Energy Star tax creditsBuilding Performance
About energy benchmarks for energy modeling. There appear to be several separate national energy codes, several California standards, and a growing number of benchmark levels. (ASHRAE/ANSI 90.1, CalGreen, California Title 24, CEC, HERS, Energy Star ratings, etc) The situation is confusing a lot of folks. Blame the engineers AND politics. Politics is in everything these [...]
Its hard anymore to find a politician as successful and honorable as President Clinton. And he supports energy efficiency! He knows government policy should support it and not the status quo of oil and coal. By the way, most of those politicians oughta forget it and get a job! I am driven to help building [...]
Continue reading about Bill Clinton says a million workers can be put to work now
I have been working 6 days a week this summer, helping to push some projects to completion. I am now frequently on-site at the Bethesda National Military Medical Center in Maryland, to oversee testing on many M/E/P/Data/Comm systems being installed in 700,000 sf of new clinic, lab, and patient care space, as well as over [...]
A review of Building Commissioning: A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse Gas Emissions By Evan Mills, Ph.D. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for: CEC (PIER) July 21, 2009 This white paper contains some compelling arguments in favor of re-commissioning. Money and energy are two items. A building is a kind of organism. We [...]
Alright, I will get off my high horse now and back on my regular horse. Back on the subject of energy and high performance buildings. Recently I have had the good fortune of connecting with some very good people and I am busy again at my profession. I am working with a great commissioning team [...]
I am worried now. A new report just came out showing that 85% of CMMS (Computerized Management and Maintenance System) software being purchased is not being used. This is software that is supposed to be used by facilities managers to streamline their work, but apparently without much eagerness. An excellent commentary in this months Engineered [...]
Continue reading about How to Sustain the Energy Efficient Design
This Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report, Building Commissioning: A Golden Opportunity for Reducing Energy Costs and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions should inform the skeptics about the efficacy of this process for buildings. Regular tuneups for your car are the norm, so the same should be for your building. I quote: “This report responds to a widely held [...]
Continue reading about Report Dispels doubts on Conservation Measures
Simple is as simple does. It works. Its easier to understand. Easier to fix. The real world does not reward complexity. An important aspect of good design is simplicity. HVAC can be complicated enough, given the need to maintain various spaces at set temperatures, relative humidity and cleanliness. HVAC systems are also expected to maintain [...]
The latest numbers are that US buildings consume $320 billion/year in energy. 2/5 of all the energy used in the US. And about 40% of the energy (costing $120 billion/year) is used in buildings for HVAC. Some of the 2009 stats HVAC designs that I have incorporated recently into my office building projects are expected [...]
Continue reading about Better HVAC can save $48 billion/year in the USA
Trends: Read the chart on your buildings energy usage. Monthly charts can usually be found on the monthly utility bills. Usually, your utility company can provide a history of usage. The hourly or daily usage charts can reveal patterns of usage which can be reveal whether your building is running at its best. What does [...]
Continue reading about Getting a View of Energy Consumption in your building
HVAC DATA model from LBNL
BetterBricks.com
Database of Energy and $ Incentives
From Horsepower to Hearpower, Part 1: The Foundations of Power and Energy
Oil Industry started (Drake's well in PA)
The Energy Collective
Architecture 2030
Jerry Yudelson
