Energy Star tax creditsGreen Design
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 [...]
The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is too big price to pay for our dependency on oil. Now we have to re-evaluate our energy plans. FINALLY. The sustainable approach is to stop drilling and spend more money on energy conserving measures and renewables. . . . . . . In this months [...]
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 guys over at Autodesk made this cute animation to drive the point home The Buildings Sector accounts for about 40% of U.S. Energy, 72% of Electricity, and 34% of Natural Gas use. Building energy costs totaled $390 billion in 2006. The Buildings Sector accounts for about 40% of U.S. Energy, 72% of Electricity, and [...]
Delayed commentary on things learned and shared at a recent RevitDC meeting: NAMING THINGS and SHARING (it’s a matter of INTEGRITY) Naming comes up again. “Inconsistent” is the keyword. I am glad that I am not the only one who struggles with it. Shakespeare wrote “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose [...]
Continue reading about BIM is a database – Naming is important
I would like to share this 2006 excerpt from the Building Design and Construction magazine white paper on the bottom line of building commissioning. To put some solid numbers on benefits of commissioning, Evan Mills, PhD, and colleagues at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Portland Energy Conservation, and Texas A&M University (Energy Systems Laboratory) reviewed published [...]
Continue reading about The bottom line! Building commissioning today
An important point, when planning a project, is that the skillsets of the users may be the real driver of success. Software skills by the senior experts helps too. Understanding the database may be as important as understanding the data. Its a bit of a hurdle that most senior professionals will have as much of [...]
What if? Energy independence, green jobs, deal with peak oil , have healthier children, cleaner air and water, save the rainforests….
Continue reading about What if global warming is actually a hoax?
This doesn’t need any explanation. A picture is worth a thousand words. Additional editorial on LEED and Energy Star marketability
Continue reading about Calculating the advantage of a LEED certified building
Change is in the wind. Software and information technology forces a break with the past. For generations, we engineers depended on drawings. The desktop PC, and software, such as Autocad, changed our dependence into a 2-d CAD. Stephen Roth wrote in the recent issue of Consulting Specifying Engineers magazine. HVAC cooling and heating load analysis [...]
HVAC DATA model from LBNL
BetterBricks.com
Database of Energy and $ Incentives
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Oil Industry started (Drake's well in PA)
The Energy Collective
Architecture 2030
Jerry Yudelson
