[Greenbuilding] AIA COTE Verifying Building Performance

[Reuben Deumling]

How about:
build small dwellings and teach the owners how to read their meters and why
doing so might be worthwhile?

I don't mean this facetiously. The degree of complexity in current codes,
modeling software, and algorithms is such that I have no confidence in the
correspondence between model, building, and energy consumption. Recent
evaluation of the CA Energy Star New Homes Project found that energy use in
Energy Star homes was in many cases higher than in the control homes:

The 437 pg. report by RLW Analytics, which includes the following excerpts
can be found at the <www.CALMAC.org> site.

It is titled: EVALUATION, MEASUREMENT, AND VERIFICATION OF THE 2004 & 2005
CALIFORNIA STATEWIDE ENERGY STAR(R) NEW HOMES PROGRAM.

"The billing analysis performed for CZ8 and CZ12 [CA climate zones 8 & 12]
indicates that participants use more electricity and fewer therms than
non-participants. Controlling for housing characteristics as well as
demographic information, ENERGY STAR(R) homes participants used more energy
with the exception of CZ12 gas usage. The demographic question results all
point to non-participants using more energy than participants, and even
controlling for these variables, we see participants with higher usage." (
p.16)

"Occupant Behavior is as Important as Building Characteristics

Our billing analysis results, showing negative program savings in climate
zones that the metering [modeling?] indicates positive savings, highlighted
the fact that occupant behavior is one of the largest drivers of energy
consumption. For this reason, future evaluations may want to explore ESH
occupant behaviors. If people who choose to buy ENERGY STAR(R) homes are
already conservation minded people and therefore purchase the homes to be
ecofriendly or "green" than they may be conservative in their energy use
already. This would reduce the energy usage, and therefore the energy
savings of the home. Conversely a person who knows they already consume a
lot of energy may purchase an ENERGY STAR(R) home because even with no change
in their behavior, they will still have reduced bills; a person may even
increase their comfort level, for example by lowering the temperature in
their home during the summer, because they think their home is more
efficient and they still may consume less energy. Whether one or the other
behavior is more prevalent would not only have a significant impact on
estimated savings, but also has implications for how to best market a new
construction residential energy efficiency program." ( p.159)


On Nov 14, 2007 10:37 AM, George J. Nesbitt <geoedb at idiom.com> wrote:

> *_COTE_**_ Forum:  Verifying Building Performance_*
>
> *            Learn about the types of test, services and equipment
> available to verify that buildings perform as they should.  (1.5 HSW
> CES/LU)*
>
> _Title of Program_:  Verifying Building Performance:
>
> _Description of Program_:  The goal of the program is to inform
> architects of the consulting and contracting services available to
> verify Building Performance.  Designing an energy efficient building is
> not enough, it is more important to make sure that the building performs
> as designed.
>
>