By Elton SherwinVenture Capitalist and Author of

Addicted to Energy

Comments on Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Design Standards

for New Federal Buildings For the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Federal Buildings Are Important

Buildings are the largest emitters of CO2 on the planet*

The federal government is one of the world’s largest owners of buildings

Federal programs will have broad impact

Important that federal rules be effective and cost effective

*Includes CO2 from power plants generating electricity for buildings

RFI Comments from Elton Sherwin

• Elton Sherwin is a venture capitalist investing in cleantech companies.

• He is the author of Addicted to Energy • Addicted to Energy outlines fifty ways

to reduce energy consumption and protect the climate, many involving building efficiency

• His first book, The Silicon Valley Way is used by entrepreneurs and university programs around the world. He is an occasional guest speaker at Stanford University on energy policy and entrepreneurship.

• He holds eight patents and currently serves on the boards of six companies including NRG Dynamix which designs hybrid drive trains and energy storage systems for cars and trucks

Includes comments on:Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Design Standards for New FederalCommercial and Multi-Family High-Rise Residential Buildings and EnergyEfficiency and Sustainable Design Standards for New Federal Low-RiseResidential Buildings, EE–RM/STD–02–112 and RIN 1904–AC13Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, U.S. DOE

Four Recommendations Federal Building Construction and Remodels

Recommendation #1

Disclose the Energy Consumption of All New Federal Buildings

And post the data on the Internet

Recommendation #1

Disclose Utility Bills• Disclose the energy consumption of all new

federal buildings– Monthly disclosure– “Publish” utility bills on the Internet

• Single website for all federal buildings

• Disclose energy consumption of the previous structures for– Major remodels or – New structures replacing an older building

• The energy consumption of the older building should be disclosed to enable comparisons

Recommendation #1

Why Is Utility Bill Disclosure Important?

• Enables accurate calculations of lifecycle costs

• Enables comparisons– Between buildings– Between design techniques

• Identifies top performing buildings• Encourages occupants to manage their

plug loads• Identifies problems• Maximizes reductions of CO2 and water

When Utility Bills are Hidden

When data is secret– Harder to calculate true lifecycle

costs– Less accountability– Harder to identify problems– Little motivation to improve in

future years– Little or no motivation to manage

plug loads

Summary of Recommendation #1

Disclose the ongoing energy consumption of all new federal buildings

Post the data on the web

Recommendation #2

Label and Grade All New and Remodeled Federal Buildings

Recommendation #2

Federal Building Energy Labels Recommended Format

Relative grade – Graded versus peers– Similar type buildings in

similar climates

National standard– Compares all federal

buildings nationwide– Absolute score based on

BTUs per square foot

Post-occupancy Verification

This label meets the follow criteria from the RFI:

(2) Include a verification system for post- occupancy assessment of the rated buildings to periodically demonstrate continued environmental benefits and energy savings.

This Label Has Only Five Data Inputs

5 Input Data Items:1) Electric bill2) Gas or heating oil bill3) Zip code4) Size of building5) Type of building

Proposed Label Federal Construction

This is a simple system for post-occupancy verification

Automatically generate monthly updates from utility bills

Peer Rating• Similar building types in

similar climates– Office to office– Barracks to barracks– Hospital to hospital

• Per sq. foot comparison to existing federal buildings

• Top 20% get AsA+ reserved for net zero

• Bottom 20% get Fs• Include + and –

National Rating

• National standard– Intuitive: scores above

80 are good, below 70 are poor

• 125 minus weighted EUI

• Source energy (per sq ft.)

– Combines natural gas, oil and electricity

– All electricity weighted at national average

How to Calculate

Source energy (per sq ft.)• 125 - weighted EUI

For more information on this proposed building rating methodology see the appendix of this presentation and also see, Response to the National Energy Rating Program for Homes RFI by Elton Sherwin available from the author or at: http://www.slideshare.net/EltonSherwinOr Google ‘Elton Sherwin comments DOE RFI home rating’

Recommendation #2 Summary

Post-occupancy Verification• Post this label on the lobby doors• And on the Internet

Recommendation #3

Require Certain Best Practices Everywhere

Recommendation #3

The following items are frequently overlooked in federal buildings

LightingWindows

HVAC

Three Items Condemn Federal Buildings to Mediocrity:

Lighting,Windows, andHVAC systems

We Should Build a New Generation of Federal Buildings

With the Best:

Lighting Systems

Good lighting systems have:– T5s, T8s, LEDs, and digital ballasts

Great lighting systems also have:– Dimmers with daylight sensors– Occupancy sensors– Users controls for individual work

areasGreat lighting systems

– Save twice as much electricity as good systems

The author has no relationship with any of the pictured products. Pictures are for illustration only

In New Federal Buildings

Require lighting systems to have:– Dimmers with daylight sensors– Occupancy sensors– Users controls for individual work

areasThere is never a reason to omit

these featuresThey always pay for themselves

The author has no relationship with any of the pictured products. Pictures are for illustration only

Windows

Good windows:– R4

Great windows:– R8 or above– Extremely spectrally selective*

Great windows– Cut air-conditioning and heating

demand by 30% to 50%

* Eliminate 90% of non-visible radiation and should be required on all windows that get direct sun in buildings using air conditioning.

In New Federal Buildings

Require windows be:– R8 or above

• An R20 wall with an R4 window makes no sense.

– Highly spectrally selective• Require spectral selectivity on

sunny windows in buildings that use air conditioning

How Spectrally Selective Windows Work

The author has no relationship with any of the pictured products. Pictures are for illustration only

HVAC SystemsGood HVAC Systems:

– Efficient Great HVAC Systems also have:

– A thermostat and occupancy sensor in every room

– Variable speed, variable output*– Thermal storage**

Great HVAC Systems– Reduce energy consumption

40% to 70%

* Boilers and furnaces are modulating ** Require thermal storage in buildings over 5,000 sq. ft. that use air conditioning more than 100 days/year

In New Federal Buildings

Require great HVAC systems:– Thermostat in every room– Occupancy sensor in every room– Variable speed, variable output– Thermal storage

Save taxpayers moneyHelp the environmentBetter air quality in building

The author has no relationship with any of the pictured products. Pictures are for illustration only

With great:Lighting,

Windows, andHVAC systems

Let’s Build a New Generation of Great Federal Buildings

Windows1. R8 or above2. Spectrally selective

Lighting systems3. Dimmers with daylight sensors4. Occupancy sensors5. Enable users to control their work area

HVAC systems6. Thermostat in every room7. Occupancy sensor in every room8. Variable speed, variable output9. Thermal storage

Recommendation #3 Summary

These nine items pay for themselves

Require them on all new federal buildings

Recommendation #4

Monitor Energy Consumption at a Room Level

Recommendation #4

Best way to Optimize Energy Performance

From the RFI: “The major sustainable design elements of the proposed rules are:…Optimize Energy Performance.”

Building Control Systems Should Organize and Report Data by Room

Case Study: Stanford University’s environmental showcase Yang and Yamazaki (Y2E2) building

• Used twice the predicted energy*• Audit found hundreds of problems*• Root cause was very difficult to identify

because the building control system did not organize and report data at a room level * Energy analysis of the first year of Y2E2 and its

relationship to the Sustainable Built Environment, John Kunz and coauthors. Also, see CIFE Technical Report #TR183. For a summary, see http://stanfordreview.org/article/y2e2-fails-to-meet- efficiency-expectations

Advantages of Room-by-Room Reporting

for Electricity• Speeds commissioning and

recommissioning• Lowers plug loads• Identifies malfunctioning

equipment

Best way to Optimize Energy Performance

Advantages of Room-by-Room Reporting

for Water

• Identifies malfunctioning toilets and sprinkler control systems

• Separates indoor and outdoor consumption

• Minimizes finger pointing between kitchen and maintenance staff

Lowers Water Consumption

Advantages of Room-by-Room Reporting*

for HVAC Systems

• Speeds recommissioning• Helps identify many problems

– Rooms that alternatively request heat and cooling

– Malfunctioning VAV boxes

* Monitoring temperature and requests for heat and cooling

Advantages of Room-by-Room Reporting

of CO2 levels

Ensures indoor air quality

The author has no relationship with any of the pictured products. Pictures are for illustration only

Monitor at a Room Level

• Electricity

• Water

• HVAC

• CO2

Recommendation #4 Summary

This will createBetter air qualityUse less waterSave energy

Conclusion Four Sets of Recommendations Federal Building Construction and Remodels

Conclusion Four Sets of Recommendations Federal Building Construction and Remodels

1. Disclosure of utility bills 2. Label and grade new federal buildings based

on their actual energy consumption3. Require certain key efficiency improvements

– Bellwether attributes that elevate a building from adequate efficiency to extraordinary efficiency

– Universally cost effective4. Measure energy consumption by room

Appendix

Some of this material was originally published in a: Response to the National Energy Rating Program for Homes RFI by Elton Sherwin available from the author or at: http://www.slideshare.net/EltonSherwinOr Google ‘Elton Sherwin comments DOE RFI home rating’

Analyzed Nine Different Energy Labels and Their Associated Rating

Methodologies

Option #3Option #1

Option #5

Option #9(Recommended Option)

Recommended Label Displays Both Site and Source Data

C-

B+Electricity**

Gas**

*125 is highest score1 is lowest

Compared to all federal buildings in America

(See Inverted Scale with Progressive Weighting)

** The energy grade is determined comparing this building to other similar

buildings in similar climates

74*

Image from iStockphoto

Recommended Inverted Scale Progressive weighting

Formula:

• 0-25 BTU: 125-BTU

• 25 to 75 BTU: 100- ½ BTU over 25

• 75 to 125 BTU: 75-1/4 BTU over 75

• And so on.

• Objective is to have a single national metric (per sq. ft.) with efficient buildings over 80 and no negative scores.

• All numbers are total source energy including all plug loads, HVAC and hot water.

Source BTU/sf/mo Score

0 (net zero) 125

25 10045 9050 8865 8095 70

135 60175 50255 40335 30375 25

Why Zero to 125?

Why not zero to 100?• Multiple reasons, subtle,

but important• Americans know scores

above 80 are good, below 70 are weak.

• Need a scoring system that lets superior buildings get above 80, yet also rewards net zero– Scale of 0 to100 fails to do

this

Green Building Certification Systems

This label meets the follow criteria from the RFI:

"DOE is considering a requirement for a Federal agency to demonstrate that the energy use, at a minimum, in the first year of a building's green building certification is consistent with the energy use identified as part of the certification process. If the building's energy use exceeded the target energy use identified under the green building rating system, DOE is considering the removal of the green building certification."

“(2) Include a verification system for post-occupancy assessment of the rated buildings to periodically demonstrate continued environmental benefits and energy savings.”

These are all excellent ideas and this label meets these criteria.

Why This Label• Simple• Easy to update monthly• Data-driven approach• Measures real

improvements• Universal participation

– Does not require audits• Fair: works for all sizes of

buildings• Drive dramatic reductions

in energy consumption