DOE, NREL Release Reports on Cutting Energy Use in Half in Commercial Buildings

September 24, 2010

The U.S. Department of Energy and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have released two technical reports that provide recommendations on how to achieve 50 percent energy savings in large office buildings and large hospitals. Conducted by NREL's Commercial Buildings Group, under the direction of DOE's Building Technologies Program, the studies support DOE's goal of significantly improving the energy efficiency of new and existing commercial buildings across the United States.

Technical Support Document: Strategies for 50% Energy Savings in Large Office Buildings evaluates the potential for new large office buildings to achieve a 50 percent net onsite energy savings compared to a baseline standard (as defined by ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004). The report found 50 percent energy savings can be achieved in both low-rise and high-rise office buildings in a broad range of U.S. climates. The analysis was conducted in 16 cities that represented different climate zones, such as hot and humid, hot and dry, marine, cold and humid, and cold and dry. The following energy-efficiency measures helped researchers reach the 50 percent energy-savings target:

• Lighting power density was reduced in office spaces and occupancy sensors were used in infrequently occupied spaces.
  
• High-efficiency boilers, chillers, air distribution units, and service water heating equipment were installed.
  
• Plug loads were reduced by purchasing high-efficiency electronic equipment and using special controls that shut off equipment when not in use.

Large Hospital 50% Energy Savings: Technical Support Document details the technical analysis performed and the resulting design guidance that will enable large hospitals to achieve whole-building energy savings of at least 50 percent over the above standard. The large hospitals report also documents the modeling methods used to demonstrate how the design recommendations will help institutions meet or exceed the 50 percent energy-savings goal. This report found 50 percent energy savings can be achieved in large hospitals across all eight U.S. climate zones. Energy savings range from 50.6 percent to 61.3 percent, with the smallest savings in humid climates and extremely cold climates. The highest energy savings were achieved in marine climates, with relatively high energy savings achieved in dry climates. In general, for each climate type (humid, marine and arid), savings were seen to decrease as the climate became progressively colder.

DOE commissions these types of technical reports, called technical support documents (TSDs), to describe the assumptions, methodologies, and analyses used to achieve certain levels of energy performance.

In addition to the recently released TSDs, DOE has commissioned documents in the following categories of commercial buildings:

50 percent Energy Savings

• General Merchandise
  
• Grocery Stores
  
• Highway Lodging
  
• Medium Box Retail
  
• Medium Office

30 percent Energy Savings

• Highway Lodging
  
• K–12 Schools
  
• Small Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities
  
• Small Office
  
• Small Retail
  
• Small Warehouse

The technical support documents are available on the NREL Web site.

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