7 ways to make project Energy and atmosphere more efficient:

Steps in your green building process ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

BY JOSEPH AZAR

 

 

As architects, we have a responsibility to design buildings that not only meet the functional and aesthetic needs of our clients, but also contribute to a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future. With climate change and the depletion of natural resources becoming increasingly urgent issues, it is more important than ever to incorporate sustainable design principles into our architecture projects. In this article, we will explore some of the key ways to apply sustainability to your architecture project, in this article specifically the energy and atmosphere credit in LEED:

LEED certification was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and has become the most widely used green building rating system in the world. LEED certification is based on a points system, and buildings can earn points in various categories, such as energy efficiency, water conservation, and indoor environmental quality. The more points a building earns, the higher its LEED certification level.

 

IMPACT OF BUILDINGS ON ENERGY CONSUMPTION !

From an architectural lens, buildings are the largest users of energy our society, so this means also are also our greatest opportunity for energy conservation and protection of the environment.

The rapidly growing world energy use has raised global concerns over continued depletion of energy resources and their negative environmental impacts, current prediction shows that this growing trend will continue.

I will be sharing what I know taking basis my specialization as a LEED AP(BD+C) : Leadership in energy and environmental accredited professional with specialty in building design and new construction.

 HOW CAN ENERGY BE MORE EFFICIENT AND CLEANER TO OUR ATMOSPHERE?

 

1. Fundamental commissioning and verification:

The owner and the architect are both responsible to optimize the energy efficiency and for any updates and modifications needed in order to develop and incorporate commissioning plan into construction documention the implementation of the Cx plan.

OPR: The owner must document the OPR and the owner project requirement.

BOD: After the documentation of the OPR , Basis of design should be developed by the design team such as assemblies  and systems .

What we need to commission in a project? To mention few examples: HVAC, Lighting and Daylighting control, Hot water systems, on site renewable energy systems (Wind, Solar, etc), Life safety systems, Date system, Fire & Process equipment, one of the most elements that can affect anergy efficiency is the building envelope where ECM or the exception calculation method is used in the whole building energy simulation.

2.Ckeck how to optimize your energy performance with at least a minimum energy performance:

The energy performance should be reduced from baselines defined by (ASRAE 90.1 -2010) bu using of the three following methods:

Method number 1 Whole building energy simulation: to simplify a bit this method consists of reducing the energy consumption by at least 5 % for new construction and at least 3 % for major renovation, and by at least 2 % for core and shell, the energy is calculated based on cost , and the percentage of the savings is calculated before factoring any saving from renewable energy systems.

Method number 2 Prescriptive compliance ASHRAE 50 % Energy design guide (AEDG): This method is mostly suitable for small to medium office building that are less than 100, 000 square feet or medium and large retail between 20,000 to 100 000 square feet, K-12, Large hospitals that are more than 100 000 square feet.

In this method or option if chosen the architect should work with mechanical and plumbing engineer to verify the HVAC, service water and heating equipment meet the requirements, also remember to use economizers, dust and dampers can be used for more efficacy.

Method number 3 is the prescriptive compliance: Advanced building core performance guide (CPG): This option is for the buildings that are less than 100 000 square feet, some of the strategies used includes design process strategies, core performance requirements, supply air temperature reset, premium economizer performance, variable speed control.

3.Learn how to enhance Fundamental refrigerant management:

Prohibit completely the use of CFC in your project, if you are building a new project go to the Zero use of CFC, in the case if the equipment being reused do a phase out conversion before the project completion. In this case use the EPA set of regulations and adhere to this standard for ozone depleting projects, when using this method learn how to choose a low impact refrigerant with an ODP=0 and GWP<50.

Again, existing buildings that have a CFC based system should implement a phase out plan.

4.Install Energy metering for your project:

Create a system where you can generate data to know what is happening after, this date helps you to know what is going on, and also detect any issue.

At least install metering that can give you the total building energy use for electricity, Natural Gas, Chilled water, Steam, Fuel Oil, Propane, Biomass, etc.

Remember for basic metering at least each floor must have one meter for each energy type so and at least on energy meter per floor.

Even more recommended to get more efficient go for Advanced Energy Metering that can record date hourly, daily, monthly and annually, and of course to analyze all the data the support here must come from the commissioning authority.

5.Install a Demand Response:

A demand response consists of a voluntary energy at a certain times during the day trim and usage of energy and during high prices periods or during emergencies where this trim could happen to prevent a blackout.

So Always remember to as if demand response is available in your area and even if not available do the necessary infrastructure installation to be prepared in case it becomes available in the future to simplify this participation if needed. This participation should be at least 10 % from the estimated peak demands, to calculate this either check the calculation done in your project for the minimum energy performance.

Also try to install the best option which is the fully automated demand response even the semi- automated demand response is acceptable, but never to install the manual one.

6.Renewable energy production: Use renewable energy such as photovoltaic, Solar thermal and wind, Bio Fuel bases, Geothermal Heating, Geothermal electric, Low impact hydroelectric, Wave and Tidal power with the minimum usage of 1% of the total energy.

Another option is to sign a 10 years contract to get renewable energy from garden with a system located in the same utility service area.

We are not talking here about architectural feature or passive or solar or daylighting etc.

7.Green power and Carbon offset:

The project offset goals should be at least for a 5 years period, and green power doesn’t have to be green-e certified.

1. Carbon Offsets could be an option and should be green-e climate certified or something equivalent and accepted to offset energy for electricity and no electricity usage of the project.
2. REC Renewable energy certificate also should be green-e certified or something equivalent and can be used to offset electrical use only.

Also remember energy is divided into Direct emissions which means burned in the building and indirect emissions that comes from utilities.

 

THE CONCLUSION:

In the end an invitation for anyone who wants to build a new project take your time to think about your energy and atmosphere, also for architects they should be giving the right advice for their clients about this choice  showing them the long term benefit .

Also incorporating sustainability into your architecture project is essential to creating a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future. By incorporating passive design strategies, carefully selecting materials, promoting energy and water efficiency, and performing a life-cycle analysis, you can create buildings that are not only functional and aesthetically pleasing but also contribute to a more sustainable world.