E-Newsletter

New Buildings Institute, Inc. is a not-for-profit public benefits corporation
helping to make buildings better for people and the environment.

January 2006

2006 Brings New Faces and New Work to NBI

Personnel

We’re pleased to announce that Mark Frankel, Howdy Reichmuth and Terry Egnor have joined our team.

Mark Frankel is our new Technical Director and will be overseeing our Advanced Buildings™ work. He comes to us from Paladino and Co., where he’s been a Senior Consultant since 2002. Prior to that he was an Energy Consultant with Ecotope. With a BA in Environmental Policy, a Masters in Architecture and years of experience with all aspects of high-performance, environmentally sound building and site design, Mark is ideally suited for the work he’ll be taking on. His strong technical energy and curriculum development background are an excellent match for our Advanced Buildings mission.

Mark will be primarily located in Seattle, where he lives with his wife and 23-month-old daughter and takes advantage of the region’s skiing and boating opportunities whenever possible.

Howdy Reichmuth is a physicist and engineer who assumes the role of Senior Engineer here at NBI. He’ll be working on unitary systems and evaporative cooling. Howdy has a wealth of field experience and a diverse resume including development of comprehensive energy conservation plans and extensive research and development of solar resources and energy performance monitoring systems. He’s worked in both government and the private sector.

Howdy is a long-time resident of the Columbia River Gorge, the perfect location for indulging in two of his favorite hobbies, experimenting with innovations in energy efficiency and sail design.

Terry Egnor will be working with us part time as a Senior Consultant in a variety of capacities, including Advanced Buildings implementation support and mechanical systems training. Terry has been CEO of two companies (MGH and currently MicroGrid, Inc.) specializing in energy and controls systems for complex commercial buildings. He is also a curriculum developer and former instructor in a community college level energy program and one-time Director of Training for Ecotope. Most recently he assisted in development and delivery of training materials for BetterBricks.

Terry resides in Portland, just downriver from our White Salmon office. Among his avid interests is piloting private aircraft.

Projects

Thinking Outside of the Box – Improving Package Units

Rooftop package units serve over 44% of commercial floorspace, more than any other HVAC cooling system. Yet studies show their efficiencies and operating characteristics are not optimized. NBI is working on several fronts to contribute to improved approaches for addressing the energy use of these systems. We’re partnering with both the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships to review and compile existing assessments of package unit field performance and make recommendations for in-field performance components of Commercial HVAC programs. For the Northwest, this work will include conducting a series of meetings with interested regional parties. The intent is to collaboratively create a scope of work aimed at developing program specifications and verification protocols for improving the efficiency and performance of packaged rooftop HVAC systems in the 5- to 20-ton size range. In the Northeast, our efforts will lead to recommendations for program development and/or modification for both existing and new/replacement package equipment. Work in the Northeast is also supported by market research being conducted by KEMA.

Buildings Operations and Performance Review

NBI recently completed the first phase of research and development of a low cost post-occupancy assessment tool for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. The goal of the project was to begin to move post-occupancy assessment from the detailed research mode to a more market-friendly set of tools that could be much more widely used. The draft product developed through our research, while not yet field tested, is designed to be very low cost and easy to use. It includes a simple occupant survey tool, energy benchmarking and an operational review with the facility manager. The results are presented in a high-level “dashboard” summary, oriented to the owner’s interests. NBI worked with the Cascadia Region Green Building Council on some aspects of the study, and they have proposed a session for GreenBuild based on the findings of several related projects.

To catch up on earlier news, check out our previous newsletter.


	E-Newsletter

New Buildings Institute, Inc. is a not-for-profit public benefits corporation helping to make buildings better for people and the environment. January 2006
2006 Brings New Faces and New Work to NBI Personnel We’re pleased to announce that Mark Frankel, Howdy Reichmuth and Terry Egnor have joined our team. *Mark Frankel* is our new Technical Director and will be overseeing our Advanced Buildings™ work. He comes to us from Paladino and Co., where he’s been a Senior Consultant since 2002. Prior to that he was an Energy Consultant with Ecotope. With a BA in Environmental Policy, a Masters in Architecture and years of experience with all aspects of high-performance, environmentally sound building and site design, Mark is ideally suited for the work he’ll be taking on. His strong technical energy and curriculum development background are an excellent match for our Advanced Buildings mission. Mark will be primarily located in Seattle, where he lives with his wife and 23-month-old daughter and takes advantage of the region’s skiing and boating opportunities whenever possible. *Howdy Reichmuth* is a physicist and engineer who assumes the role of Senior Engineer here at NBI. He’ll be working on unitary systems and evaporative cooling. Howdy has a wealth of field experience and a diverse resume including development of comprehensive energy conservation plans and extensive research and development of solar resources and energy performance monitoring systems. He’s worked in both government and the private sector. Howdy is a long-time resident of the Columbia River Gorge, the perfect location for indulging in two of his favorite hobbies, experimenting with innovations in energy efficiency and sail design. *Terry Egnor* will be working with us part time as a Senior Consultant in a variety of capacities, including Advanced Buildings implementation support and mechanical systems training. Terry has been CEO of two companies (MGH and currently MicroGrid, Inc.) specializing in energy and controls systems for complex commercial buildings. He is also a curriculum developer and former instructor in a community college level energy program and one-time Director of Training for Ecotope. Most recently he assisted in development and delivery of training materials for BetterBricks. Terry resides in Portland, just downriver from our White Salmon office. Among his avid interests is piloting private aircraft.
Projects Thinking Outside of the Box – Improving Package Units Rooftop package units serve over 44% of commercial floorspace, more than any other HVAC cooling system. Yet studies show their efficiencies and operating characteristics are not optimized. NBI is working on several fronts to contribute to improved approaches for addressing the energy use of these systems. We’re partnering with both the Northwest Power and Conservation Council and Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships to review and compile existing assessments of package unit field performance and make recommendations for in-field performance components of Commercial HVAC programs. For the Northwest, this work will include conducting a series of meetings with interested regional parties. The intent is to collaboratively create a scope of work aimed at developing program specifications and verification protocols for improving the efficiency and performance of packaged rooftop HVAC systems in the 5- to 20-ton size range. In the Northeast, our efforts will lead to recommendations for program development and/or modification for both existing and new/replacement package equipment. Work in the Northeast is also supported by market research being conducted by KEMA. Buildings Operations and Performance Review NBI recently completed the first phase of research and development of a low cost post-occupancy assessment tool for the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance. The goal of the project was to begin to move post-occupancy assessment from the detailed research mode to a more market-friendly set of tools that could be much more widely used. The draft product developed through our research, while not yet field tested, is designed to be very low cost and easy to use. It includes a simple occupant survey tool, energy benchmarking and an operational review with the facility manager. The results are presented in a high-level “dashboard” summary, oriented to the owner’s interests. NBI worked with the Cascadia Region Green Building Council on some aspects of the study, and they have proposed a session for GreenBuild based on the findings of several related projects. To catch up on earlier news, check out our previous newsletter.