Newsletter

Fall News from NBI

New Core Performance Guide offers a pathway to better energy performance
Design teams looking to create high performance buildings have a new tool to achieve commercial spaces that use less energy and offer better comfort without the time and expense of modeling. The Core Performance Guide, the latest offering from NBI’s Advanced Buildings program, is now available. The Guide includes a set of strategies that, when taken together, provides a prescriptive path for designers, builders and owners to achieve buildings that operate 20 to 30 percent above national standards (ASHRAE 90.1-2004).

The U.S. Green Building Council has announced it will accept Core Performance as an alternate prescriptive option for up to five LEED points under Energy and Atmosphere Credit 1. Modeling requirements for design teams that apply Core Performance would be waived. The number of points awarded varies depending on building type and whether any enhanced measures are undertaken.

NBI Executive Director Dave Hewitt states, “Core Performance is simply the best prescriptive option for designers and buildings owners who want to get significant energy savings in new commercial buildings. We are very excited about offering Core Performance as the cornerstone of our Advanced Buildings program and believe this is a critical tool that can help increase the energy performance of new commercial buildings.”

Advanced Buildings Core Performance can be applied to all buildings but is particularly effective on small to mid-sized projects up to 70,000 square feet. LEED points for Core Performance can be earned on buildings less than 100,000 square feet. The new Guide was developed based on Benchmark, NBI's previous design guide, but has been reorganized to facilitate its use and updated with the latest advances in new technologies and practices. For more information, visit www.advancedbuildings.net.

Advanced Buildings sponsors continue their support
Welcome to Efficiency Maine and Efficiency Vermont, our newest Advanced Buildings sponsors! Both public benefits administrators will begin offering Advanced Buildings Core Performance later this year. They join Energy Center of Wisconsin, National Grid, NSTAR and Cape Light Compact in offering this powerful tool for high performance building design in their service areas.

In addition, the Bonneville Power Administration adopted a subset of Core Performance as part of its new commercial efficiency program for office buildings. The new program was announced in early October. The BPA program includes a requirement for integrated design and adopts a subset of the most cost-effective Core Performance efficiency measures for the region. Several regional utilities are considering building upon this program to adopt a more comprehensive NW Core Performance program, and the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance is implementing region-wide training on Core Performance.

Revision of Advanced Lighting Guidelines is underway
NBI has initiated sponsorship solicitation and work on the 2008 Edition of the Advanced Lighting Guidelines (ALG). ALG offers lighting designers and others the most advanced options for energy-efficient lighting designs. This revision will upgrade the publication with newly commercialized technologies and enhanced application guides, as well integration with the US Department of Energy’s Commercial Lighting Initiative. DOE will take ALG’s best practice examples by sector and add further information on equipment specifications and economics to support design decisions. ALG and DOE efforts will enhance the outreach and impact of these tools through national marketing and the increased use of interactive web access to design recommendations. Incremental sections on specific sector applications, beginning with retail, will be ready in early 2008. Other priority sectors include offices, schools and health care.

The complete version of the new and improved Advanced Lighting Guidelines is scheduled for release in late 2008. Keep an eye on our Lighting page for updates.

Student designers get opportunity for real-world experience
The 2007-08 Leading Edge Student Design Competition began in September. University design students and faculty from the US and around the world use the competition as a framework to explore the innovative use of new materials and strategies for integrating aesthetics and technology to create cutting-edge architecture that benefits the environment and the marketplace.

This year’s competition challenges are sited in the West Campus area of the University of Santa Barbara. Challenge 1, for 3rd-, 4th-year and graduate students, is an Environment and History Center, serving dual roles of research and education about the environment and history of the local area. Competitors will design a 25,000 square-foot new building and plan re-use of an existing 3,000 square-foot historic barn. Challenge 2, for 1st- and 2nd-year students, is a townhouse-style residence for student equestrians. This building will acknowledge the agricultural setting and will be connected to nearby corrals, paddocks and riding areas. Winning students and their schools receive monetary awards.

LEED Building Performance project looks at predicted versus actual energy use
Look for NBI at Greenbuild, where we will be presenting results from our groundbreaking review of the post-occupancy energy performance of LEED buildings. This joint research project between NBI and the U.S. Green Building Council analyzes actual utility bill information for over 100 LEED NC (New Construction) buildings, examining aggregate relationships among actual energy use per square foot, ENERGY STAR ratings, other national benchmarks, initial design modeling, and LEED credit achievement patterns. The unprecedented scope of the data, including actual billing and LEED modeling data, will help identify the energy effectiveness of the LEED program, moving toward the much needed linkage between predicted and actual energy performance.

Desert CoolAire™ technical assessment report is now available
NBI has completed the field assessment of eight Desert CoolAire prototype indirect evaporative air conditioners for summer 2006 cooling. This research was conducted on behalf of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and Sacramento Municipal Utility District and found 40% lower energy use and up to 50% demand savings, but design changes are planned in the final product to more fully optimize the seasonal performance. Ongoing monitoring is continuing in summer 2007 with an updated analysis due at the end of 2007. Read or download the Executive Summary or the Complete Final Report.

Second Annual Jeffrey A. Johnson Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Building Energy Codes and Performance Winner Announced
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced the second recipient of the Jeffrey A. Johnson Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Building Energy Codes and Performance. John Hogan, Seattle Department of Planning and Development, was presented with the award during a plenary session at Energy Codes 2007 in July in Pittsburgh, PA. The award recognizes a leader or team in the United States for sustained service of the highest caliber in the pursuit of energy efficiency goals. Mr. Hogan is a Senior Code Development Analyst and has been working with the City of Seattle in energy codes for over 25 years. He has been involved with ASHRAE Standard 90.1 for approximately 15 years, and is the former chair of Envelope Subcommittee of ASHRAE SSPC 90.1. He is currently the chair of ASHRAE SPC 189, Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings.

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