11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Seminar 9
Fire Safety Operations in Commercial Kitchens
Building Operation and Performance
Augustus III/IV (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Mark Skierkiewicz, P.E., UL, LLC
Technical Committee: 5.10 Kitchen Ventilation
CoSponsor: 5.6 Control of Fire and Smoke
This session discusses increased risk of fires in commercial kitchens employing solid fuel cooking, resulting deposits of highly combustible creosote deposits in exhaust systems. Case studies will show how solid fuel cooking fires challenge conventional in-hood fire suppression systems and increase the need for strict adherence to code and standards requirements, requirements for clearance to combustible construction, and the need for increased frequency and aggressiveness of duct cleaning. These points will be illustrated by real world examples of fires, fire system performance, issues with code requirements for clearances, and how defined maintenance programs and proper inspections can reduce fire hazards.
1 The Increasing Fire Risk from Solid Fuel Cooking
This presentation describes the added fire risk with solid fuel commercial cooking of creosote formation and deposition in exhaust hoods and ducts. The presentation discusses the physical and fire properties of creosote, and through selected case studies, will discuss the issues of detection, activation, and suppression with conventional fire suppression systems. This presentation also previews hybrid and newer technology fire systems with electronic monitoring, detection and actuation, suppression with unlimited water and surfactant, along with backup power supply and communication with building management systems.
2 Kitchen Exhaust Duct Fire Safety: Concerns and Solutions
Fire hazards in commercial kitchens include ignition source, flame spread, as well as heat transmission concerns. Proper design, installation, and maintenance of kitchen exhaust ducts is critical to the performance and safety of the kitchen ventilation system. Considerations include access for cleaning and maintenance, proper slope, clearances to combustible construction, and reduced clearance protective assemblies. The latest UL 710 Standard for kitchen hoods has incorporated specific testing requirements for insulation, which allows for reduced clearance to combustible materials. Duct systems must also meet clearance requirements, which involves field-installed fire wrap, as well as pre-insulated double wall ducts evaluated to UL Standard 2221.
3 Inspection and Maintenance Operations for Kitchen Exhaust Fire Safety
Property loss in the commercial foodservice industry remains huge, commonly results in civilian and fire fighter injury, and most often can be directly traced to the cooking area where food product was the first material ignited. The wide array of effluent handling equipment must be engineered for the specific equipment employed. The inspection and the maintenance procedures must be an ongoing measure to properly control flammable cooking byproduct, and must be conducted by properly trained and qualified persons.
11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Seminar 13
Yes, It Is Your Fault: How Faults Affect Your System’s Performance and How to Model the Faults’ Effects in Advance
Building Operation and Performance
Roman III (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
David P. Yuill, Ph.D., P.E., University of Nebraska
Technical Committee: 8.11 Unitary and Room Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps
Sponsor: TC 7.5 Smart Building Systems
CoSponsor: 7.3 Operation and Maintenance Management
Faults happen. They can occur in unitary air-conditioning equipment and cause it to perform below its expected, rated or designed value, leaving owners/operators disappointed. Examples of faults include coil fouling, loss of refrigerant charge, excessive duct flow resistance, economizer faults, etc. This seminar shows results of recent groundbreaking research projects focusing on the effects of faults on unitary equipment, and presents new methods for modeling the effects of those faults. Attendees of the seminar will be prepared to account for these effects when designing, planning maintenance, or predicting building energy performance.
1 Effect of Heat Pump Commissioning Faults on Annual Energy Use
This study shows the impact of common commissioning faults on the energy consumption of an air-to-air heat pump installed in a single-family house. Through annual simulations of the house/heat pump system, the study found that duct leakage, refrigerant undercharge, oversized heat pump with nominal ductwork, low indoor airflow due to undersized ductwork, and refrigerant overcharge have the most potential for causing significant performance degradation and increased annual energy consumption. Energy use increased significantly from lowering the thermostat setting in the cooling mode to improve indoor comfort in cases of excessive indoor humidity levels due to installation faults.
2 Modeling the Effect of Vapor Compression Cycle Faults Using Gray-Box Models
Complete physics-based models of vapor-compression refrigeration equipment can be difficult and time-consuming to produce. A gray-box model uses a mix of physics and measurement data to simplify the modeling process. Gray box models have recently been produced that are capable of accurately modeling the effects of all common faults on the performance of the system. This seminar describes the new approach, and show the results and conclusions from the modeling.
3 Effect of Economizer Faults on Expected Whole-Building Energy Savings
Air-side economizers are commonly used in most locations to reduce the cooling load when outdoor conditions are suitable. However, several field studies have shown that economizer faults, such as a stuck damper, are quite common. For small rooftop units, the cost of supplying an economizer can return a slow payback in some locations, and when faults occur, the economizer may not ever pay off. This study simulated the cost outcome using probabilities of faults from field studies to examine the cost-effectiveness of economizers for typical buildings in several climates, to determine payback period, if any.
4 Generalized Models of Fault Effects on Air Conditioners in Heating and Cooling Mode
Air-side economizers are commonly used in most locations to reduce the cooling load when outdoor conditions are suitable. However, several field studies have shown that economizer faults, such as a stuck damper, are quite common. For small rooftop units, the cost of supplying an economizer can return a slow payback in some locations, and when faults occur, the economizer may not ever pay off. This study simulated the cost outcome using probabilities of faults from field studies to examine the cost-effectiveness of economizers for typical buildings in several climates, to determine payback period, if any.
1:00 PM-2:00 PM
Forum TC
Should ASHRAE Develop a Net Zero Energy Building Standard?
Building Operation and Performance
Forum 11 (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Dunstan Macauley, P.E., WSP
Technical Committee: 2.8 Building Environmental Impacts and Sustainability
OPEN SESSION: No badge required; no PDHs awarded; presented during the TC’s meeting. If an entity requires a Net Zero Energy Building (NZEB), how do you design and verify it? ASHRAE and other organizations currently provide or are developing guidance on constructing NZEBs; however, there are currently no consensus standards for designing or certifying the achievement of Net Zero. Does the industry need a NZEB Standard, and what building type(s) should the standard encompass? Should it be a design standard and/or performance verification standard? Can this be accomplished within the context of an existing ASHRAE Standard Project Committee?
1:30 PM-3:00 PM
Conference Paper Session 5
Designing Energy Efficient Buildings Can Save Money and Provide Better Comfort
Building Operation and Performance
Emperors II (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
This session addresses issues in energy efficiency in design through building operation, involving conversations ranging from energy conservation relating to older units, insulation or controls. Likewise, specific building types and locations such as hospitality, religious, or green buildings and tropical climates, are discussed for their unique energy demands.
1 Thermal Insulation System for Energy Efficient and Green Buildings (LV-17-C016)
Building construction has gone for tremendous changes during the last decade. With the improvement in quality of life, earnings, living style, the building construction methodology and construction materials have been modified to suit the life style of people. The art of living has changed and human comfort is given a lot of importance. With the increase in electronic gadgets in the houses along with air conditioning system energy consumption becomes enormous. This paper highlights different insulation materials along with application specifications and confirmation to local Green Standards or Energy Codes in India.
2 Experimental Investigation of Potential Energy Savings and Payback Ratio in Renewing Old Split-Type Air Conditioners (LV-17-C017)
Saudi Arabia has been in rapid growth in recent years which resulted in electricity consumption growth. Air-conditioners (A/Cs) are responsible for 50% of the electricity consumption due to hot weather conditions as well as the delay in implementing A/Cs performance standards. One of the challenges is that most of the installed A/Cs in existing buildings are old and have been installed before regulations and standards on A/Cs specifications were enforced in 2013. Renewing old A/Cs with new and efficient ones would reduce electricity consumption, benefiting building owners as well as utility companies.
3 Development of a Hardware-in-the-Loop Framework with Modelica for Energy Efficient Buildings (LV-17-C018)
Buildings consume more than 40% of energy in the U.S. Effectively and efficiently managing and controlling building energy and mechanical systems for a sustainable built environment remains a critical challenge. Studies shows intelligent building controls enable a greater than 20% energy savings in specific buildings, accounting for 2% of national energy consumption. Even small improvements in control system logic can make significant changes in energy savings over the course of a year or longer. How to develop, test and evaluate controller performances is crucial for scalable deployment of these control logics including load controls and distributed control solutions.
4 Energy Saving with Comfort Guarantee in Hospitality Buildings (LV-17-C019)
In a hospitality building, guests’ presence ratio (%) in the room is low due to the varying schedule and needs (business, shopping, sightseeing etc.) of individual guests. So, the energy consumption can be reduced during guests’ absence by turning the HVAC off for the room, but it can cause discomfort to the guest when they come back to the room. So it poses trade-off problems to maintain the comfort for the user and reduces the energy consumption at the same time in a hospitality building. This paper proposes an algorithm to solve the above-mentioned problem.
5 Best Practices and Lessons Learned in Churches: How Energy Use and Efficiency in Religious Facilities Compares to Other Types of Commercial Buildings (LV-17-C020)
Religious facilities throughout the world are unique in their operation compared to other types of commercial buildings. Due to their lower energy intensity, these buildings rarely are the recipients of traditional energy studies or assessments. This paper presents highlights from a long-term energy study of two architecturally-identical churches located in different climates. Data were collected from over 130 sensors over an 18-month time period. This paper discusses how religious facilities differ from other types of commercial buildings in regards to occupancy, lighting, HVAC usage, and comfort.
1:30 PM-3:00 PM
Seminar 14
Data Driven Energy Auditing, Measurement and Verification
Building Operation and Performance
Augustus III/IV (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Technical Committee: 7.5 Smart Building Systems
Sponsor: TC 7.6
CoSponsor: 7.6 Building Energy Performance
This seminar provides an overview of several building energy software programs for commercial buildings (including officers, schools, and data centers) in both the U.S. and China. These programs were developed to collect energy data, provide enhanced visualization, perform energy analytics, benchmark and identify savings opportunities, quantify savings impacts, and support an ongoing commissioning process in actual facilities. Several real-world project examples are provided to illustrate how these tools will be used and what benefits they bring to the industry.
1 Using Analytics Platforms to Continuously Evaluate Buildings and Drive Persistent Savings
There’s no shortage of available software applications and tools that can be leveraged to identify savings opportunities in buildings. The challenge is identifying which tool types are appropriate and what data is useful for the variety of needed building assessments that range from simple benchmarking to fault detection/auditing or advanced statistical analysis. This presentation provides an overview of a software environment developed to leverage the relative strengths of some energy analytics, workflow management, and visualization tools to identify savings opportunities, quantify savings impacts, and support an ongoing commissioning process in actual facilities.
2 A Smart Data Center Energy Expert System for Automatic Measurement, Energy Audit and Energy Efficiency Improvement
The Smart Data Center Energy Expert System is a continuous monitoring, control and analytics platform developed by the needs of modem data centers for down time prevention powered by latest IoT and cloud technologies. The expert-system approach enables fast and accurate identification of environmental trends along with comprehensive and cost effective energy efficiency recommendations, boosts adoption of energy saving measures and automatic CRAC controls. The all-in-one system significantly simplifies and standardizes savings estimation and verification and effectively sustains and improves the savings over time for medium to large data centers.
3 Using Advanced Energy Management System for Automatic Energy Audit in China
Due to the requirements of national energy policy, more than 10,000 public and commercial buildings in China installed sub-meters in the last eight years. Energy audit and retro-commissioning were also performed on these buildings. EMS platform that can track and perform analysis on data collected from sub-meters and BAS is becoming essential for analyzing system operation, identifying system issues and faults , and uncovering energy cost-saving opportunities. This presentation introduces an advanced EMS platform used for automatic data collection and archiving, data calibration, energy benchmarking, equipment and system operation performance analysis, energy and operation fault alerting and measurement & verification.
1:30 PM-3:00 PM
Seminar 15
Do the Users Follow the Model?
Building Operation and Performance
Roman I (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Guy Perreault, P.Eng., Evap-Tech MTC inc.
Technical Committee: 9.10 Laboratory Systems
This session presents case studies to provide guidance for developing energy models for laboratory buildings. The presenters demonstrate real life examples of energy savings using demand based ventilation and the implementation of wind responsive VAV exhaust systems in laboratories. Finally, it addresses why the actual energy consumption of laboratories may differ from the original model.
1 Modelling, Measuring and Evaluating Laboratory Energy Efficiency Performance
Demand based control, variable exhaust fan controls, heat recovery, etc. have significant impact on saving energy in labs. Building a holistic model of these systems , when these approaches interact with each other can be a challenge. An energy analysis tool was developed to address these concerns. This presentation discusses this energy analysis tool that measures actual savings of completed projects. Case studies showing the energy savings modeled compared with actual airflow savings and energy performance is presented. Lessons learned is also presented, explaining why some of these lab projects were not initially achieving their energy savings.
2 Wind Response Exhaust Fan Control Case Study
This presentation discusses actual projects implementing wind responsive VAV exhaust systems for laboratories. It also addresses the steps to ensure a safe operation of the VAV controls.
3 Energy Model vs. Actual Performance Case Study
This presentation discusses the differences between modeled building energy performance and actual consumption. Limitations of modeling software and engineering assumptions are included. Differences between modeling existing buildings and new buildings is also presented. The discussion includes common areas of difference between models and actual performance.
1:30 PM-3:00 PM
Seminar 17
Energy Management: A Crucial Component of Operations and Maintenance
Building Operation and Performance
Augustus I/II (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
John Constantinide, Alpha MRC Architects Engineers
Technical Committee: 7.3 Operation and Maintenance Management
In the overall facility operations and maintenance (O&M) picture, energy management plays an integral role in proper facility management. This role is increasingly valued with a push in the public and private sectors for reduced energy consumption, leading to reduced facility costs and, in the case of equipment replacement, reduced payback periods. Effective energy management in O&M requires calculated and focused strategies with a proper investment of time, funding, and personnel. These strategies and their energy-saving impacts will be discussed by seminar speakers who have worked in institutional settings, providing perspectives from the United States and in an international setting.
1 The OMMP Annual Program and the Impact on Energy Conservation
This session focuses on “Critical Thinking” and the Principles of the Integrated Design for Energy Efficiency. The Integrated Design Project Team (IDP) early involvement in planning, design, construction, and building operations team members. The goal IDP asset management and energy management program for energy consuming equipment is to operate and maintain the equipment to like new conditions. The benefit of decreased energy use and saving fuel can result in decrease maintenance cost for the owner. The lower operating expenses can be invested back to the owner’s core business.
2 Energy Management in Operations and Maintenance
When considering the entire life cycle of a building, costs incurred during the operations phase have a great impact on the overall success of the project. The presentation covers the necessary components and processes for a successful in-house, energy management program at a tier 1 metropolitan research university. The importance of operations and maintenance staff to the success and sustainment of the program will be addressed as well as the importance of a documented workflow process. The case study shows the effect of policy, procedure, organizational structure, process improvement, and analytics on the overall success of the program.
3 Energy and Resources Conservation through O&M
Energy and resource conservation can only be achieved if building systems are operated and maintained the way they were designed and commissioned. Operations and maintenance (O&M) is usually given the least priority globally, including in Pakistan. What needs to be included in design, construction and commissioning phases in relation to O&M? What is an O&M team and their duties? How should effective O&M can be executed? How can effective O&M enhance the service life of equipment, as well as energy and resources conservation? Lastly, what metrics can be used to note and keep track of a well-executed O&M program?
3:00 PM-6:00 PM
Seminar TC
A Better Writer is a Better Engineer: TC 7.3 O&M Management Perspective on Good Communication
Building Operation and Performance
Augustus V/VI (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Mina Agarabi, P.E., Agarabi Engineering PLLC
Technical Committee: 7.3 Operation and Maintenance Management
OPEN SESSION: No badge required; no PDHs awarded; presented during the TC's meeting. Successful engineers require many communication skills. This seminar workshop focuses on the value and importance of good writing skills for both experienced engineers and YEA, the requirement as engineers to communicate technical ideas and data, and how to achieve improved writing. Sample writings will be used to demonstrate writing techniques.
3:15 PM-4:45 PM
Seminar 19
Walking the Walk: Delivering a Truly High Performance Building
Building Operation and Performance
Augustus I/II (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Alyse Falconer, P.E., Interface Engineering
Technical Committee: 7.3 Operation and Maintenance Management
Sponsor: 7.6 Building Energy Performance
CoSponsor: 7.9 Building Commissioning
The lifecycle of a new construction project can last several years. Initial goals are set by the team with high aspirations but are often deviated from as the process continues.
Tracking and monitoring the project’s energy goals through design deliverables, energy analysis and commissioning reports is crucial for adhering to objectives. However, what happens when unforeseen issues occur? Does the team achieve the owner’s aspirations?
This presentation reviews achieving client goals while working through obstacles, from design inception through occupied building. Working together as a high performance team, performance goals can be achieved and confirmed through post-occupancy measurement and verification.
1 Architect and Engineer: An Evolving Relationship Required for Synergy within Sustainable Design
The relationship between architect and engineer has evolved as sustainable design has gained importance. The design process between the team is less hierarchical and much more collaborative. Beyond the team’s reliance on engineers for technical expertise, they must also have a broader understanding of a project’s goals, as their input has a much greater impact than before. Today, the process of engineer more closely reflects the process of architecture, each relying on the other. Understanding the importance of integrating HVAC design and building envelope strategies into the early stages of the design process creates a synergy within architecture and engineering.
2 HVAC Design Options: Navigating Owners and Architects through HVAC Systems to Provide Client Specific Solutions
Every project and owner is unique. Some buildings are set out with goals to have the greenest building in the world while others are simply trying to provide adequate thermal comfort. There is a fine line between providing an adequate system while encouraging an owner towards an energy efficient design. And when and how do you bring the facilities engineer into the design process? This presentation covers how to present and tailor HVAC system design options to the owner, design team and facilities group, while addressing energy use concerns, architectural aesthetics, acoustical criteria, and operations and maintenance preferences.
3 Commissioning: Why Designers, Owners and Operators Should Care
Often the commissioning process is an after-thought that gets addressed when code compliance or LEED requirements are addressed. It is seen as a means to an ends instead of a key component of a high performance project. Through early integration of commissioning into the design process, projects experience reduced energy use, lower operating costs, reduced contractor callbacks, and verification that the systems perform in accordance with the owner’s requirements. Projects can only succeed when designers, energy analysts, contractors, owners and operators all understand the project goals, and commissioning is one of the most effective ways to bring all parties together.
4 Integrating Energy Analysis into Design: How to Ensure Predicted Energy Utilization Index Values Are Achieved
The most important key of true project success is a high performance team that communicates effectively and constantly tracks its goals. The design must be benchmarked throughout each phase of the project, including post occupancy. Working hand in hand with the design team, owner and facilities group allows the energy analyst to predict an Energy Utilization Index value which is reflective of future building conditions. And after a year of occupancy, a carefully thought out measurement and verification process will reveal the team’s successes and shortcomings.
8:00 AM-9:30 AM
Seminar 20
Fresh Insights on Building Automation: A Seminar by the YEA Group
Building Operation and Performance
Roman I (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Joseph Kilcoyne, P.E., SC Engineers, Inc.
Technical Committee: 1.4 Control Theory and Application
Sponsor: YEA
CoSponsor: 7.5 Smart Building Systems
With a focus on emerging trends in building automation systems, three Young Engineers in ASHRAE members will highlight where they see the control industry heading. According to many experts, smart, interconnected building technologies are the next major step in the evolution of buildings. With the increase of the prevalence of the “Internet of Things” and the falling costs of sensors and wireless technology, the smart building technology and implementation market has a huge potential. Topics covered include predictive energy modeling for energy dashboards, functional control testing through injection and stimulation, and connected commissioning methods.
1 Emerging Smart Building Automation Technologies and Barriers to Implementation
According to some experts, smart, interconnected building technologies are the next major step in the evolution of buildings. With the increase of the prevalence of the “Internet of Things” and the falling costs of sensors and wireless technology, the smart building technology and implementation market has a huge potential. Yet, changing an industry doesn’t happen overnight. Proponents of smart buildings must still overcome a number of obstacles before smart buildings become ubiquitous, including barriers with safety (cybersecurity), technology (interoperability), and humanity (acceptance).
2 Customizing Energy Dashboard Performance Goals Using Predictive Modeling, Historical Data Analysis and Energy-Conservative Logic
Realizing the economic and environmental benefits of energy-efficient building designs requires attentive and well-informed operation. Providing real-time feedback to occupants and operators about actual energy use is a powerful tool in pursuit of this goal. However, without context, this feedback can be unhelpful or even misleading. Control limits contextualize feedback by establishing reasonable ranges for the reported data that are tailored to a building’s unique characteristics. This presentation is an introduction to two related methods of establishing control limits for building energy consumption using a combination of predictive modeling, historical data analysis, and energy-conservative logic.
3 Successful Functional Testing Methods for Building Automation Systems
Commissioning consists of systematically documenting that specified components and systems have been installed and started up properly and then functionally tested to verify that systems are complete and functioning properly upon project completion. Proper functional performance test development plays a big role in the success of commissioning. The intent of this portion of the seminar is to present various means & methods for functional performance testing. Means and methods such as control modification, injection, stimulation and actual event will be discussed in depth.
8:00 AM-9:30 AM
Seminar 23
The Road to Zero Energy Buildings Goes Through Energy Indices: What’s Fair and How Do We Get There?
Building Operation and Performance
Augustus V/VI (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Michael Deru, Ph.D., NREL
Technical Committee: 2.8 Building Environmental Impacts and Sustainability
CoSponsor: 7.6 Building Energy Performance
Measuring progress toward achieving net zero energy buildings can be difficult. Performance metrics such as energy use index and energy rating index will provide misleading information if they are insensitive to the impact of parameters such as size, process loads, and occupant behavior. This seminar highlights challenges facing popular performance metrics targeted toward net zero buildings. Options for addressing some of these challenges will be described, including lessons learned from an extensive evaluation of airport terminals, and technical approaches such as O&M Index and Index Adjustment Factors to address disparities in ratings caused by geometry and operating assumptions.
1 An O&M Index Can Help Address EUI Limitations
Energy performance indices are used around the world to evaluate and monitor residential and commercial building energy performance during design, construction, renovation, and operation. Building energy performance is sensitive to the engineered system, O&M practices, and occupant needs, each of which are largely independent factors requiring more than one index to describe and manage the building’s energy performance. This presentation analyzes the merits and weaknesses of common indices and introduces the O&M Index, which is the ratio of the energy consumption at the meter to the simulated energy performance, calibrated for the actual operating conditions of the building.
2 Developing EUI Adjustment Factors for Benchmarking Airport Terminal Buildings
A recent study of Airport Terminal Buildings by the Airport Cooperative Research Program revealed that traditional Energy Use Indices (EUIs) do not fully explain the differences in the energy use characteristics of Airport Terminal Buildings (ATBs). To resolve this issue new indices were developed and demonstrated that more accurately account for the special systems in ATBs. This presentation presents the findings of this effort, including the new Energy Use (EU) indicators and preliminary results of the application of the ATB EUs to selected airports in the U.S.
3 ERI Adjustments for Standard 90.2 and Other Residential Applications
Experience with the Energy Rating Index (ERI) score as a building energy performance metric indicates that home geometry and operating assumptions play a significant role in resulting scores. All other things equal, as home size increases it becomes easier to achieve lower scores. The number of bedrooms and number of stories also impact scores. This presentation highlights the magnitude of the disparities caused by each of these factors in high performance zero energy ready homes. It also provides details on a set of Index Adjustment Factors that account for these impacts and significantly reduce disparities in the revised ERI calculation.
9:45 AM-10:45 AM
Seminar 29
Zero Net-Energy Buildings: Modeled Predictions and Outcomes
Building Operation and Performance
Roman III (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Charles Eley, P.E., Eley Consulting
ASHRAE and many other societies and governmental organizations have adopted the Architecture 2030 challenge which calls for new buildings to be zero net-energy (ZNE) by the year 2030. This seminar addresses the technical feasibility of meeting this challenge based on recent analysis, including ASHRAE research on the maximum technical potential for achieving low energy buildings (RP-1651), and the on-site renewable energy production potential for typical climates. Data from measured energy performance (utility bills) of recently constructed ZNE buildings will then be compared to the theoretical targets, and the areas of agreement as well as the gaps will be explored.
1 ZNE Feasibility and Issues By Building Type and Climate
This presentation addresses the technical feasibility of meeting the Architecture 2030 challenge based on recent analysis, including ASHRAE research on the maximum technical potential for achieving low energy buildings (RP-1651), and the on-site renewable energy production potential for typical climates. ASHRAE and many other societies and governmental organizations have adopted the Architecture 2030 challenge which calls for new buildings to be zero net-energy (ZNE) by the year 2030. This seminar addresses the technical feasibility of meeting this challenge based on
2 Comparing Outcomes to Modeling Results
This presentation compares data from measured energy performance (utility bills) of recently constructed ZNE buildings to the targets determined through modeling. Areas of agreement as well as the gaps will be explored.
11:00 AM-12:00 PM
Workshop 7
Key Impacts of ASHRAE Standards on Waterside Construction and Design
Building Operation and Performance
Emperors II (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
James Robert Fields, ASHRAE
Technical Committee: 7.2 HVAC&R Construction & Design Build Technologies
ASHRAE standards have become building codes throughout North America. Contractors and design build engineers are expected to apply standards to construction projects. In the real world of HVAC hydronic system construction, we find a lack of understanding of basic sections. This workshop takes a common sense approach to specific sections of Standard 90.1 and others that have a direct impact on HVAC installation and design. Then approach this from a real world perspective, explaining why they are needed from an energy and health standpoint. This workshop is about understanding a few important sections and why ASHRAE has included them.
1 Key Impacts of ASHRAE Standards on Waterside Construction and Design
Many ASHRAE Standards Have become building codes. Contractors and Design Build Engineers apply these standards to their projects. HVAC Hydronice systems construction often reveals a lack of awareness and understanding of basic sections. This workshop takes a common sense approach to specific sections of 90.1 and others that have a direct impact on Waterside construction and design. The goal is to approach this from a real world perspective explaining why they are needed from an energy and health standpoint.
2 Impact of ASHRAE Standards on Piping Systems
Design build contractors make a lot of decisions and sometimes the decisions they make have far reaching impacts on system performance and energy consumption. This short presentation is informative to attendees.
8:00 AM-9:30 AM
Seminar 34
Delivering Real Buildings That Meet High Performance Design Ambition
Building Operation and Performance
Roman III (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Tim Dwyer, CEng, UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering (IEDE)
Sponsor: CIBSE ASHRAE Liaison Committee
CoSponsor: 2.8 Building Environmental Impacts and Sustainability
When buildings are designed the predicted energy performance is often over optimistic and, in many cases, owners and occupants suffer from excessive operational costs with unsustainable buildings. This seminar considers how this performance gap can be practically removed by applying methods that more properly understand the reality of the operating building; the sensible application of data rich building modelling software for lifelong performance and future refurbishment; by unravelling end-user expectation to inform the design and construction of a world-beating basketball arena and, finally, by connecting design with performance. Real projects are used to illustrate the explanations.
1 Towards Robust Building Design: A Systematic Approach to Mitigate Design Risk
Modern buildings designed for certification under green building rating systems are commonly rated high based on their predicted energy performance. In many cases, their actual performance deviates from the prediction. The discrepancy can be attributed to the difference between the assumptions made in the building design and the actual operating conditions. It is important to identify robust designs that perform consistently even under varying conditions. This presentation proposes a design approach that incorporates risk assessment for multiple design aspects into an energy performance evaluation workflow. The approach will help mitigate design bias in conventional design approaches.
2 The Role of Building Information Modelling Data for Design and Post Design Purposes
This seminar considers the Glorya Kaufman International Dance Center at the University of Southern California LA project that was handed over in summer 2016. Working with the demanding, yet knowledgeable, technical facilities team the fully connected MEP BIM systems model was developed employing equipment manufacturers' BIM components with data rich component information. As well as delivering design detail the BIM provided record drawings with commissioning data and drastically reduced the RFIs compared the traditional design flow. The BIM model will be maintained by the on-site facilities team and updated to manage maintenance and to inform future refurbishment work.
3 Reinventing the Professional Sports Arena
This presentation sets out a methodology that resets the traditional brute force approach applied in North American venue HVAC design and develops a performance based solution focusing on the wellness and comfort of the attending fans, the venue flexibility and the environmental footprint. This has been applied to the home of the Sacramento Kings professional basketball team that opened for the 2017 NBA season and aims to be the world's most sustainable arena providing fans with the most comfortable and well connected environment. The novel 'fan oriented' design process will be discussed that utilized advanced simulation and building prototyping techniques.
4 Design and Assessment Procedures to Produce Well-Performing Buildings
Assessment procedures, schemes and initiatives will be discussed which result in buildings which perform well in practice, and perform as modelled. The concept of design, and modelling for performance is explored along with schemes and processes which do or do not include these features. The characteristics of schemes which have been effective in this way are identified along with a relevant technical aspect - modelling - and a procedural aspect - the nature of the performance prediction or guarantee. Examples of projects are used to illustrate features, and current developments described along with suggestions for further development.
8:00 AM-9:30 AM
Seminar 36
Modeling and Control of the Personal Micro-Environment
Building Operation and Performance
Roman II (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
H. Ezzat Khalifa, Ph.D., Syracuse University
Technical Committee: 4.10 Indoor Environmental Modeling
Significant HVAC energy savings and improvement in IEQ can be achieved if the micro environment around the occupant is controlled rather than the whole room, zone or building. This is enabled by localized personal environmental control systems (PECS). To design and optimize such systems, a detailed understanding of the interactions between PECS and the occupant's micro environment is necessary. These interactions influence the comfort, IEQ and energy savings achievable by PECS. The seminar presents advances in the modeling and control of the personal micro-environment, and to illustrate how these can influence the design of PECS.
1 Personal Environment Conditioning with Minimum Exergy Loss
Owing to the development of radiant heating/cooling systems and personal ventilation, a new trend has arisen where heat is dissipated to several independent areas, providing custom heat loads; this allows the possibility of creating a zero heating/cooling load environment, i.e., it allows us to deal with the heat load from each heat source before the heat diffuses into the space. This solution enables us to utilize lower level heat sources such as chilled water at high temperatures and heat at a low temperature. It also ensures more uniform temperature distribution and a more comfortable Personal Microenvironment with improved energy efficiency.
2 Delivering Efficient Local Cooling/Heating Using a Micro Environmental Control System (µX)
Significant HVAC energy savings can be achieved by widening the thermostat setpoint range and providing local thermal management to restore occupant comfort. This is achieved through the use of an efficient 50-60 W personal environmental control system designed for the thermal management of the personal microenvironment. Specifically, we analyze the performance of a micro environmental control system that increases occupant’s sensible heat loss in a room maintained at 79F in the summer, and reduces occupant’s heat loss in a room maintained at 66F in the winter. CFD is employed to assess the system performance under different operating conditions.
3 Control of the Personal Micro-Environment
The characteristics of the personal micro-environment, consisting of the thermal plume, clothing, gap between skin and clothing, and respiration, will be defined. The importance of free convection around the body and its interaction with external flows, clothing and the resulting heat- and mass transfer for thermal comfort and inhaled air quality will be outlined. The benefit arising from measurement and control of the micro-environment, in terms of sensing body physiological signals, improving people’s thermal comfort and inhaled air quality, reduction of exposure to airborne infectious agents and energy saving will be demonstrated by several methods that are applicable in practice.
4 The Role of Thermal Plume in Person-to-Person Contaminant Cross-Transmission
In this seminar, the speaker gives a brief introduction of the human thermal plume dominated zone (HTPDZ) around the human body created by the human thermal plume. He then addresses the negative and positive role of the HTPDZ on the contaminant cross transmission between person to person. He will also use examples to explain how the HTPDZ affects the contaminant cross transmission under different conditions, contaminant cross transmission in vertical unidirectional ventilated protective isolation environment and aircraft cabin environment.
8:00 AM-9:30 AM
Seminar 37
HVAC Maintenance: Using Field Test Data to Benchmark and Improve System Performance
Building Operation and Performance
Roman I (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Robyn Ellis, City of Hamilton - Public Works
Technical Committee: 7.3 Operation and Maintenance Management
The typical HVAC system operates 40% below specified capacity and efficiency once it is installed in a building. During routine maintenance visits, changes in the performance of an HVAC system can be diagnosed in less than seven minutes by recording and comparing seven simple airside field measurements. This test method compares benchmarked data to pinpoint the causes of deterioration in system airflow, economizer performance and duct system functionality and enables detection and surgical correction of the uncovered and often invisible system defects.
1 Performance Perspective
Falke – Performance Approach
While most maintenance agreements include a checklist that insinuates acceptable performance, little evidence is provided that verifies how well the installed system is functioning. Emerging technology offers a scoring method that includes key performance indicators that can be field measured during each maintenance visit. Any change in this data can pinpoint changes in the performance of the system and allow for immediate surgical repairs to the system
2 Utilities Perspective
Maintenance programs with no requirement to collect measured performance data run great risk to customer satisfaction and achieving utility savings goals. It has become clear that even the most well maintained systems are often not efficient at all. This is due to past maintenance programs only focusing on the equipment on the roof versus the system as a whole. Adding technologies to maintenance programs has proven to produce fewer saving than anticipated because existing undetected system degradation prohibited the technology to function as designed, reducing savings throughout the life of the system.
3 Engineering Perspective
By documenting several key metrics at the time of commissioning or retro-commissioning, the performance of a system can be benchmarked. The benchmarks can then be used for a variety of purposes including comparison to manufacturer data, tracking performance degradation over time, and diagnostics. Creating and affixing a label to the equipment with commissioning data and space for ongoing data recording provides a record that is accessible to any personnel who may service the unit. Details of the metrics and proposed commissioning label are provided.
9:45 AM-11:00 AM
Seminar 40
Addressing Information Incompatibilities in Building Performance Monitoring
Building Operation and Performance
Roman I (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Michael Bobker, CUNY Institute for Urban Systems
Technical Committee: 7.3 Operation and Maintenance Management
CoSponsor: 1.5 Computer Applications
This session examines challenges in coordinating data extracted from building automation systems with predictions from building energy models. With BEM increasingly informing design decisions, comparison to post-construction performance at the system level becomes key to troubleshooting and tuning. Discrepancies often first noted in whole-building energy use must be traced back to system level sources. Such comparison between BAS and BEM data is hindered by inconsistencies in data organization, naming, grouping and parameters. This issue is examined as a use-case for ASHRAE Guideline 20-2010, Documenting HVAC&R Work Processes and Data Exchange Requirements.
1 Real-Time Energy Simulation for Whole Building Performance Monitoring
A model-based real-time whole building energy monitoring and diagnostics is presented. The proposed system continuously acquires performance measurements of HVAC, lighting and plug load usage from the Building Energy Management System (BEMS) and compares these measurements in real-time to a calibrated reference EnergyPlus model. The structure of categories for extracted data and model outputs is described, along with discussion of adjustments necessary to EnergyPlus reporting and set up of BEMS trending. A proof of concept demonstration is presented.
2 BEM-BAS Data Exchange
Model-based performance monitoring requires comparison of data generated from two distinct kinds of system, the Building Energy Model (BEM) and the Building Automation System (BAS). The HVAC design process at present places no requirement for interoperability between them. In the performance monitoring use-case, they will no longer be stand-alone elements. ASHRAE Guideline 20-2010 Documenting HVAC&R Work Processes for Data Exchange Requirements provides a use-case approach to information issues. The Guideline 20 process is applied to BEM-BAS data comparisons to better understand where incompatibilities lie. Examples are developed such as equipment naming, operating profiles, energy and physical parameters.
3 BIM-Based Energy Model Calibration for Evaluating Building Retrofit Opportunities
Recent progress in BIM to BEM for energy analysis has proven to be effective for early design analysis and parametric evaluations of design options. Several cloud-based simulation strategies have been developed for auto-tuning and model calibration using utility billing data. This presentation summarizes an approach integrating BIM to BIM and cloud-based parametric simulations for developing calibrated energy models from BIM using site specific weather data. It is possible to use the calibrated model in conjunction with parametric design analysis for evaluating retrofit opportunities. Examples are presented to dynamically evaluate retrofit options without performing additional simulations.
9:45 AM-11:00 AM
Seminar 43
Urban-Scale Energy Modeling, Part 3
Building Operation and Performance
Roman II (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Joshua New, Ph.D., ONRL
Technical Committee: 1.5 Computer Applications
Sponsor: TC4.7 - Energy Calculations
Development of urban-scale building energy models is becoming of increased interest for many applications including city-wide energy supply/demand strategies, urban development planning, electrical grid stability, and urban resilience. This seminar has assembled several researchers with capabilities in the field of urban-scale energy models to discuss an overview of the field as well as the data, algorithms, workflow and practical challenges addressed in their applications involving creation of useful models of individual buildings at the scale of a city, urban or metropolitan area.
1 A Data and Computing Platform for City and District Scale Building Energy Efficiency
Buildings in cities consume 30 to 70% of cities’ total primary energy. Planning and evaluating retrofit strategies for buildings requires a deep understanding of the physical characteristics, operating patterns, and energy use of the building stock. This talk introduces a web-based data and computing platform, City Building Energy Saver (CityBES), which focuses on energy modeling and analysis of a city’s building stock to support district or city-scale efficiency programs. CityBES uses an international open data standard, CityGML, to represent and exchange 3D city models. CityBES targets urban planners, city energy managers, building owners, utilities, energy consultants and researchers.
2 Urban Energy
Urban planners use simulation analysis for making long term infrastructure investment and policy decisions based on things like population, income, real estate values, accessibility, and protection of open space and the environment. However, building energy use is rarely part of that planning process. This talk describes demographics, economic process, land use regulation, real estate markets and transportation systems for building energy model tools to assess impact of policy on future building energy use and carbon footprints can be easily determined along with the effects of building energy use on the value of real estate, population, and business economics.
3 District and City Scale Modeling Using Openstudio
The OpenStudio Platform provides tools for quickly and easily creating building energy models from minimal user input. URBANopt is an open source graphical user interface for examining various scenarios for low-energy districts. URBANopt utilizes OpenStudio Measures to easily simulate high performance building design alternatives as well as shared district energy systems. DECAF is an open source tool for simulating and targeting retrofits of existing buildings across entire cities or regions. DECAF leverages many of the same OpenStudio Measures as URBANopt and can simulate individual buildings or develop statistical meta-models that can be used for high level screening.
11:00 AM-12:00 PM
Seminar 48
Did It Really Work?: Theory vs. Practice in Residential HVAC
Building Operation and Performance
N235/237 (LVCC North Building)
Chair:
R. Christopher Mathis, Mathis Consulting Company
Sponsor: Residential Building Committee
The late, great Yogi Berra once said: "In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. But in practice... there is." The speakers at this seminar agree with Yogi. Using measured data from both dry and humid climates, they show how actual energy and thermal comfort in real-world houses differs from expectations. But beyond the problems, the speakers also show data from specific designs and installation practices that have helped contractors meet and exceed customer expectations with simple, low-cost, reliable equipment instead of whiz-bang, expensive stuff that too often fails to deliver comfort and low energy performance.
1 How Dry I’m Not: Measured Humidity Loads vs. Measured Dehumidification By Heat Pumps in Occupied Houses
High humidity can be a problem. It’s uncomfortable and it’s a mold risk factor. ASHRAE and ACCA load calculation procedures provide equations to estimate dehumidification loads in residential buildings. But sometimes, it’s instructive to measure the loads in real, occupied houses, rather than just estimating them. The same goes for dehumidification performance of AC units. Measurements from occupied houses and apartments in Europe and the US suggest that both ASHRAE and ACCA load calculations greatly underestimate actual residential dehumidification loads.
2 What Works and What Does Not: Measured Residential HVAC Performance and Comfort in Dry Climates
Performance contractors sometimes say: "In God we trust... all others bring data". Shasta, California has a climate with sensible cooling and heating degree-days similar to those of Chicago. But in our dry climate, we can heat a three-bedroom, 2,400 ft2 house with less heat than a hair dryer, and cool it using one (1) ton per 1,200 ft sq. The data shows comfortable temperatures by using low-cost, constant-volume, low-SEER cooling equipment. The secret is relevant in-process installation measurements, combined with the unusual practice of actually following design guidelines known for decades to be best practices.
11:15 AM-12:45 PM
Conference Paper Session 16
Building Operation and Performance with Sustainability in Mind
Building Operation and Performance
Emperors II (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Wade Conlan, P.E., exp US Services Inc
Much research has been done to investigate the overall performance of buildings that were designed for sustainability. This session covers the expectations of design versus the reality of their implementation as well as research on the effectiveness of sensors and building envelopes. One presentation also covers the relationship between renewable resources and the utility grid. A varied array of sustainable building design issues will be covered.
1 The Social Dynamics of a Project (LV-17-C061)
The purpose of this article is to first define traditional social relations of a facility project, from design to demo, and to then reflect how those existing affairs have been affected by this new member to the built association. By focusing on the human relationship to the built environment, the author hopes to promote better project communications; once again from design to demo, among all stake-holders. In order to truly support Green Agendas, as an industry we need to promote and support the relationship between engineering system parameters and those who are ultimately challenged with maintaining those parameters.
2 A Comparison of Stochastic and Deterministic Optimization Algorithms on the Virtual In-Situ Sensor Calibration in Building Systems (LV-17-C062)
A virtual in-situ sensor calibration method has been recently studied in order to solve the practical problems of sensor calibration in building energy systems: (1) time and monetary cost; (2) disruption to a normal operation; (3) difficulty in accessing various embedded sensors in equipment; and (4) large quantity of sensors. The proposed in-situ calibration method is able to approximate the measure and establish benchmark values for a calibration statistically or by using system models, without removing the working sensor or adding reference sensors as in a conventional calibration.
3 Risk of Condensation Analysis of Common Concrete Balcony Configurations (LV-17-C063)
Condensation control of thermal bridges has always been a major concern of designers. In building envelope details, highly heat conductive materials and poor thermal insulations create thermal bridging. Condensation occurs when indoor air hits the cold surface of thermal bridging area which is below dewpoint temperature. Condensation could lead to surface staining, mold growth and deterioration of sensitive materials. The goal of this paper is to develop a catalogue and guidelines that allow designers to verify the condensation resistance of selected balconies in different climate zones, and meet ASHRAE and LEED standards and local codes.
4 Duck – The Volcano is Coming! (LV-17-C064)
A paradigm shift is coming in how buildings interact with the utility grid. Dramatic drops in the price of PV panels has spurred the rise of the “prosumer” (Producer and Consumer): buildings that necessitate a two-way grid interaction. This, plus a renewed focus on energy efficiency, is driving the mainstream adoption of Net Zero Energy (NZE) buildings – a good thing, certainly. However, some important details remain unresolved. As more of these buildings of the future come online it is increasingly critical to make sure that the buildings are good grid citizens and are solving more problems than they create.
5 Infrared Thermography For Building Envelope Analysis (LV-17-C065)
Infrared thermography is a nondestructive technology that can help identify building envelope issues such as wet areas and lack of or inadequate insulation in building envelopes invisible to the human eye. When conducted at the right time of night infrared (IR) inspections can determine which materials are wet or in contact with wet materials and which are dry. This is possible because water has a high specific heat, which means that it stores heat well and cools down more slowly than common roofing materials.
11:15 AM-12:45 PM
Seminar 55
Urban-Scale Energy Modeling, Part 4
Building Operation and Performance
Roman II (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Joshua New, Ph.D., ONRL
Technical Committee: 1.5 Computer Applications
Sponsor: TC4.7 - Energy Calculations
Development of urban-scale building energy models is becoming of increased interest for many applications including city-wide energy supply/demand strategies, urban development planning, electrical grid stability and urban resilience. This seminar has assembled several researchers with capabilities in the field of urban-scale energy models to discuss an overview of the field as well as the data, algorithms, workflow and practical challenges addressed in their applications involving creation of useful models of individual buildings at the scale of a city, urban or metropolitan area.
1 Urban Microclimate for Building Energy Models
In anticipation of both climate change and global urbanization, we conduct research of microclimate impacts on energy systems. Researchers analyze and quantify the relationships among modeled and measured climatic conditions, urban morphology, land cover and energy use; and use these relationships to inform energy-efficient urban development and planning. Researchers apply i) neighborhood resolution modeling and simulation of urban micrometeorological processes; ii) projections informed by microclimate for future energy use under different urbanization and climate change scenarios; to produce iii) analysis and visualization tools to help planners optimally use these projections to identify best strategies for energy-efficient urban morphological development.
2 Urban-Scale Building Energy Modeling: Why Working at Scale Matters
Geographic Information Science (GIS)-based modeling has provided the opportunity to incorporate large data sets into mapping platforms with analytical capabilities. CityGML provides a widely accepted platform for integrating tools and data sets through a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA). Examples are discussed for geographically specified utility networks (local distribution); aggregate impacts of technologies by building type; interactive effects between clustered sets of buildings, streetscapes, meteorological boundary conditions and microclimates; dynamic load sharing in community-level energy systems (eg – district heating and/or cogeneration) and electrical provisioning for low-carbon targets. Visualizations make analytical outcomes readily accessible to public stakeholders and policy decision-makers.
3 Application of Building Energy Modeling for Utility Analytics
While building energy modeling (BEM) is most widely used for building design, there are several other important applications of BEM. These include building energy code development, energy efficiency policy development, utility integrated resource planning and demand side management modeling, design, and implementation support. This seminar presents case studies of application of BEM, specifically Urban Building Energy Modeling (UBEM), for utility analytics.
4 Virtual UBEM: Visualizing, Analyzing and Reporting
With the advent of easily created urban scale reality models, creating Urban Building Energy Models (UBEM) has never been easier. This presentation demonstrates how an UBEM can be used to visualize and report on building energy consumption at urban scale. By combining building energy benchmark data with an urban scale reality mesh, users can quickly classify, visualize and report urban building energy consumption. This virtual navigation of the City of Philadelphia demonstrates how UBEM can be used to measure, analyze and report readily available benchmark data.
11:15 AM-12:45 PM
Seminar 57
Occupant Behavior Driven Building Operation and Maintenance
Building Operation and Performance
Emperors I (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Bing Dong, University of Texas at San Antonio
Technical Committee: MTG.OBB Occupant Behavior in Buildings
CoSponsor: 7.5 Smart Building Systems
Building energy consumption is a systematic procedure influenced by not only engineering technologies, but also cultural concept, occupant behavior and others. People spend more than 90% of time in buildings and as a result occupant behavior becomes a leading factor that affects building energy consumption. Occupant behavior driven building operation is one critical way to reduce energy consumption in buildings. This seminar aims to highlight current state-of-art research on occupant behavior driven building operation by LBNL, Department of Energy, the University of Texas at San Antonio and Delos Living LLC. This seminar is part of IEA EBC Annex 66 activities.
1 An Introduction of ASHRAE Multidisciplinary Task Group on Occupant Behavior in Buildings
2 Development and Commercialization of Occupant-Centered Building Control Schemes: An Energy Policy Perspective
Recent literature suggests substantial energy savings and comfort improvements are possible from strategies that bring human preferences into the building operations and controls loop, using either direct, real-time occupant feedback; passive feedback through proxy occupant sensors; or a hybrid of these approaches. This presentation discusses BTO’s recently launched R&D effort at Department of Energy and supporting activities in the context of the current state-of-the-art in occupant-centered sensing and controls, and also outlines the place of this research area in the larger R&D vision for the BTO Sensors and Controls program.
3 Behavior Driven Transactive Energy for Residential Buildings
Transactive energy is trying to control energy production, distribution and consumption based on economic signals. To have a more competitive market, all involving parties have to participate in this market, including residential buildings. Dynamic electricity pricing is one solution to attract residential building to interact with this market. However, residential buildings' energy management systems are not responsive to electricity price changes. The focus of this research is to utilize energy use flexibilities in residential buildings, to make them more responsive to economic signals.
4 Occupant Preferences on Indoor Environmental Conditions in an Open Office
Thermal, acoustics and lighting account for the greatest sources of discomfort in offices. Seldom have these three factors have been studied concurrently and outside of controlled laboratory settings. We conducted a longitudinal investigation of how temperature, acoustics and lighting affect physiological, behavioral and emotional state in an open office while subjects perform real-world tasks. The environmental, physiological, behavioral and emotional data were captured using sensors, wearables and questionnaires. The data was analyzed to identify environmental factors that influence subject comfort and behavioral change; and to discover the interrelationship among combinations of environmental factors that impact occupants of open offices.
1:00 PM-2:30 PM
Seminar 49
ASHRAE's Residential Initiative: Why We Care
Building Operation and Performance
N235/237 (LVCC North Building)
Chair:
Neil P. Leslie, P.E., Gas Technology Institute
Sponsor: Residential Building Committee
Although ASHRAE historically has not focused on residential HVAC energy use, the residential sector consumes at least as much energy as the commercial sector, and approximately one-fifth of all primary energy in the United States. Three Presidential Fellows will present on ASHRAE's recent endeavors into the residential sector. The session covers how the Residential Ad Hoc Committee became the newly established Residential Building Committee, what purpose the RBC serves, and the importance of residential design in ASHRAE standards, including Standard 100, 62.2, 55, and ICC/ASHRAE Standard 700. They also summarize ASHRAE’s residential market advocacy efforts with government agencies.
1 Getting Our House in Order
The history leading up to the formation of the Residential Ad Hoc Committee (Now the Residential Building Committee), including why ASHRAE needed to do something, the charge to the ad hoc, and what it accomplished. The session includes a discussion of the ad hoc's activities regarding the role that ASHRAE has played, could play, and should play with respect to the residential HVAC and construction market.
2 ASHRAE Standards in the Residential Sector
This presentation highlights ASHRAE standards relevant to the residential market sector. The discussion includes an overview of the residential portion of Standard 100. It also summarizes key elements of Standard 62.2, and the new residential green building standard jointly published by ICC and ASHRAE.
3 ASHRAE's Advocacy in the Residential Market
ASHRAE's Grassroots Government Advocacy Committee educates local, state, provincial, and national government bodies and officials in areas of interest to ASHRAE members, targeted toward sound government policies for sustainable practices and reduced carbon emissions associated with the HVAC equipment and systems in the building sector. This presentation describes ongoing and planned efforts by the committee to obtain and disseminate key residential sector information to government agencies. This includes a series of Public Policy Issue Briefs intended for distribution to government officials and others with limited technical expertise, but who would benefit from information regarding ASHRAE and its activities.
2:45 PM-3:45 PM
Seminar 50
Flex Ducts, Hard Ducts and No Ducts: Migration Patterns for Duct Hunters (or not) in the Land of Thermal Comfort
Building Operation and Performance
N235/237 (LVCC North Building)
Chair:
Constantinos A. Balaras, Ph.D., Institute for Environmental Research & Sustainable Development, NOA
Technical Committee: 6.5 Radiant Heating and Cooling
Sponsor: Residential Building Committee
CoSponsor: 6.1 Hydronic and Steam Equipment and Systems
In the land of comfort, educated home owners are changing their thermal expectations from HVAC systems, and contractors are on the front line hunting for the best solutions. Regardless of ducts or pipes, the “migration” of heat takes a basic understanding of what works and what doesn’t. It is not easy to figure out the right design for the application, especially as homes get more efficient. Low-cost ducted systems may not always work right or be the best fit. This seminar looks at best practices for distributing heat in residential air and hydronic systems, including ducted and radiant design options.
1 Flex Duct Doesn't Mean You Can Flex the Rules
This presentation shines the light of truth on airflow in poorly installed residential flexible ducts. Advertised airflow data is based on ASHRAE Standard 120 testing, which is a valid test protocol, but not reflective of actual performance in field installed flexible ducts. A new ASHRAE Duct Size Calculator (now available from ASHRAE Publications) is also described.
2 Hard Ducts Are Not so Hard
Before flex duct showed up on the scene, rigid sheet metal ducts dominated forced air distribution systems. Hard-pipe systems aren’t as common now, but they’re still effective and useful. They can be more durable and efficient than flex and fiberglass ductboard when designed and installed properly. Presented are some best practices to follow when designing, installing, and commissioning hard-pipe ducts systems.
3 What Ducts? Who Needs Ducts?
This presentation focuses on hydronics, the original ductless systems as alternatives to ducted systems in residential applications. It provides an overview of converting sensible cooling and heating loads into flow rates, how and why to pick pipes based on velocity and head loss; and how to best distribute the flows to enable occupants to sense and perceive thermal comfort without ductwork.
4:00 PM-5:00 PM
Seminar 51
International Experience and Contractors Perspectives on Residential Aspects that Need to be Considered on Every Job
Building Operation and Performance
N235/237 (LVCC North Building)
Chair:
Lewis G. Harriman III, Mason-Grant Consulting
Sponsor: Residential Building Committee
It has long been recognized that design and installation faults have an impact on HVAC system capacity and efficiency. However, the magnitude and consequences of these fault impacts was unknown. This seminar provides insights from a recently concluded four-year investigation that quantifies the consequences of failing to observe the design and installation elements contained within the industry’s HVAC Quality Installation Specifications. It also highlights steps taken in Europe that are relevant to the North American market to reduce residential energy consumption, including deep retrofit strategies and incremental options with large market uptake for overall large impact.
1 Quantifying Performance and Efficiency Losses Due to Improper HVAC Quality Installation
This presentation summarizes the results of a four year study on quality installation issues: the effect of installation errors (e.g., leaky duct, improper refrigerant charge, oversized equipment, incorrect air flow, etc.) on the performance of residential unitary equipment; the extent that operational deviations are significant; whether the deviations (when combined) have an additive effect on equipment efficiency; and whether some deviations are affected by geographical/climatic differences. With an understanding of this information, field personnel are better positioned to focus attention, resources, and remediation effort on the varied design, installation, and maintenance practices in the HVAC sector.
2 European Deep Energy Retrofit Strategies Applied to North American Homes
The Unites States has the highest building energy use and greenhouse gas emissions per capita in the world. The European Union has much lower use per capita, and the United Kingdom has had one of the fastest declines since 2000. Energy efficient materials and products, building codes and overall energy policy are driving reductions in the UK and other European countries. This presentation highlights the steps taken in Europe to reduce energy consumption, including deep retrofit strategies and incremental options with large market uptake for overall large impact, that can be applied cost-effectively to North American homes.
8:00 AM-9:30 AM
Seminar 61
Developments in Building Benchmarking and Energy Performance Data: A Program Manager’s Perspective
Building Operation and Performance
Augustus III/IV (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Amanda Webb, The Pennsylvania State University
Technical Committee: 7.6 Building Energy Performance
Building energy performance data are essential to benchmarking and target setting. While the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is the principal resource for this data across the U.S, recent disclosure laws in several cities and states have produced an additional wealth of data. This seminar examines these data sources from the perspective of several programs that collect and analyze them, and explores the challenges and opportunities for their use. Presenters provide program updates and lessons learned from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s CBECS, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ENERGY STAR, and disclosure and benchmarking initiatives in several U.S. cities.
1 CBECS: Highlights from 2012, Looking Ahead to 2017
The Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) is the only nationally representative data on energy consumption and energy-related characteristics in U.S. commercial buildings. The most recent data from the 2012 CBECS show that, compared to previous CBECS, commercial buildings are becoming larger and are consuming less energy per square foot, a larger share of electricity, and less energy for space heating and lighting. This presentation presents highlights from the 2012 CBECS and discusses innovative plans for the upcoming 2017 CBECS. It also describes ways in which ASHRAE members can contribute to the planning process for the next CBECS.
2 EPA’s Energy STAR Portfolio Manager: A Consistent Framework to Assess and Learn from Local Data
EPA uses the CBECS survey to develop the ENERGY STAR score for commercial buildings, which is made available through EPA’s Portfolio Manager. Numerous states and localities use Portfolio Manager to collect a building’s ENERGY STAR score and other metrics through benchmarking and disclosure laws. As the market moves towards greater disclosure, it is important to maintain simplicity and consistency in how we communicate building performance. This presentation explores new ways to view national data in a local context, opportunities to leverage city and state-level data for analysis, and mechanisms for public sharing of data within Portfolio Manager.
3 Using City and State Benchmarking Policies to Improve Energy Efficiency
In addition to the thousands of buildings that are voluntarily benchmarking, there are now 18+ cities, counties and states that have passed requirements for buildings to benchmark their performance each year and make this information publicly available. These policies are giving building owners, tenants, and policy makers unprecedented access to actual building performance data in their market. This presentation provides an update on these policies across the U.S., examines how local jurisdictions are using the data to motivate building owners to improve the energy efficiency of their properties and discusses the lessons learned and challenges ahead for these programs.
8:00 AM-9:30 AM
Seminar 62
Highlights of RP-1404: Measurement, Modeling, Analysis and Reporting Protocols for Short-term M&V of Whole Building Energy Performance
Building Operation and Performance
Augustus I/II (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Ralph Muehleisen, Ph.D., P.E., ANL
Technical Committee: 4.7 Energy Calculations
Data collection for measurement and verification for whole building energy performance usually requires one full year of measurement data. ASHRAE RP 1404 developed analysis methodologies for determining reduced time periods for monitoring that would satisfy accuracy levels required for annual energy performance verification. This session highlights the undertaken research, discussing the background of short-term monitoring for long-term prediction, the developed methodology, along with the results and analysis.
1 An Hourly Hybrid Multivariate Change Point Inverse Model Using Short-Term Monitored Data for Annual Prediction of Building Energy Performance: Background and Methodology
RP-1404 developed analysis methodologies by which the time period for field monitoring of energy use in buildings can be reduced to less than a whole year while satisfying preset accuracy levels of annual energy performance verification. The seminar presents the methodology of investigating the capabilities and the limits of hybrid inverse models developed from the shortest monitoring periods possible for a reliable and accurate long-term energy performance prediction in large commercial buildings. Such methodologies would be of great benefit to high performance buildings, and to Energy Service Companies who need a more cost-effective and acceptable alternative to year-long monitoring.
2 An Hourly Hybrid Multivariate Change Point Inverse Model Using Short-Term Monitored Data for Annual Prediction of Building Energy Performance: Results and Analysis
The hourly hybrid multivariate change point approach aimed at predicting building energy consumption by combining a short-term data set of monitored energy consumption, weather variables and internal loads with at least one year of recent utility bills. Two weeks of monitoring of hourly data in many cases, along with utility history representing the long-term data, were found to be sufficient for estimating long-term energy consumption. This seminar shows the hourly time scale results of RP-1404, along with an analysis that provides recommendations and guidance to energy modelers in their use of short-term monitoring for long-term prediction of building energy performance.
3 Predicting Building Energy Use Using Short-Term Monitoring and Daily Time Scales: The DBTA and the HIM-D Methods
This presentation deals with two simple inverse modeling methods and data monitoring protocols which can be used to identify statistical models that would result in accurate daily energy use predictions. The Dry Bulb Temperature Analysis (DBTA) method only requires measuring dry-bulb ambient temperature for 2-3 months but the monitoring period and length have to be selected judiciously. The Hybrid Inverse Model using daily data (HIM-D) only requires about one month of monitoring and utility bills. The model combines information from recent year-long utility bill data along with a few weeks of monitored building energy use, weather variables and internal loads.
11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Seminar 74
Pivotal Role of Forward Model and Data Driven Model in Existing Building Performance Enhancement
Building Operation and Performance
Roman II (Caesars Palace Las Vegas)
Chair:
Alamelu Brooks, ICF International
Technical Committee: 4.7 Energy Calculations
This session addresses how the two modeling approaches i.e. Forward Model and Data Driven Model will be put in to practical use. Checking, sustaining and improving the performance of existing buildings are often ignored due to lack of information, system interactions and budget constraints. Energy models can be effectively used to address these issues.
1 Application of Calibrated BEM to the Residential Sector
Calibrated Building Energy Modeling (CBEM) was applied to determine monthly energy bill allocations for a non-metered residential community. The calibration was performed using community level utility bills, real weather data, building survey data, and occupant behavior. The procedures can be applied to other buildings and occupant profiles. The results can be translated into algorithms in the form of an easy to use computer tool. Additionally, the monthly utility bill allotments can be calculated each month based on real weather for tenant review and instant behavior education.
3 Data-Driven Approach for Predicting Building Energy Usage
Accurately predicting building energy usage is of great importance in various efforts on improving building energy efficiency. Data-driven approach and first-principle approach are commonly used in developing models for building energy usage prediction. We employed different data driven methods to predict hourly energy usages in two buildings. One was a synthetic large-size office building from DOE reference building models. The other was an existing commercial building. The obtained hourly energy consumption for each building was divided into training and testing sets. We focused on evaluating the accuracy and model complexity of data-driven models for predicting energy usage of two buildings.
4 Calibrated Forward Model vs. Measured Building Energy Use
For a new LEED Platinum building, a forward model was integrated in the building design process and offered the flexibility to evaluate different design options and compare overall energy efficiency to the local building energy-efficiency code. The model was calibrated using 1.5 years' of measured building performance data after occupancy in 2012. The calibrated model energy use outputs are now being used to compare with the latest two years' (2014, 2015) of measured building energy data. In this session, the comparison results are presented. The effectiveness of using calibrated model output as a benchmark for building energy savings calculation is analyzed.