight into the value and potential long-
term energy costs
• Differentiation in the marketplace
• Identification of energy efficiency
measures
Current Efforts
Related to Labeling
• Significant efforts in the European Union
and Canada
• U.S. efforts include:
– ENERGY STAR – Energy benchmarking
– LEED Rating – Broader sustainability rating
– Green Globes – Broader sustainability rating
– BOMA Energy Programs – Energy ratings
– State programs– California, Massachusetts,
New York, DC
ASHRAE’s Building Energy Labeling
Program
Building Energy Quotient
(bEQ)
bEQ
• Is a voluntary labeling program
• Draws on successful features of other US and European building labeling & certifications
• Complements other green building rating systems and energy labeling programs
• Can be a tool to stimulate adoption of high performance building techniques
• Potential side by side comparison of As Designed (asset) and In Operation (operational) ratings
bEQ Rating Types
In Operation (operational) rating
• Based on actual measured energy use of
a building
• Takes account of building
structure/features and how it is operated
• Applicable for existing buildings
• Applicable for new buildings after 12-18
months of operation
bEQ Rating Types
As Designed (asset) rating
• Assessment of the building based on design components: mechanical, envelope, orientation, and lighting
• Based on standardized results of an energy model as compared to a baseline
• Applicable to both new and existing buildings
• Can be used to make choices between potential building designs
Problems with Existing
Asset Rating Methodologies
• Results are not comparable among buildings of
the same type
• Some physical variables normalized
– Building Massing
– Percent of glazing below 40%
• Occupancy parameters not normalized
• Calculation procedures insufficiently rigorous
• Discrepancies between asset ratings and
operational results misunderstood
Comparing As Designed
& In Operation Ratings
As Designed Rating:
• Based on simulated
energy use
• Independent of
operational and
occupancy
variables
• Improved only by
upgrading building
fabric
In Operation Rating:
• Based on actual
energy use
• Influenced by
operational and
occupancy variables
• Improved through
upgrade of either
operating
procedures or
building fabric
bEQ Rating Scale
• The bEQ scale is dimensionless
• Top of scale (zero) set to “zero net energy”
• Median value (100) set to national median EUI of CBECS building types and subtypes
• Can go below zero for net energy producing buildings
• Bottom half of scale exceeds 100 for “inefficient” and “unsatisfactory” high energy usage
Building Certification Requires
Certified Professionals
• In Operation (operational) rating = Building
Energy Assessment Professional (BEAP)
• As Designed (asset) rating = Building
Energy Modeling Professional (BEMP)
ASHRAE Headquarters
The greatest opportunity to change energy
consumption in the built environment is
through modification of existing buildings.
ww.ashrae.org/building
Goals of Renewal
• Demonstrate commitment
to sustainability
• Deliver a healthy and
productive workplace
• Provide a learning center
• Create a living lab
In 2005, ASHRAE formed a plan to renew its headquarters building in Atlanta. The project was completed in June
2008:
ASHRAE succeeded in creating a healthy,
productive and sustainable building,
ensuring a sustainability showcase
for years to come.
– 34,000 ft2
– Total cost of $7.6 million
Building Excellence
• A- in In Operation category of ASHRAE’s
bEQ program
• Recipient of ENERGY STAR®
• Awarded LEED® Platinum in New
Construction in Version 2.2
Energy Efficiency
Before
Jan. 2005: 82.3 kBtu/sqft
ENERGY STAR Rating:
36 percentile
After
Jan. 2012: 36 kBtu/sqft
ENERGY STAR Rating:
96 percentile
Site Energy Use Intensity
Percent reduction in EUI: 60%
Commitment
to Sustainability
Resource-conserving features resulted in
tremendous savings:
• Total annual water consumption reduced
by 67%
• Thermal comfort satisfaction improved
from 18% to 33%
• Indoor air quality satisfaction improved
from 26% to 77%
