[Bldg-rate] 8 Energy Benchmarking Hurdles (and How to Get OverThem)

[John E. Beeson]

I forgot where this conversation went, but I finally make it through my
EBN from Oct and saw this.

It seems to add more thoughts to the discussion of benchmarking.
"Regulations Demanding Actual Data Are Leapfrogging LEED": 
http://tinyurl.com/4k7r92

This link will expire on October 16, 2008. 

QUINN EVANS | ARCHITECTS
John E. Beeson, LEED AP
d 734 926 0425

-----Original Message-----
From: bldg-rate-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org
[mailto:bldg-rate-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of James V.
Dirkes II P.E.
Sent: Friday, September 26, 2008 10:36 AM
To: bldg-rate at onebuilding.org
Subject: Re: [Bldg-rate] 8 Energy Benchmarking Hurdles (and How to Get
OverThem)

Dear Jason,

I just read the article, and think it's well done. I especially like the
quote,

"Businesses have all kinds of accounting protocols to track cash and
other assets; they might have armies of clerks that track $20 receipts
for cabs and business lunches, but they have no clue about where their
$20 million in annual energy expenditure goes. Energy is wealth, and
fuel and power are forms of currency; if money is worth tracking, then
so is energy." 

It appears that, compliments of rising energy costs and greater public
awareness, the senior managers are starting to pay attention to their
energy costs.  Nonetheless, there's a long way to go.

In my opinion, and thinking only about energy, deciding that energy is
an important cost and competitiveness center is the first priority.
Benchmarking is the THIRD priority; it only tells where you are today
and there's a 90% likelihood that you're nowhere near optimum.  

The SECOND priority, therefore, should be determining and documenting
the many details that drive energy use: schedules of operation,
occupancy patterns, setpoints, special situations, etc.  Finding this
information is not always easy, because for many buildings, no one is
paying attention to it, let alone documenting it. Another great insight
in the article is "Many organizations' work habits and procedures have
been in place for years and reflect shortcuts that trade energy for
time." The "determining and documenting" step must include finding out
WHY things are done, and not accepting "Because we've always done it
that way" or "Because we had a problem 10 years ago".

Once you know the status quo and understand the reasons driving it,
solutions and opportunities almost always present themselves. Then the
challenge is to determine how cost effective each opportunity is.

An inherent challenge for those working with existing buildings, is that
there is a specific HISTORY which has caused the energy use.  If you
don't know or understand the history, improvement becomes a "crap
shoot".  This is a very bad basis for management and customer relations,
especially if the predicted savings never materialize.  Actually, it
seems that a whole different analysis toolset is required than is
commonly used for brand new buildings (which, by definition, have NO
history and for which you make a hundred "reasonable" assumptions).
Energy Plus or any of the detailed analysis tools seems like (so to
speak) a waste of energy, since the goal for an existing building is not
primarily prediction of energy use using a theoretical weather pattern,
but validation that you can match energy with actual weather and actual
usage.  I've just started experimenting with a tool called "EZ Sim"
(www.ezsim.com), which is geared toward existing building analysis.
It's too early to tell in detail, but it seems to have the right
philosophy, which is something like "Use good information and logic to
create a simplified model that matches actual weather well, and you'll
understand the principal energy drivers.  That will guide you toward the
most effective solutions."

Getting to that optimum is not always a cakewalk, but good results
become achievable if you start with good information!


The Building Performance Team
James V. Dirkes II, P.E., LEED AP
1631 Acacia Drive NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49504
616 450 8653
  


The Building Performance Team
James V. Dirkes II, P.E., LEED AP
1631 Acacia Drive NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49504
616 450 8653
 

-----Original Message-----
From: bldg-rate-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org
[mailto:bldg-rate-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Jason
Glazer
Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2008 1:23 PM
To: bldg-rate at onebuilding.org
Subject: [Bldg-rate] 8 Energy Benchmarking Hurdles (and How to Get Over
Them)

I just came acrosA good article Leah B. Garris for BUILDINGS magazine.

http://www.buildings.com/articles/detail.aspx?contentID=6208

Is this a good summary of the problems and solutions?

What other hurdles have people seen related to building energy
benchmarking?

Jason

--
Jason Glazer, P.E., GARD Analytics, 90.1 ECB chair Admin for
onebuilding.org building performance mailing lists
_______________________________________________
Bldg-rate mailing list
http://lists.onebuilding.org/listinfo.cgi/bldg-rate-onebuilding.org
To unsubscribe from this mailing list send  a blank message to
BLDG-RATE-UNSUBSCRIBE at ONEBUILDING.ORG

_______________________________________________
Bldg-rate mailing list
http://lists.onebuilding.org/listinfo.cgi/bldg-rate-onebuilding.org
To unsubscribe from this mailing list send  a blank message to
BLDG-RATE-UNSUBSCRIBE at ONEBUILDING.ORG