Building Energy Quotient
ASHRAE Pilots a Potentially Game-changing Building Label
By Gordon V.R. Holness, P.E.
We have all seen the data demonstrating the existing building stock constitutes 40 percent of the U.S. primary energy use—the single largest sector of energy consumption in the nation. In fact, the carbon emissions associated with U.S. buildings equal the combined total emissions from France, Japan and the United Kingdom. However, the lingering question is how does this energy use translate to individual buildings?
As state, local and federal governments look at reducing national energy use and curbing greenhouse-gas emissions and building owners look to save money, an easily understood, yet technically sound, tool for understanding a building’s energy use and identifying opportunities to reduce that use is needed. One such tool, the Building Energy Quotient, or Building EQ, currently is being piloted by the Atlanta-based American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-conditioning Engineers with a widespread launch planned for late 2010.
Why We Need Energy Disclosure
We know about the fuel efficiency of our automobiles and understand proper maintenance can help maintain that efficiency. We know about the nutrition content of the food we eat and what specific choices mean to our health. But what do we know about the energy use of a building and how specific choices affect that energy use? A building energy labeling program provides the general public, building owners and tenants, potential owners and tenants, and building operations and maintenance staff with information targeted at their specific needs.
Building owners and operators will be able to see how their building compares to peer buildings to establish a measure of their potential for energy-performance improvement. The information provided will differentiate their building from others to help attract potential buyers or tenants.
Probably the greatest benefit from implementation of a building energy labeling program is the use of market-based forces (rather than prescriptive mandates) to influence energy-efficiency investment opportunities. Jurisdictions will be encouraged to implement a requirement for disclosure of energy use without necessarily requiring a specific level of achievement. The availability of this information alone will influence the decisions building owners make and the demands of building tenants and the public. Because building energy use is a concern for a variety of reasons (cost, climate concerns, energy independence and sustainability), the Building EQ program will provide an easily understood and consistent mechanism for evaluating energy use.
Potential buyers or tenants will gain insight into the value and potential long-term cost of operation of a building. A superior rating will let buyers know that not only is the building a high-performing building, but energy costs will be manageable, the current building owner pays attention to operations and maintenance, and money saved on energy costs would be available for other capital investments.
Finally, operations and maintenance staff can use the results to inform their decisions about maintenance activities and influence building owners and managers to pursue equipment upgrades and demonstrate the return on investment for energy-efficiency projects.
Beyond the benefit received by individual building owners and managers, the increased availability of building data—specifically the relationship between the design and operation of buildings—will be a valuable research tool for the building community.
Information Contained in the Label
Significant criticism has been floating around lately about the disconnect between the estimated energy use of a building design and the actual performance of the building once in operation. Of course, there are many explanations for these discrepancies and the Building EQ program is designed to identify some of them, thereby eventually bridging the gap between design- and operational-energy use. Through ratings on the design and operation of a building, the building owner and management team will gain insight into where the building has fallen short. Also, as part of the verification process, the owner will receive recommendations that could result in further energy savings.
The Building EQ program will take two expressions of energy use into account: “As Designed” and “In Operation.” The As Designed rating will provide an assessment of the building based on the components and characteristics specified in the design, including mechanical systems, building envelope, orientation and daylighting. This asset rating will be based on the results of a building energy model. The In Operation rating can be applied to buildings with at least 12 months of operating data. The operational measurement will provide information about the measured energy use of a building and is based on a combination of the structure of the building and how it is operated. Unless required by law in a local jurisdiction, the building owner can decide when and how to share the information obtained.
The label itself will be the most visible aspect of the program. It will be targeted at the general public and could be used for posting in a building lobby, potentially satisfying compliance with many of the programs being developed at the state and local level requiring display of energy use.
The certificate will contain additional information of a technical nature that will explain the score on the label and provide information useful to the building owner, prospective owners and tenants, and operations and maintenance personnel. The documentation accompanying the label and certificate will provide the background information useful for engineers, architects and technically savvy building owners or prospective owners in determining the current state of the building and opportunities for improving its energy use.
Comparison to Other Labeling Programs
Of course, this is not the only building labeling program in the U.S. The Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program and Washington-based U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program are probably the most recognized.
Like Energy Star, Building EQ focuses solely on energy but will provide additional features, including potential side-by-side comparison of As Designed and In Operation ratings; peak-demand reduction and demand management opportunities; energy use from on-site renewables; measurement-based indoor environmental quality indicators to assure levels of service are maintained; and a list of operational features, including commissioning activities, energy-efficiency improvements and information about how performance can be improved.
Rather than the simple pass/fail score provided by Energy Star, buildings will earn a grade of A+ through F; the scale is aimed at allowing differentiation among buildings at the highest level of performance and encouraging owners and designers to reach for net-zero-energy buildings.
At its core, the Building EQ program is not a “green” program, but an information tool to assist building owners in achieving their energy-use goals (whether influenced by cost or sustainability efforts). Programs, like LEED, already address the numerous considerations that go into the design of a green building and have been a key driver of the widespread implementation of green buildings. With a focus specifically on energy, the Building EQ program will help inform future development of the energy portion of building rating systems and address some of the concerns surrounding the disconnect between a building’s design and how it performs in operation.
Building EQ will be a voluntary program, but as jurisdictions like Austin, Texas; the state of California; and Washington, D.C., make energy disclosure mandatory, Building EQ could be used as a method for implementing such requirements. Additionally, the European Union has recently made building energy labeling mandatory with the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, or EPBD. To inform development of Building EQ, ASHRAE has consulted with experts involved in implementation of the EPBD.
To further the potential widespread use of the label, Building EQ will feature a mechanism for application outside the U.S. and for building types currently not covered under the Energy Star program.
Obtaining a Building EQ Label
Following completion of the pilot program in 2010, the label will be available for widespread implementation—first with the In Operation portion followed by the As Designed portion. ASHRAE has developed the Building Energy Modeling Professional certification and is developing a mechanism for recognizing qualified energy assessors. (See "ASHRAE's Development and Support of Building EQ" below.) These professionals will assist building owners and design teams in performing the tasks necessary to obtain a label.
The program Web site, www.buildingEQ.com, currently contains background information about the program. Once the program is launched, the site will be updated to include a user-friendly portal for entering necessary information to receive the label and other program resources. Although the cost for obtaining the label has not yet been determined, ASHRAE intends to keep the cost to a minimum to allow widespread utilization of the tool.
For the initial announcement of the program, ASHRAE obtained an As Designed label for its newly renovated headquarters in Atlanta. An announcement of additional pilot program participants will be made in December.
Like the fat content of the food we eat or the miles per gallon of the cars we drive, building owners, tenants, potential owners and tenants, and the general public need to have the information necessary to make informed decisions about the energy use of the buildings in which we live, work and play.
Gordon V. R. Holness, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, Life Member, is the 2009-10 president of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers and a consulting engineer in West Palm Beach, Fla.
ASHRAE’s Development and Support of Building EQ
Atlanta-based ASHRAE, which was founded in 1894, is an international organization of some 50,000 persons. It fulfills its mission of advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education. As part of its mission, ASHRAE has begun to prepare its members and those in the engineering community for the release of Building EQ through the creation of new certification programs, publications and education. The organization will launch a Building Energy Modeling Professional certification at its January 2010 Winter Conference to support implementation of the Building EQ As Designed rating.
Additionally, the Building EQ program relies on several ASHRAE standards and special publications, including “Procedures for Commercial Building Energy Audits” and, in 2010, “Measurement Protocols for Commercial Buildings,” for performance ratings and indoor environmental quality assessment.
Finally, a new course as part of ASHRAE’s Online Course Series and Learning Institute, “Energy Management in New and Existing Buildings: A Sustainable Activity,” will give facilities managers and their consulting engineers the foundation of energy-management skills they need to take advantage of the Building EQ program and related initiatives to achieve net-zero energy buildings.
For the initial announcement of the Building EQ program, ASHRAE obtained an As Designed label for its newly renovated headquarters in Atlanta.
Twelve zones on ASHRAE’s second level (32 tons) are conditioned using a two-stage, 27-EER variable-speed ground-source heat pump, featuring a geothermal field of 12, 400-foot-deep wells and a closed-loop piping system that circulates water between the building and the wells.
A 20-kilowatt photovoltaic solar-panel array, donated by Georgia Power, produces electricity during daylight hours and back-feeds energy into an existing grid. It is estimated that approximately 8 percent of the building’s annual energy cost will be offset by the array.
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