Building Energy Resilience

Ideas to fuel a sustainable built environment

2 min read

Historic Brick: Balancing Preservation and Climate Action

By Eric Morrow on Mar 5, 2024 9:00:00 AM

Insulating behind historic brick poses challenges for architects and preservationists alike. While it promises energy efficiency gains, there are concerns about its impact on the integrity of the brick and the building as a whole. However, with proper testing and expert guidance, it can be navigated successfully.

Topics: Sustainability Energy Efficiency Building Envelope Building Enclosure historic preservation climate action architecture
3 min read

Striving for Net Zero: Part II

By Krystina Kattermann on Jul 12, 2023 10:00:00 AM

Over the last few years, climate action has become a central focus for governments, and the business case for doing something about climate change has become clearer than ever before. With this shift, “Net Zero by 2050” is a term that seems to get thrown around by organizations, businesses, and municipalities alike. But what does it mean, and how do we get there? We continue our endeavor to answer this question in the second part of this two-part blog.

Topics: Energy Efficiency Heat Pumps #decarbonization #renewables Building Envelope Building Enclosure Carbon Reduction NZE Net Zero
7 min read

Striving for Net Zero: Part I

By Krystina Kattermann on Nov 30, 2022 11:00:00 AM

Over the last few years, climate action has become a central focus for governments, and the business case for doing something about climate change has become clearer than ever before. With this shift, “Net Zero by 2050” is a term that seems to get thrown around by organizations, businesses, and municipalities alike. But what does it mean, and how do we get there?

Topics: Energy Efficiency Heat Pumps #decarbonization #renewables Building Envelope Building Enclosure Carbon Reduction NZE Net Zero
4 min read

Forgoing Band-Aids: Approaching and Fixing Building Issues Holistically

By Daniel Tuhus-Dubrow on Jun 28, 2022 10:43:00 AM

June 2022 update: Given the current supply chain and labor shortages the construction industry is facing in 2022, looking after your building's existing systems becomes even more important. With equipment delivery for major systems sometimes many months away, retrocommissioning your existing systems can help tune them up to keep them in tip-top shape to get more usable -- and efficient -- life out of them. 

When people ask me what I do for work, I generally tell them I’m a building systems engineer, with a big focus on making facilities more energy efficient and comfortable for occupants. One common part of my job entails going to a building to perform an energy audit or assessment. During these visits, we follow the same straightforward outline:

  1. Walk through the site
  2. Inventory all energy-related equipment including lighting, mechanical systems, building envelope, etc.
  3. Speak with the building operator about how they run the building
  4. Ask the building owner, occupants, and operator about and any issues or concerns they have regarding maintenance, equipment that is not working properly, or comfort problems.
Through these visits, we produce a report that documents not only the existing building systems, but recommendations on equipment upgrades or operational changes that can be made to save energy or improve comfort. We also provide quantification of energy and cost savings for each identified opportunity so that the building owner knows how much of a bang they get for their buck.

Topics: Energy Efficiency Building Performance & Technology retrocommissioning Energy Management Existing Building problem solving Energy Planning energy monitoring & solutions Energy Audit
5 min read

Improved Lighting Metrics for Changing Technology

By Wilson Yandell on Jun 3, 2020 12:15:00 PM

Photo by Adam Rouse

Topics: Energy Efficiency Building Performance & Technology Lighting commissioning New Construction Existing Building design review
7 min read

Energy and Beer – The Path to Sustainability

By Krystina Kattermann on Jan 29, 2020 10:00:00 AM

Vermont is home to a lot of my favorite things. There’s skiing, swimming, music, cheese, apple picking, and more, but perhaps my favorite is Vermont beer. The Burlington area alone has enough breweries to keep one busy for a long weekend – from the classics like Switchback Ale and Fiddlehead IPA, to the ever rotating sours at Foam to the delicious (and highly creative) concoctions coming out of Burlington Beer Co., the 10 mile radius around this small city I call home has something for everyone. Though my love of beer continues to grow, so too has my concern about the sustainability of the beer brewing process.

Topics: Sustainability Energy Efficiency Commercial
3 min read

It’s All in the Lighting: A Closer Look at the CRI Method

By Wilson Yandell on Nov 20, 2019 10:00:00 AM

A few years ago, while living in a small apartment in Montreal’s Plateau neighborhood, I noticed that the lightbulb in my kitchen had burned out. Naturally, I went to the hardware store to find a replacement. After struggling to read the French labeling on several different packages, I ultimately decided to go for the least expensive box of LED bulbs that the store had available. Once I installed the newly purchased lightbulb, I noticed a difference in the way our kitchen looked. Specifically, I noticed a difference in the appearance of the bowl of fruit that always sat on the counter. While the lightbulb illuminated the space, I remember thinking to myself how unappetizing and dull my fruit now looked. This exercise, though unintentional, clarified the importance of a light source’s color rendering capability.

Topics: Standards and Metrics Energy Efficiency Lighting New Construction Existing Building design review
3 min read

Understanding the Basics of a Ground-Coupled (Closed Loop) Heat Pump Design: Part 2

By Tate Colbert on Nov 15, 2019 10:00:00 AM

Thanks for following the second part of the ground coupled heat pump design. If you haven’t already, now’s a good time to go back and read Part 1. In the first part of this post, we discussed the importance of understanding thermal imbalance in a ground source heat pump system and the longevity impacts associated with an imbalanced system. Despite the issues associated with a thermally imbalanced system, there are ways to address building loads with additional technology that will further enhance the performance of the ground-coupled heat pump system, as well as provide long term performance.

Topics: Energy Efficiency solar energy commissioning Heat Pumps Energy Management New Construction design review
3 min read

A New Metric for 21st Century Buildings: The Carbon Emissions Intensity (CEI)

By Jennifer Chiodo on Sep 25, 2019 10:00:00 AM

As you know, Cx Associates’ work focuses on making buildings perform better for occupants, operators, owners, and for the planet. A common metric we use to assess building performance is the energy use intensity (EUI) which Katie has discussed in her recent blog posts. While attending the recent IEPEC Conference in Denver, I had a discussion with someone familiar with Xcel Energy’s work to be a net zero carbon utility in the relatively near future. We realized that EUI is an insufficient metric for guiding energy program investments at their customer sites. Ultimately, to drive carbon emissions down to a sustainable level that will halt and begin to reverse the climate crisis we are currently in, we need to track energy intensity while also focusing on carbon emissions intensity (CEI) at a building level. Cities and states that have adopted carbon reduction goals will do well to focus on reducing the CEI of their building stock through energy efficiency, fuel switching, and renewable energy generation.

Topics: Sustainability Green Building Energy Efficiency Building Performance & Technology renewable Energy Management Existing Building portfolio benchmarking Program Consulting Energy Planning energy monitoring & solutions Energy Audit energy efficiency program M&V
3 min read

Benchmarking and Beyond

By Katie Mason on Aug 23, 2019 10:00:00 AM

In a previous blog post, I discussed the energy benchmarking service we currently perform for a healthcare network using the Energy Star Portfolio Manager (ESPM) tool. This tool is used to monitor the energy usage of a building over time. It allows a user to set energy goals, compare the overall energy use intensity (EUI) to a baseline year, and compare the building in question to other buildings with similar use-types and characteristics. In addition to continuing this specific service for the healthcare network, Cx Associates uses the benefits of benchmarking in other areas of our work too. This blog post will discuss what other areas of our work utilize benchmarking and then provide a brief update on changes ESPM has made to their scoring metrics over the past year.

Topics: Standards and Metrics Energy Efficiency Building Performance & Technology retrocommissioning Energy Management Existing Building portfolio benchmarking Energy Planning energy monitoring & solutions Energy Audit Building M&V

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