ICEBO - International Conference for Enhanced Building Operations
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The International Conference for Enhanced Building Operations (ICEBO) convenes annual forums of U.S. and international leaders on enhanced building operations.
ICEBO promotes exchanges among engineers, contractors, energy agencies, industrial companies, contractors and building scientists dedicated to continuous improvements in building energy performance. High energy costs and environmental concerns are the focus of these topics.
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Item Achieving Sustainability, Energy Savings, and Occupant Comfort(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2009-11) Fisher, D.; Bristow, G.Sustainability, energy savings, and occupant comfort are not mutually exclusive objectives, as buildings can be designed that incorporate all of these features. Sustainability is often defined as meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to do the same. Reducing the demand for energy produced from depletable resources and generating energy from renewable sources leaves more resources available for future use. Therefore, energy savings and sustainability go hand in hand. Occupant comfort can be maintained in conjunction with energy savings, and some sustainable practices enhance comfort. Properly planned and implemented construction programs can help ensure efficiently operating systems, reducing the consumption of valuable resources, while providing an acceptable indoor environment. The authors have more than 30 years combined experience working with Texas schools in mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering and design as well as energy management.Item Acoustical and Noise Control Criteria and Guidelines for Building Design and Operations(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2009-11) Evans, J. B.; Himmel, C. N.Noise, vibration and acoustical design, construction, commissioning and operation practices influence building cost, efficiency, performance and effectiveness. Parameters for structural vibration, building systems noise, acoustics and environmental noise crossing property boundaries will be presented with brief case studies illustrating noise and vibration problems with successful solutions. Building mechanical, power, and plumbing systems contribute to building operations noise and vibration, which affects building occupants, sensitive installations, and functional uses. Various noise and vibration design criteria, field measurements, design concepts and specifications can be applied in facilities to achieve noise mitigation and vibration control to enhance building operations and reduce tenant or neighbor problems. Concepts for enhancement will be presented that achieve specific program criteria and improve the built environment for occupants and functional uses, including items to incorporate in specifications and construction documents. Concepts relating to noise and vibration control can also reduce short and long-term operations costs and save energy. Acoustical designs can be implemented in new construction to achieve specific requirements for LEED certification in healthcare and educational facilities. Common problems, objective criteria, sensitive installations, and solutions will be presented to offer a basic understanding of effective noise and vibration control for central plant equipment, power systems, transformers, standby generators, and roof mounted HVAC equipment.Item AIM: A Home-Owner Usable Energy Calculator for Existing Residential Homes(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2009-11) Marshall, K.; Moss, M.; Malhotra, M.; Liu, B.; Culp, C.; Haberl, J.; Herbert, C.An energy efficiency metric for residential homes was developed to provide home-owners, realtors and builders a method to rate the energy efficiency of an existing house. To accomplish this, a web-based calculator was developed, which is based on DOE2 simulations and a simplified systems model. To simplify the use of the calculator, parameters, like window U-factor, roof / wall insulation, which are normally required for simulations in existing homes are filled using statistical tables. This allows the home-owner to use the calculator with information commonly available during a real estate transaction.Item Airside Economizer- Comparing Different Control Strategies and Common Misconceptions(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2008-10) Zhou, J.; Wei, G.; Turner, W. D.; Claridge, D. E.Air-side economizer is broadly adopted in building HVAC design and operations. When the system is properly designed and the control sequence is properly implemented, air-side economizer provides significant energy savings. The design and operation basics of the air-side economizer are well understood and documented. However, some confusion and misconceptions do exist and are widely spread. When the economizer is not designed or implemented properly, an air handler cannot take the full advantage of "free cooling", and, in some cases, could even cause significant energy waste. This paper first introduces the fundamentals of the airside economizer and the typical control sequences. It goes on to discuss the determination of the activation temperature that enables or disables the dry-bulb temperature based economizer operation. The “best” activation temperatures that maximize the energy savings can be calculated based on weather data and are different from location to location. The activation temperatures for a few representative cities are presented. For drier weather regions, the activation temperatures are significantly higher than those for hot and humid weather regions. The second part of the paper discusses the benefits of the enthalpy-enabled economizer and points out some important misconceptions that could significantly impact the energy savings of the economizer operation. Specifically, it challenges the simplistic control strategy for the enthalpy-based economizer control that is commonly used in the industry. Some of the questions this paper tries to answer include: 1. What is the optimal activation temperature for a temperature-based economizer that provides the most energy savings? 2. How does enthalpy-based economizer compare with the temperature-based economizer in energy savings? 3. Does an economizer always save energy when the outside air enthalpy is below the return air enthalpy? 4. Is it necessary for the outside air enthalpy to be lower than the return air enthalpy to enable the economizer and save energy? 5. What happens if the economizer control fails? What are the potential penalties?Item Analysis of Cooling Regression Models for Hot and Humid Climates Based on "Operational Effective Enthalpy(Energy Systems Laboratory, 2013-10) Li, X.; Baltazar, J. C.Item Analysis of Energy Recovery Ventilator Savings for Texas Buildings(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2009-11) Christman, K. D.; Haberl, J. S.; Claridge, D. E.This analysis was conducted to identify the energy cost savings from retrofitting Texas buildings with air-to-air ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilator) systems. This analysis applied ERV and psychrometric equations in a bin-type procedure to determine the energy and costs required to condition outside air to return-air conditions. This analysis does not consider interactions with the air-handling system; therefore the effects of economizers, reheat schemes, variable flow rates and other adaptive components were not considered. This analysis demonstrates that ERV cost-effectiveness is largely dependent upon the building location in Texas (i.e., climate conditions) and outside air fraction: • For a typical laboratory building that requires 100% outside air, an ERV could save roughly $1.00 to $1.50 per cubic foot per minute (CFM) of outside air during a one year period. • For a typical office building that only requires 10% outside air, an ERV could save up to $1.00 per CFM of outside air over the period of one year.Item ASHRAE's New Performance Measurement Protocols for Commercial Buildings(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2008-10) Haberl, J.; Davies, H.; Owens, B.; Hunn, B.ASHRAE, CIBSE and USGBC are developing a standardized, consistent set of protocols to facilitate the comparison of the measured performance of buildings, especially those claimed to be green, sustainable, and/or high performance. Such protocols are needed because claims of high performance cannot be credible without such standardized protocols being applied consistently in the U.S. as well as internationally. The protocols will identify what is to be measured, how it is to be measured (instrumentation and spatial resolution), and how often it is to be measured. They will address both the use and reporting of the measured data, as well as appropriate benchmarks for each of the following characteristics: Energy Use (site, and source), Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ)-Thermal Comfort, IEQ-Indoor Air Quality, IEQ-Lighting/ Daylighting Quality, IEQ-Acoustics and Water Use. The primary users of the protocols document will be building owners and facility managers, rating and labeling system developers, government officials, as well as architects and design engineers. To date, a scoping document has been developed, an extensive literature review has been performed (available on ASHRAE’s web site), and a committee formed to write the protocols, which are intended for publication in January 2009.Item Behaviour Oriented Optimisation Strategies for Energy Efficiency in the Residential Sector(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2008-10) Koch, A.; Huber, A.; Avci, N.The aim of this paper is to combine the approaches of engineering and sociology in the assessment of behavioural influences on the energy demand of residential buildings and to define a common language and strategy for their description. For this purpose the calculation methods of the German Energy Conservation Regulations (EnEV 2007) further defined in the DIN 4108-6: 2003-06 will be evaluated to illustrate the relevant linkages to behavioural approaches. So far, there are few attempts to differentiate the large influence of individual behaviour (see Richter 2003, Loga 2003). The assessment of these values and their behavioural implications require a sociological approach towards energy relevant practices. Based on the calculation of the building’s energy balance an analytical framework will be suggested to link the heat demand with the lifestyles of consumers.Item Black Box Approach for Energy Monitoring of Commercial Buildings(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2008-10) Komhard, S.; Neumann, C.The potential to save energy by changing operational parameters - especially in existing commercial buildings – is in the magnitude of 5-30%. In order to realize this saving potential in the long term, continuous commissioning of the building is a key issue. Necessary for successful continuous commissioning is real time monitoring of the building performance which allows for Fault Detection and Diagnosis (FDD). This paper presents a method to monitor building operation and detect faulty or unusual behaviour using a black box model approach. The approach is to identify a building’s basic operating characteristics by means of measured data from a building to train a multiple linear regression model based on energy signatures of the building. In addition to supplying measured building data to the regression a clustering process is added which determines the building’s day-types. Once the model is trained it can predict the energy consumption at the building site and unusual or faulty days can be identified by comparing the predictions to real measurements. Models to monitor the daily heating and electricity demand are developed and applied to measured data from two demonstration buildings.Item Bridging the Gap Between Commissioning Measures and Large Scale Retrofits in Existing Buildings(Energy Systems Laboratory, 2011-10) Bynum, J.; Jones, A.; Claridge, D. E.Most often commissioning of existing buildings seeks to reduce a building’s energy consumption by implementation of operational changes via the existing equipment. In contrast, large scale capital retrofits seek to make major changes to the systems installed in the building to reach the same goal. The purpose of the investigations presented here is to find energy-saving measures which economically fall between the retro-commissioning measures which typically have very short paybacks and the large scale capital retrofits which typically have significantly longer paybacks. Based on a simulation analysis of three previously retro-commissioned university buildings, it was determined that all three are currently consuming more energy than would be expected under ideal operating conditions. The simulation estimated annual savings potential for the three buildings range from 28-44% of whole building energy consumption. A research level assessment of each has been conducted to identify the reasons why the subject buildings are not operating as efficiently as possible and energy saving measures are presented to bring the buildings as close to ideal operation as possible. This work seeks to determine if an on-site assessment can identify commissioning measures that realize a substantial portion of the indicated savings potential or whether it appears that there are reasons that would preclude commissioning measures from achieving significant savings. If it is not practical to implement commissioning measures due to antiquated controls, missing sensors, or other reasons, these investigations identify rapid payback retrofit measures that achieve as much of the projected savings as possible. The analysis indicates that 30-100% of the estimated savings potential can be realized in the three subject buildings with estimated paybacks of less than 3 years.Item Building Energy in China: Forward to Low-Carbon Economy(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2008-10) Weiding, L.Item Busting the Myth That Green Costs More Green(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2008-10) Qualk, J. D.; McCown, P.Buildings are one of the largest consumers of resources and energy in this country, and according to the AIA (American Institute of Architects) are responsible for almost half of all carbon emissions in the United States. Since Americans spend nearly 90 percent of their lives indoors, buildings are clearly important to our way of life. The most common misconception about green building is that these approaches cost more to implement than traditional strategies and techniques of design and construction. Any decision made in the early stages of programming and design will have economic impact on the overall building cost. How many floors will our building have? Will we use marble in the lobby? Can we use fancy fixtures in the bathrooms? But according to a Davis Langdon study, there was “…no significant difference in the construction costs for LEED®-seeking versus non- LEED® buildings…” In addition to this widely referenced report, other independent studies by the State of California and the GSA indicate that cost premiums are minimal. More importantly, first cost is only a small part of the total cost of building ownership. Cost-of-ownership studies agree that first cost only accounts for around 10 percent of all costs a building owner will spend over the life of the building. The other 90 percent comes in the form of operation and maintenance – two areas in which designing for LEED® certification can save enormously. Any additional costs for building green are recouped in one to two years on average, with exponential cost savings thereafter that leave traditional construction far behind.Item California Commissioning Collaborative: 2007 Program Plan(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2007) Parks, J.Item Case Studies in Using Whole Building Interval Data to Determine Annualized Electrical Savings(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2009-11) Effinger, M.; Anthony, J.; Webster, L.Whole building interval analysis to determine savings from energy reduction measures is addressed in several guidelines. The whole building method has typically focused on measured savings where baseline regression models are developed to project original operational characteristics to measured post implementation results. A normalized savings method is described in the same guidelines. The savings normalization uses baseline and post regression models with a common data set, such as TMY. Details in applying the normalized savings method are not described in the guidelines. The case studies presented in this paper attempt to use the normalized method to determine annual savings. Results show the normalized method produces the same savings percentage as the measured method, but the total energy usage and savings predicted was lower. Using 12, 9, 6 and 3 month post monitoring periods for the development of the post regression models yielded normalized realization rates of 87% to 114% when compared to the measured method results.Item Case Study and Energy Performance Optimization for Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2009-11) Risner, P. S.Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas (DCMCCT) is the first hospital in the world to achieve LEED Platinum certification. A major contributor to this certification is an on-site 4.3 Megawatt combined heating, cooling and power plant (CHP) owned and operated by Austin Energy that provides 100% of the hospital’s electricity, chilled water and steam requirements. The operation and efficiency of this plant is not addressed by this paper. The energy efficiency strategies employed for the design of the hospital included exhaust heat recovery, dedicated outside air units, BAS control strategies, lighting controls, and high performance glazing. Preconstruction energy modeling for the hospital was estimated at 17% better performance than an ASHRAE 90.1 compliant design. Energy consumption for the first three months of operation was 75% over the design estimates. Over the past eighteen months, the energy performance of the hospital has tracked within the 5% of the modeled performance while the cooling degree days have been 25% greater than average.Item Case Study of Two MBCx Projects: Using M&V to Track Energy Performance(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2007) Jump, D.Item Chilled Water Thermal Storage System and Demand Response at the University of California at Merced(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2009-11) Granderson, J.; Dudley, J. H.; Kiliccote, S.; Piette, M. A.University of California at Merced is a unique campus that has benefited from intensive efforts to maximize energy efficiency, and has participated in a demand response program for the past two years. Campus demand response evaluations are often difficult because of the complexities introduced by central heating and cooling, non-coincident and diverse building loads, and existence of a single electrical meter for the entire campus. At the University of California at Merced, a two million gallon chilled water storage system is charged daily during off-peak price periods and used to flatten the load profile during peak demand periods, further complicating demand response scenarios. The goal of this research is to study demand response savings in the presence of storage systems in a campus setting. First, University of California at Merced is described and its participation in a demand response event during 2008 is detailed. Second, a set of demand response strategies were pre-programmed into the campus control system to enable semi-automated demand response during a 2009 event, which is also evaluated. Finally, demand savings results are applied to the utility’s DR incentives structure to calculate the financial savings under various DR programs and tariffs.Item Commissioning of a Coupled Earth Tube and Natural Ventilation System at the Acceptance Phase(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2008-10) Pan, S.; Zheng, M.; Yoshida, H.In this paper, the environment and energy performance of an actual coupled earth tube and natural ventilation system in a gymnasium was measured during the acceptance phase in two operation states: no ventilation and natural ventilation. From the measurement result, the authors found a design fault, which the airflow temperature from floor apertures on the north side was 3 degrees lower than from the floor apertures on the south side. By the use of the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) coupled analysis with natural ventilation method, the natural ventilation air volume and the indoor temperature in three outdoor air conditions have been calculated to perform commissioning. Several findings were obtained and informed to the operator.Item Connecting Stakeholders, Achieving Green(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2008-10) Rouse, S.; Nolan, B.If Green is gold, why is progress so slow? The public understanding of Green is evolving. Standards are being developed, but there is still much work to be done. Achieving Green is difficult. Necessary conditions include: •A plan that is realistic and sustainable; •Partnership that share the efforts and benefits of Green results; and •A continuous improvement process, i.e. the flexibility to evolve with a dynamic industry and market. A successful Green plan combines vision, initiative, and a willingness to invest in the right tools. To implement a successful plan, leaders have recognized that, in light of the barriers that exist, real progress cannot be made alone. Because of common interest, core stakeholders are natural and necessary allies. As the public acceptance of Green increases, core stakeholders are challenging the status quo. Consequently, stakeholders are not risking inaction, and are connecting to achieve the rewards of being Green.Item Continuous Commissioning Based on the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and Intelligent Monitoring(Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu), 2008-10) Schmidt, F.; Neumann, C.The Save Project BuildingEQ “Tools and methods for linking EPBD and continuous commissioning” develops technologies to derive baselines from the information collected during the energy assessment process and rules which are able to automate intelligent monitoring procedures. The implementation of the EPBD in the participating European countries is quite different. Therefore a 4-step procedure was developed in the framework of the Building EQ project. This procedure follows a general top-down approach. The idea is to put effort in form of measurements and analysis only where and when necessary. The transition from one step to the next than has only to be performed if certain criteria are fulfilled. For each step we give rules how to derive baselines taking actual weather and utilization data into account. In addition a minimal data set of measured data was proposed.