Energy Efficiency: Key to High Performance Buildings Jean Lupinacci U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) White House Summit on Federal Sustainable Buildings January 24, 2006

A Changing Landscape Increases Importance of Energy Efficiency  Energy consumption and costs are rising  Market volatility is increasing risk and uncertainty  Managing the risk of climate change is becoming a reality for many organizations.  Trend toward green building is not necessarily leading to energy-efficient buildings

Energy Efficiency Smart Business Taxpayers benefits from cost-effective reductions: ENERGY STAR qualified offices demonstrate: –35% less energy use –$0.50 per square foot less to operate –Energy performance persists over multiple years.

Energy’s Role in Green Building  Energy efficiency should be foundation for green building  Market assumes green buildings are energy efficient Studies now show that this is not necessarily the case  ROI for green buildings comes largely from energy  Large environmental benefits from reducing greenhouse gas and other air emissions.  Can’t rely solely on technology and code requirements for energy performance Problem: –“Better than code” is only weakly correlated to energy performance –Specific technologies do not guarantee energy performance

New Model for Achieving Green and Energy Efficiency Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings focus on performance: –Establish whole building performance target: Design to Earn ENERGY STAR –Reduce energy cost budget 30% from ASHRAE Increase efficiency of components –Measure and verify energy use Compare to design target Use EPA’s energy performance rating

1 Worst Performers Best Performers Number of Buildings EPA Rating & Energy Intensity (kBtu/ft 2 -year) Normalized EUI for existing office buildings varies widely 30 kbtu/ft2 to 340 kBtu/ft2 Age and equipment not significant drivers of EUI Energy performance gap

Fuel Efficiency MPG Is 10 MPG high or low for an automobile? Energy Performance EPA Rating Is 80 kBtu/SF/YR high or low for a building? Simple Energy Metric

Normalize Building Energy Consumption from bills –Weather, hours, occupant density, plug load –Whole-building “mpg” rating Compare –Benchmark against similar buildings in national stock –Receive score Reward: –Buildings in top 25% qualify for the ENERGY STAR –Buildings with intent to perform in top 25% designated “Designed to Earn ENERGY STAR. –Organizations with portfolio improvement 10, 20, and 30 point qualify as ENERGY STAR Leader EPA’s Energy Performance Rating System

Energy Efficiency Integrated in Design Process

A Case StudySlides courtesy of the OPUS Team EPA Region 8 Building- Denver

Baseline ASRAE % 50.0% 70.0% 80.0% 90.0% 100.0% 60.0% Envelope and Lighting Cumulative 85.9 HVAC Cumulative: Design Case K Btu / sq.ft.– yr (29.6% Below ASHRAE ) A Case Study Updated Energy Modeling Energy Performance Summary

Designed to Earn the… Intended to perform in top 15%

Federal Agencies Can Get Involved Estimate Energy Use at Design –Target Finder Verify energy use in operation –Portfolio Manager Reduce energy across portfolio –ENERGY STAR Guidelines for Energy Management

Federal Leadership Setting a national mark to ensure: –High performance and energy efficient synonymous –Intended energy use of buildings targeted to be among best in country –Installation of cost-effective efficient building components in buildings – Energy performance verified in operation with common metric

…it’s not on a sustainable path. If it’s not energy efficient …