[Bldg-sim] Energy Model Cost - best designdoesn'tequalmost LEED points

Aleka Pappas apappas at group14eng.com
Mon May 16 10:33:52 PDT 2011


I did some pre-RFP modeling for Denver Housing Authority to try to help 
them develop realistic & useful energy metric design goals for a recent 
project.  We ended up setting a percent energy cost saving goal (ie 
LEED) along with a site /lbs CO2 emissions/ SF/ goal for the design.  We 
started out with a kBtu/ SF metric, but weren't happy with the way this 
quantified environmental impact in Colorado.  This is because most of 
our electricity comes from coal and it's CO2 intensive relative to 
natural gas, but looks better than natural gas when looking at site 
kBtu/ SF.  It's interesting how this will change design decisions 
compared to just looking at energy cost savings relative to the ASHRAE 
90.1 baseline; it's much easier to hit 50% savings with an all electric 
building, but CO2 emissions go up.
The metrics DHA ended up included in their RFP came out of modeling the 
actual building type in the actual location of the project, so we were 
comfortable with them being reasonable design goals for the 
'as-designed' building.  We also made sure that people understood the 
difference between 'as-designed' modeling and 'operational' building 
energy use.  It was great to work with a really progressive client who 
gets it and wanted to look at these details closely.

*Aleka Pappas*
Building Energy Engineer*
**
GROUP14 ENGINEERING, INC. *
Inspiring better buildings.
1325 E. 16th Ave, Denver, CO 80218
Direct: 720.221.1082/ Main: 303.861.2070/Fax: 303.830.2016
www.group14eng.com
<mailto:swagner at group14eng.com>
/Group14 Engineering offers building energy optimization, LEED 
coordination, commissioning, energy audits, LEED EBOM, and greenhouse 
gas analysis./

On 5/16/2011 10:51 AM, Goldwasser, David wrote:
> One variation I was considering to EUI was to look at Kbtu per annual occupant hour vs. Kbtu per area. This came about when I wanted know how to evaluate some operational alternatives such as extending the hours of operation for a facility, or looking at an office running with a rotating staff all working 4x10 hour days a week vs. a smaller static staff in the same building working 5x8 hour days a week. Kbtu/sf2 alone didn't help here, but looking at Kbtu per annual occupant hour did.
>
> Extending operational hours will clearly increase your Kbtu/ft2 (EUI) but the question I wanted to answer is if those extra occupant hours come at a lower energy impact per occupant hour than the baseline case. "Kbtu/ annual occupant hour" addressed this. Is there a similar metric that anyone else is using?
>
> David
>
> --
> David Goldwasser, LEED AP
> National Renewable Energy Laboratory
>
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org [mailto:bldg-sim-
>> bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Marcus Sheffer
>> Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 10:16 AM
>> To: 'Paul Riemer'; bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
>> Subject: Re: [Bldg-sim] Energy Model Cost - best designdoesn'tequalmost LEED
>> points
>>
>> Paul,
>>
>> The next version of LEED will approach a more standardized metric (EUI Source
>> Energy) but still include cost as a metric as well.  For those who feel
>> strongly that only actual energy use should be used for green building
>> certification the LEED EBOM methodologies will be allowed into LEED BD+C
>> projects.
>>
>> USGBC is trying hard to lead us to that better way.  If you know the better
>> way please share.
>>
>> Marcus Sheffer
>> Energy Opportunities, Inc/a 7group Company
>> 1200 E Camping Area Road, Wellsville, PA  17365
>> 717-292-2636, sheffer at sevengroup.com
>> www.sevengroup.com
>>
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