DOE design guide aims to halve commercial building energy consumption

May 16, 2011—The U.S. Department of Energy has released the first in a series of design guides that aim to cut the energy consumption of commercial buildings in half.

The first of the 50% Advanced Energy Design Guides focuses on small and medium-sized office buildings, and is available for free download.

The DOE says the guides provide a practical approach to help architects and engineers design buildings that achieve 50 percent energy savings compared to the commercial building energy code used in many areas of the country.

The guidance also supports President Obama's goal to reduce energy use in commercial buildings 20 percent by 2020, and will help drive demand for energy-saving products made in the United States, the department says.

Remember - Reducing energy consumption by 20% is like boosting sales by 5%.

The guides recommend ways designers can choose energy efficient designs for daylighting, building envelope assemblies, and heating and cooling systems, among other technologies. They also recommend commonly available equipment.

The design guides provide recommendations for energy savings.
DOE says the guides are designed to reduce the time and money that designers would otherwise spend to individually model energy use for high performance buildings. The guides will also inform the development of future commercial building energy codes, the department said.

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), American Institute of Architects (AIA), U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IESNA) are all helping to develop the booklets.

The guide is now available for FREE DOWNLOAD HERE.

Three more guides, on large hospitals, medium to big-box retail buildings and K-12 schools, will be released in coming months.

EnergyStar Challenge Saves Over 2 Trillion BTU in Last Year

One year ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) challenged the manufacturing industry to improve the energy efficiency of their facilities by 10 percent or more within five years. Since that time, 240 manufacturing sites have responded to the Energy Star Challenge for Industry, and 34 sites have improved their energy efficiency by 10 percent or more, reports EPA.

Both small and large manufacturing facilities have met the milestone and have prevented nearly 119,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, demonstrating that efficiency opportunities exist across all sectors of industry including aerospace, food processing, pharmaceuticals, and motor vehicle manufacturing. Many of these sites also report that savings were achieved at low cost by strengthening energy management practices and improving operations with help from EPA's Energy Star program.

Under the challenge, manufacturing sites establish an energy intensity baseline, set a 10 percent energy efficiency improvement goal, implement energy efficiency projects, track energy use, and verify their savings. Hundreds of industrial companies across nearly a dozen manufacturing industries are working with EPA's Energy Star program to develop strong energy management programs, earn the Energy Star for their facilities, and achieve breakthrough improvements in energy efficiency.

The U.S. manufacturing industry is reportedly responsible for nearly 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States and spends nearly $100 billion annually on energy. If the energy efficiency of industrial facilities improved by 10 percent, EPA estimates businesses would save nearly $10 billion and prevent greenhouse gases emissions equal to the annual emissions of approximately 12 million vehicles.

Article Link - FM Link May 2011