Benchmarking Energy Metrics
Sponsor: Better Bricks, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance 2010
Team: Project Investigator Alison Kwok, co-PI, D. Michael Utzinger, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with Cierra Mantz, Audrey Snyder, Karen Buse
The AIA 2030 Challenge requires new buildings to consume 50% less energy than a similar building designed to codes (in 2010) and be carbon neutral (no net carbon emissions) by 2030. To achieve these goals, architects and their consultants need to be able to measure the performance of the buildings they design. The Carbon Neutral Design (CND) Building Case Study Spreadsheet is designed to allow architects and consulting engineers to input building design information and energy and water consumption measurements. The spreadsheet calculates resource consumption and emission metrics and normalized building design and system variables. The goal of this project, funded by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, is to develop a database of EUI metrics for Pacific Northwest buildings, such as retail, schools, libraries, offices to offer baseline metrics in order to improve a firm’s portfolio. The spreadsheet is divided into two levels: Level 1 takes building project information (areas, cost, and occupancy data) and resource consumption data (fossil fuels, biofuels, grid electricity, renewable electricity and water) and produces a set of building resource consumption and carbon emissions metrics. Level 2 includes building and system design variables (building enclosure, lighting system, HVAC system, elevator/escalator system, plug load demands and process load demands. Approximately 50 architects and engineers participated in Better Bricks-sponsored workshops in Portland, Oregon in February and September, 2010 and in Seattle, Washington in October, 2010.