Guide for Achieving Advanced Energy Savings Published by Industry Leaders

ATLANTA – Guidance to get you at least halfway to achieving net-zero-energy design is now available from leading industry organizations in a new publication.

Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small to Medium Office Buildings: Achieving 50% Energy Savings Toward a Net-Zero-Energy Building is the first book in a series of Advanced Energy Design Guide (AEDG) publications that provides recommendations to achieve 50 percent energy savings when compared with the minimum code requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The book was developed by a committee representing a diverse group of energy professionals drawn from ASHRAE, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES), the Department of Energy (DOE) and the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

The series follows the earlier six-book series that provided guidance to achieve 30 percent savings. The ultimate goal is to provide guidance to achieve net-zero-energy buildings, that is buildings that produce more energy than they consume.

“This guide will help in the design of new office buildings and major renovations that consume substantially less energy compared to the minimum code-compliant design, resulting in lower operation costs,” Bing Liu, chair of the 50% AEDG project committee, said. “Of equal importance is that energy-efficient buildings offer a great possibility to enhance the working environment, including indoor air quality, thermal comfort and natural lighting.”

A significant addition to the new 50 percent guide is the inclusion of a performance path; specifically, offering guidance for early stage energy modeling.

“Whole-building energy modeling programs can provide more flexibility to evaluate the energy-efficient measures on an individual project,” Liu said. “Simulation programs have learning curves of varying difficulty, but energy modeling for office design is highly encouraged and is considered necessary for achieving energy savings of 50 percent.”

The groups note that meeting the 50 percent energy savings goal is challenging and requires more than doing business as usual. The Guide offers eight essentials to achieve advanced energy savings:

-Obtain building owner buy-in
-Assemble an experienced, innovative design team
-Adopt an integrated design process
-Consider a daylighting consultant
-Consider energy modeling
-Use building commissioning
-Train building users and operations staff
-Monitor the building

ASHRAE, AIA, IES, DOE and USGBC are currently developing the second guide in the 50 percent series, which will focus on K12 schools. Publication is targeted for fall of 2011, followed by a guide for medium/big box retail in the winter of 2012 and large hospitals in the spring of that year.

Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small to Medium Office Buildings: Achieving 50% Energy Savings Toward a Net-Zero-Energy Buildings is available as a free download at www.ashrae.org/freeaedg. A print version is available for $82 ($69, ASHRAE members). To order, contact ASHRAE Customer Service at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada) or 404-636-8400 (worldwide), fax 404-321-5478. Bulk discounts are available to individuals, companies and organizations who are interested in purchasing multiple copies.

ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization of some 50,000 persons. ASHRAE fulfills its mission of advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education. For more information about ASHRAE visit http://www.ashrae.org

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