opportunities for building excellence dr. dean schneider dr. john estes brooks energy &...

Opportunities for Building Excellence

Dr. Dean SchneiderDr. John Estes

Brooks Energy & Sustainability Lab

The Brooks Energy & Sustainability Lab

• Consortium of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station (Texas A&M University) and the Georgia Tech Research Institute

• We promote state-of-the-art technology in Energy Management and Sustainability

The Brooks Energy & Sustainability Lab

• Mission: Technology Transfer to enhance– Cost Effectiveness– Life-cycle Performance– Livability

of facilities and infrastructures

GOAL: High Performance Buildings

The High Performance Building

• Cost-Effective– Energy Efficient– Energy Requirements Minimized– Highly Maintainable– Sustainable

• Healthy & Productive– Ergonomically appropriate– Healthy, Safe, and Secure to Live in

(Indoor Environmental Quality)

Energy Efficiency

• Energy Reduction Technologies– Energy Auditing– Building

Commissioning– Continuous

Commissioning®

– Measurement and Verification

– Distributed Energy– Renewable Energy

U.S. Rates by State

Components of Energy Costs

• Peak Demand• Energy Charge (usage)• Power factor adjustment• Generation charge (fuel cost)• Source surcharge (e.g. CPS Windtricity

Program)

Identify sensitivity of your costs to the above components

Energy Auditing

• Initial Audit a free service of CPS– Identifies “easy opportunities”– HVAC efficiency issues– Lighting retrofit possibilities– Demand scheduling

• Rate negotiations dependent on demand

What is Commissioning?• A quality assurance process for building

construction• A way to coordinate the quality assurance

processes of the architect, engineer, and contractors

• A systematic process for ensuring that the design intent is met throughout design, construction and operation

• A dedicated individual (the Commissioning Authority) who serves as the owner’s “Champion for Quality”

Benefits of Commissioning

• More comfortable and healthy buildings

• Reduced startup and life-cycle costs– Higher costs in Design and Engineering– Lower costs in Construction– Lower costs in Occupancy

• Less headaches during construction– Reduced callbacks, replanning, redesign

• Design intent is met – happier owners and occupants

Existing Building Commissioning

• Similar to new building commissioning except optimization is to current use (vs. design intent)

• Ensures building MEP systems fully operational

• Trains building operators for effective maintenance program

• TAMU Continuous Commissioning® technique documents near-term savings of 20%

Demand Reduction Techniques

• Distributed generation solutions– BCHP (co-generation) can be cost

effective– Investment grade energy audit

necessary for economic validation• Renewable energy solutions

– Solar power generation (reduces grid load)

– Solar hot water – can provide cooling– Wind generation (San Antonio?)

Sustainability

• The ability to sustain current operations without negative impact to the future – Most advantages reaped with new

building design– Minimizes impact of current

operations on future – Can provide life cycle savings– A holistic approach

Elements of Sustainability• Energy & Atmosphere

– Daylighting– Vegetative shading– HVAC Controls– High Energy Efficiency

Systems

• Sustainable sites– High albedo roofs– Alternative pavements– Native landscaping– Alternative fuel

vehicles

Elements of Sustainability• Water efficiency

– High efficiency fixtures– High efficiency irrigation

• Materials & Resources– C&D Waste Recycling– Recycled Content

Materials– Recovered Materials– Plastic Lumber

• Indoor Environmental Quality– CO² Monitors/Controls– Paints – Daylighting

Sustainability for Existing Structures

• Can utilize sustainability concepts during O&M– Low VOC paints– Recycled carpet– Corporate recycling programs– Energy retrofits (daylighting, etc.)

Indoor Environmental Quality

• Necessary for healthy habitation within buildings

• Can be legal liability• Correctly operating HVAC system

is a prerequisite• Extremely dependent on state of

building maintenance

CO2 Fingerprint School J 12/98 - 3/99

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Importance of Operation & Maintenance

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Weekend Shutdown

Desiccant System On(15 cfm/student outdoor air)

Desiccant System Off (0 cfm/student outdoor air) On

Humidity Variation with and without Humidity Control

Important IAQ Findings• Higher space humidities in the conventional schools was

compensated by lowering the space temperature – an average of 2ºF during the cooling season (conventional schools averaged 74ºF while the desiccant school averaged 76ºF)

– Modeling indicated that operating at 76ºF versus 74ºF would result in a 23% reduction in cooling season energy consumption for a typical school in the metro Atlanta area delivering 15 cfm/person outdoor air using a desiccant-cooling system

• Energy modeling using desiccant-cooling indicated that an average school could reduce its annual energy costs by ~$15,000 for every 1000 students, which is in addition to the savings by raising the temperature set point 2ºF

Humidity Control and Ventilation Systems

Implementation of active humidity control & continuous ventilation systems improved IAQ in four of the measured parameters.

• Air exchange rates increased by 59%

• CO2 levels decreased by 35%

• Total aldehyde & ketone levels decreased by 24%

• Total VOC levels decreased by 58%

Cradle to Grave Approach

• Train your staff• Building

assessments• Sampling• Lab analysis &

interpretation• Design of new

equipment• Monitor performance

of equipment• IAQ Commissioning• Develop IAQ

management plans

Energy Efficiency Funding Options

• CPS rebates limited to Natural Gas conversion (converting electrical grid load to NG driven devices (not economically viable with today’s NG cost)

• Performance contracting• Pay as you go retrofits

Economic justification may include avoided cost of litigation

BESL Capabilities

• Energy Auditing• Commissioning (Building and IAQ)• Measurement and Verification• Distributed Energy Resources• Renewable Energy Analysis• Sustainability• LEED Certification• Indoor Environmental Quality

BESL Contacts

Located at Brooks City Base, San Antonio, TX

PO Box 35399 San Antonio, TX 78235-5399

phone210/534-7227fax210/534-7238

Dean Schneider, BESL ManagerExt. 228 d-schneider@tamu.edu

John Estes, GTRI Site ManagerExt. 240

john.estes@gtri.gatech.edu

Kristin HeinemeierExt. 223 kristin-h@tamu.edu

Balaji SanthanakrishnanExt. 245 balajisk@tamu.edu

Mike MartinExt. 222 mhmartin@tamu.edu

Anita LedbetterExt. 244 a-ledbetter@tamu.edu

Don LandryExt. 243 don.landry@gtri.gatech.edu

Alison YoungExt. 233 alison.young@gtri.gatech.edu