Building Energy Resilience

A year or so ago I was part of an “office share” office where I had my own desk in shared office space with other professionals in unrelated fields. At the time, I lived 40 miles from our company offices here in Burlington, and to cut down on the daily commute, for a few days each week I worked out of this shared office closer to my home. It was really a great place to be, interesting, and much better for productivity that siting at the kitchen table!

It’s been 28 years since the April 1986 explosion of the #4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in Ukraine. The temporary concrete and steel sarcophagus containing the destroyed reactor, built with the assistance of nearly half-a-million Soviet workers known as “liquidators,” is showing signs of age, as well as signs of its hasty construction. A large multinational project dubbed New Safe Confinement is currently underway, in which a huge steel truss, covered in stainless steel plate, will cover a span 250 feet wide and 850 feet long, to contain the existing sarcophagus.

I have the good fortune to work on leading commercial and industrial energy efficiency programs in three states in the Northeast. Two of these states undertake rigorous measurement and verification (M&V) to ensure they are delivering the savings they are claiming. In all three cases the states and their program administrators (PAs) are running programs that are pushing the boundaries of energy efficiency as they continue to advance savings in mature markets that have been served by energy efficiency programs for decades. My firm also works to implement energy efficiency projects for our select group of highly committed clients. We find energy efficiency opportunities in new construction projects that include leading international architectural and engineering firms, in retro-commissioning (RCx) projects and in energy efficiency upgrade projects.

I wish I had more time to work on my BIG IDEAS. I believe in supporting a strong local economy wherever possible and one place where I dream of a better model is a green energy investment fund (GEIF).

At the USGBC Greenbuild Conference held in November of this year, the new LEED Version 4 was officially launched. This updated version has evolved due to a more market-driven green building market. The requirements for a LEED certified green building are more economically feasible and becoming the new standard for construction. In order to continue to drive the market towards greener construction, LEED Version 4 has made some significant changes, including more requirements (pre-requisites) and additional credits. A big portion of this change is focused on the energy performance of the building, which affects our commissioning process.

The job description of an Energy Manager has been quite loose since its inception, because it can mean something different depending on the needs of the recipient and the qualifications of the provider. To date, there are no standardized credentials of an Energy Manager and it is “buyers beware” within the industry. As a building owner or facilities manager, it's difficult to know what level of energy management options there are and what type of professional to hire for the task.

I’ve been working in the energy efficiency arena since I started designing buildings under California’s brand new energy code in the early 1980s. I’ve worked in most sectors of the industry from projects to programs, implementation to evaluation and policy. During my tenure financing has been a rising cry as a means to move the market. While I agree that financing is a critical tool in the belt of energy service providers, it is not a panacea and in fact, too much focus on financing as a solution without a clear understanding of the systemic barriers to energy efficiency may result in broken programs that don’t meet goals.

At the National Conference on Building Commissioning (NCBC), it was very much apparent that the building commissioning industry is growing and evolving. Demand for commissioning is increasing among building owners and developers, new software tools and mobile apps are being developed to support cloud-based commissioning process management, and municipalities are adopting new commissioning requirements into their building codes, not only for building projects, but also for commissioning providers.

One of the most challenging parts of my job is when despite identifying cost-effective energy saving opportunities that have additional benefits, such as equipment lifetime extension and reduced maintenance costs, a company decides not to follow through with the project. Whatever the cost or the payback period, sometimes companies remain reticent to make a capital investment in even the simplest and most inexpensive improvements during volatile economic times. So, I herald the concept of “green banks” and revolving loan funds that states and utilities are implementing as another tool to make it easier for businesses to make smart investments in energy efficiency measures.

Energy efficiency programs and program evaluators are working in a market that is changing at an increasingly rapid rate. As governments and professional and green building organizations increase their focus on how buildings impact climate change and the need to drive the market to adopt efficiency at a higher level, they are fostering market change. Rate-payer funded efficiency programs often align well with these initiatives by providing incentives and technical assistance to support customers who have been motivated through these government and market-based initiatives. But the attribution of savings associated with these projects is complex. One example of this is the new energy benchmarking requirements that are rapidly gaining ground nationwide.