Serving western Canada's sheet metal industry
Home->Winter 2010
New builds only account for two percent of construction activity and 12 percent of construction dollars spent, said Holness, in a series of talks in Canada that wrapped up in January. “I want to concentrate on the other 98 percent.”
In his presentations, themed Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings is our Greatest Opportunity for a Sustainable Future, Holness presented a six-point plan that outlines strategies for existing buildings that would bring North American closer to realizing ASHRAE’s ultimate goal: net zero energy for all new builds by 2030.
Reducing energy consumption in existing buildings is the first step in making headway towards the greater goal, mainly because they represent a larger part of the market. “One hundred and fifty billion square feet of commercial buildings will need to be renovated over the next 30 years,” says Holness, “and 75 to 85 percent of all of the buildings that will exist in urban areas in 2030 exist today.”
The first move forward for ASHRAE was the release of Standard 189.1, Standard for the design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, which sets the bar at 15 percent higher efficiency than Standard 90.1. 189.1 also covers technical apsects of retrofitting, received publication approval in December.
ASHRAE partnered with USGBC in the development of Standard 189.1, meaning the energy requirement in the next generation of LEED will refer to 189.1 as a baseline and ask building owners to exceed it in order to achieve points.
Eli Howard, technical director for SMACNA National says SMACNA was a voting member of the 189.1 committee, and sees the standard as a benefit to members in several ways. As a high-performance standard, it calls for the mandatory sealing of all duct work to a Seal Class A, which raises the bar on energy efficiency and means more work per job for contractors.
“Our workers are already state of the art, and this will force the competition to improve as well,” says Howard.
As part of the effort to reduce energy consumption, the standard calls for a reduction in fan horsepower, which means a larger volume of air with less horsepower to move it and larger air ducts to accommodate the change. “The [building owner] might pay more more on the front end for larger ducts, but over the life cycle of the building the payback is easy,” says Howard.
Standard 189.1 also contains provisions for metal roofing systems, allowing architects greater options in selecting metal roofing systems, which can also go up with different pigment options compared with non-metal.
Holness says that changes on the horizon could impact sheet metal contractors, including the move away from air-driven systems, being that air is a poor transporter of energy.
“Water and refrigerants far more efficient transporters,” says Holness. “You will see a big movement toward radiant cooling and heating systems and away from traditional air systems, because radiant heating and cooling can make use of a building’s thermal mass, and are far more efficient.”
Howard agrees, noting that in the US it will take some time for radiant systems to make a huge mark. He also points out that in some climates, air will still be the way to go.
“Radiant in-floor systems, radiant cooling, and refrigerant flow systems work in certain climates – they would be fantastic in BC, Alberta, and [other parts of Canada], but they would be a hard sell in areas with high humidity like the Carolinas or San Paulo, Brazil,” says Howard. “Either way it will be a slow move in the US as opposed to Europe – variable flow refrigerant systems are big there, but they don’t have the high humidity loads to worry about.
“The most important thing is that contractors need to be nimble and diverse, and able to adapt to changes in the industry.”
The new baseline Standard 90.1 set for release this summer will raise the bar on energy efficiency, and the completion of ASHRAE’s Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDG) series will provide the guidance to achieve better building performance in smaller buildings.
This year’s Standard 90.1 is intended for adoption as a minimum compliance standard. It still has nine addenda open for public review before it closes with a 30 percent reduction in energy over 90.1-2004.
The AEDG series provides fundamental guidance for a 30 percent energy efficiency improvement over 90.1 using practical, cost-effective, off-the-shelf technologies. Five of the guides have been published already, with the final in the initial series set to release this year. A three-part Advanced Energy Efficiency Guides: Existing Building Guide series is also in the works, and will address the business case for sustainable retrofits, technologies for ideal improvements, and operations and maintenance, respectively.
The society will complete the net zero energy AEDG series guides in 2013-2015.Holness also recommends the resurrection and redesign of Standard 100, Energy Conservation in Existing Buildings, which sets forth the process, procedure, and guidance for developing major retrofit programs.
While Standards 90.1 and 189.1 cover the technical aspects of green retrofits, Standard 100 provides guidance about how to develop energy conservation measures, how to analyze existing building operations, and how to look at the ROI for alternative approaches.
Commissioning and retrocommissioning and the creation of an Operations and Maintenance Guide are also on the agenda.
“The quality of the building stock is not improved by green buildings that don’t operate efficiently,” says Holness, adding that buildings typically deteriorate in performance by as much as 30 percent in the first three to four years.
Retrocommissioning of an existing building can save from 10 to 40 percent just by improving operational strategies. The 20 to 50 percent per square foot cost can be recovered in less than one year through energy savings of at least 15 percent, according to the Building Commissioning Association.
“We have a great opportunity with these six key vehicles to provide sequential guidance over the life cycle of buildings if we plan this right and provide the tools to keep our green buildings green,” says Holness.
Energy Efficiency for a Sustainable Future
Gordon Holness, president of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is asking that greater attention be paid to green retrofits, which are busting with potential in cost savings, energy reductions, and overall environmental good.
New builds only account for two percent of construction activity and 12 percent of construction dollars spent, said Holness, in a series of talks in Canada that wrapped up in January. “I want to concentrate on the other 98 percent.”
In his presentations, themed Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings is our Greatest Opportunity for a Sustainable Future, Holness presented a six-point plan that outlines strategies for existing buildings that would bring North American closer to realizing ASHRAE’s ultimate goal: net zero energy for all new builds by 2030.
Reducing energy consumption in existing buildings is the first step in making headway towards the greater goal, mainly because they represent a larger part of the market. “One hundred and fifty billion square feet of commercial buildings will need to be renovated over the next 30 years,” says Holness, “and 75 to 85 percent of all of the buildings that will exist in urban areas in 2030 exist today.”
The first move forward for ASHRAE was the release of Standard 189.1, Standard for the design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, which sets the bar at 15 percent higher efficiency than Standard 90.1. 189.1 also covers technical apsects of retrofitting, received publication approval in December.
ASHRAE partnered with USGBC in the development of Standard 189.1, meaning the energy requirement in the next generation of LEED will refer to 189.1 as a baseline and ask building owners to exceed it in order to achieve points.
Eli Howard, technical director for SMACNA National says SMACNA was a voting member of the 189.1 committee, and sees the standard as a benefit to members in several ways. As a high-performance standard, it calls for the mandatory sealing of all duct work to a Seal Class A, which raises the bar on energy efficiency and means more work per job for contractors.
“Our workers are already state of the art, and this will force the competition to improve as well,” says Howard.
As part of the effort to reduce energy consumption, the standard calls for a reduction in fan horsepower, which means a larger volume of air with less horsepower to move it and larger air ducts to accommodate the change. “The [building owner] might pay more more on the front end for larger ducts, but over the life cycle of the building the payback is easy,” says Howard.
Standard 189.1 also contains provisions for metal roofing systems, allowing architects greater options in selecting metal roofing systems, which can also go up with different pigment options compared with non-metal.
Holness says that changes on the horizon could impact sheet metal contractors, including the move away from air-driven systems, being that air is a poor transporter of energy.
“Water and refrigerants far more efficient transporters,” says Holness. “You will see a big movement toward radiant cooling and heating systems and away from traditional air systems, because radiant heating and cooling can make use of a building’s thermal mass, and are far more efficient.”
Howard agrees, noting that in the US it will take some time for radiant systems to make a huge mark. He also points out that in some climates, air will still be the way to go.
“Radiant in-floor systems, radiant cooling, and refrigerant flow systems work in certain climates – they would be fantastic in BC, Alberta, and [other parts of Canada], but they would be a hard sell in areas with high humidity like the Carolinas or San Paulo, Brazil,” says Howard. “Either way it will be a slow move in the US as opposed to Europe – variable flow refrigerant systems are big there, but they don’t have the high humidity loads to worry about.
“The most important thing is that contractors need to be nimble and diverse, and able to adapt to changes in the industry.”
The new baseline Standard 90.1 set for release this summer will raise the bar on energy efficiency, and the completion of ASHRAE’s Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDG) series will provide the guidance to achieve better building performance in smaller buildings.
This year’s Standard 90.1 is intended for adoption as a minimum compliance standard. It still has nine addenda open for public review before it closes with a 30 percent reduction in energy over 90.1-2004.
The AEDG series provides fundamental guidance for a 30 percent energy efficiency improvement over 90.1 using practical, cost-effective, off-the-shelf technologies. Five of the guides have been published already, with the final in the initial series set to release this year. A three-part Advanced Energy Efficiency Guides: Existing Building Guide series is also in the works, and will address the business case for sustainable retrofits, technologies for ideal improvements, and operations and maintenance, respectively.
The society will complete the net zero energy AEDG series guides in 2013-2015.Holness also recommends the resurrection and redesign of Standard 100, Energy Conservation in Existing Buildings, which sets forth the process, procedure, and guidance for developing major retrofit programs.
“It should include energy modelling and load simulation [using EnergyPlus or eQuest] to determine current energy use that can be reconciled with metered data,” says Holness.
While Standards 90.1 and 189.1 cover the technical aspects of green retrofits, Standard 100 provides guidance about how to develop energy conservation measures, how to analyze existing building operations, and how to look at the ROI for alternative approaches.
Commissioning and retrocommissioning and the creation of an Operations and Maintenance Guide are also on the agenda.
“The quality of the building stock is not improved by green buildings that don’t operate efficiently,” says Holness, adding that buildings typically deteriorate in performance by as much as 30 percent in the first three to four years.
Retrocommissioning of an existing building can save from 10 to 40 percent just by improving operational strategies. The 20 to 50 percent per square foot cost can be recovered in less than one year through energy savings of at least 15 percent, according to the Building Commissioning Association.
“We have a great opportunity with these six key vehicles to provide sequential guidance over the life cycle of buildings if we plan this right and provide the tools to keep our green buildings green,” says Holness.
Point One Media inc.