Efficiency, Buildings, and Green Design

Kevin SchwartzenbergJune 2014

What is Energy Efficiency?

“A measure of the amount of energy required to produce a product or provide a service”

- Amount of natural gas to keep a house heated to a given temperature

- Amount of gasoline to drive a given distance

- Amount of electricity to produce a given amount of aluminum

Energy Conservation

Energy Conservation: reducing the amount of energy used

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Energy Conservation

Energy Efficiency

Reduced Consumption

To lower the amount of energy used, we can eithera) use less products and

servicesb) increase the efficiency of

providing those products and services

Distinction from Classical Efficiency

Typically, we talk about efficiency in terms of energy conversion efficiency

- Amount of mechanical energy from an engine produced by a given amount of chemical energy from gasoline

- Amount of electrical energy from a solar panel produced by a given amount of incident solar energy from the sun

Improving conversion efficiency is one way to improve energy efficiency…

…but there are other ways

- Reducing weight

- Increasing or decreasing resistance to heat transfer

- Manufacturing process improvements

The “First” FuelTwo March 2014 studies on the cost of electricity saved by efficiency programs

LBNL also looked at the cost of natural gas efficiency savings

The “First” Fuel

Average cost of natural gas in Chicago for December 2014

Which technological developments do you expect to have the most impact in your power market?

Buildings

• 36% of total energy use in US• 65% of total electricity use in US• 30% of GHG emissions, waste streams, raw

material use• 12% of water consumption

Energy Use: Residential Buildings

Source: DOE Buildings Energy Data Book

Energy Use: Commercial Buildings

Source: DOE Buildings Energy Data Book

Residential Building Efficiency

Energy Efficient Illinois

Blower Door Test

Source: DOE

Identification of Leaks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RbGnSwKKJk

Smoke Test

IR Camera Survey

Blower Door Test

Heat Recovery Ventilation System

Typical Findings

Thermal Resistance, R

Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient

Windows

Efficient Windows Collaborative

Source: FujiFilmhttp://www.fujifilm.com/about/research/report/058/pdf/index/ff_rd058_012_en.pdf

Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance

Low e window coating detail

Electrochromic Smart WindowsElectrochromic – changes color in response to current flow

Can allow visible light through while reflecting near infrared radiation (heat)

Conventional (Tank Storage) Hot Water Heater

Characteristics affecting efficiency:

• Tank insulating material

• Heating element/ combustion efficiency

Efficient Hot Water Heater Designs

Tankless (Demand) Solar Heat Pump

• Uses heating element to heat water on demand

• Eliminates losses due to standby heating

• Pumps water through loop from tank to collector and back

• Reduces fuel use by utilizing solar radiation

• Pulls hot air from surroundings into heater

• Reduces electricity use by utilizing hot air (e.g. furnace room)

Passive Solar Heating

LEED Buildings

Leadership inEnergy &EnvironmentalDesign

Green building program that provides a framework for implementing practical solutions for green building design, construction, operations, and maintenance.

Source: USGBC

LEED New Building Rating System

Sustainable sites

Water efficiency

Energy & atmosphere

Materials & resources

Indoor environmental quality

Category

26

10

35

14

15

100

PointsPossible

Activity PointsPossible

Optimize energy consumption over baseline building

Generate renewable energy on site

Use enhanced commissioning process

Enhanced refrigerant management

Create measurement and verification plan

Purchase 35% electricity from green sources

Water efficiency

Energy & atmosphere

Materials & resources

Indoor environmental quality

19

7

2

2

3

2

Total

LEED Certification Levels

(Out of 100 points)

LEED Building Benefits:

• Lower operational costs• Higher lease-up rates• Better work environment (higher productivity)• Reflects company values

Source: USGBC

LEED ND

•Primary focus on location and land use•Looks beyond individual buildings•Different credit categories

Source: USGBC

Hierarchy of Efficiency

Devices Behaviors

Data & Controls

Efficient Systems

Heirarchy of Efficiency

Devices Behaviors

Data & Controls

Efficient Systems

Improving Efficiency of Devices

• Efficiency standards

• New technologies

• Market Forces

Household Devices

Steady incremental improvement with occasional step changes

ODYSSEE, Enerdata, October 2010 update.

Home Appliances

Lighting

Source: The Climate Group

Case Study: Refrigerators

Efficient Devices can have a big impact

Consumer/Operator behaviors matter tooHowever…

Approximately 1 million LED christmas lights

Behavior Case Study: Thermostats

• Heat loss (gain) is proportional to the difference between inside and outside temperature.

• Small changes in thermostat setpoint can have large effects on energy use.

• Setback schedules can also capture savings

Source: City of Edmond, OK

Source: Michael Blasknik via EnergyVanguard.com

Thermostat Setbacks

Energy efficient behaviors are slow to catch on

• “The programmable thermostat is the VCR of our day.” - Deirdre Sullivan, for HouseLogic.com

• LBNL survey found 90% of respondents have rarely or never programmed their thermostat because they don’t know how.

One Solution: Automation!

Automation: Nest Thermostat

• Remote control via app• Learns your patterns• Results– 11% reduction in AC energy cost in Southern CA

study

Auto Schedule

Auto Away

More & Better Data

• Meter data resolution up 6 orders of magnitude• Access to data easier than ever

1 data point per 30 days 1 data point per second

vs

http://www.im.ethz.ch/publications/weiss_Percom2012.pdf

Analysis of 1Hz Smart Meter Data

Framing the message:Benchmarking

Framing the Message: Results

Framing the Message: The Call to Action

vs

What is Green Design?

“A product design philosophy that treats environmental impacts as design objectives rather than as constraints”

In other words, it seeks to minimize any of the following impacts of the product:

• Common air pollutants• GHG emissions• Lead• Eutrophication• Water use/consumption• Solid waste generation• Land use

Principles of Green Design1. Inherent Rather Than Circumstantial

2. Prevention Instead of Treatment

3. Design for Separation

4. Maximize Efficiency

5. Output-Pulled Versus Input-Pushed

6. Conserve Complexity

7. Durability Rather Than Immortality

8. Meet Need, Minimize Excess

9. Minimize Material Diversity

10. Integrate Material and Energy Flows

11. Design for Commercial "Afterlife"

12. Renewable Rather Than Depleting

* Anastas, P.T., and Zimmerman, J.B., "Design through the Twelve Principles of Green Engineering", Env. Sci. and Tech., 37, 5, 94A-101A, 2003.

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)The most valuable tool for green design!

Raw Material Acquisition

Material Processing

Manufacturing

Use

Disposal or Recycling

Energy

Materials

Emissions

Waste

Co-products

Adapted from Masanet

System Diagram - Bread

Flour Milling

Wheat Farming

Fertilizer Production

Baking

Other Ingredient Production

Packaging Material

Production

On-site Storage

Energy

Flour

Emissions

Disposal

EnergyEmissions/Waste

EnergyEmissions/Waste

EnergyEmissions/Waste

EnergyEmissions

Wheat

Fertilizer

Bread

Use

System Boundary

Transportation

Functional Unit: 1 kg of bread

Life Cycle Inventory

Farm

ing

Milli

ng

Baking

Transp

ortation

Storag

e/Prep

Disposal

Total -

0.05

0.10

0.15

0.20

0.25

0.30 Ca

rbon

Dio

xide

Em

issi

ons

(kg)

Economic Input/Output LCAEIO LCA takes an aggregate approach

Basic assumption:To produce $1 of goods in a given sector of the economy, it will require $X i of goods or services from each sector of the economy, i.

(The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis prepares this data every few years)

SteelPetroleum RefiningVehicle Manufacturing

Thus, if we want to understand the impact of producing $100,000 of vehicles, we can determine the $ amount of steel, petroleum, etc that is required.

EIO LCA Environmental Factors

Advantages of EIO methodology• Don’t need to draw a boundary• Less expensive to carry out• Can be completed more quickly

Final Step:Calculate the direct environmental impact for a given amount of sector demand

Example:• $1 of steel = 0.1 tons of CO2e

• $1 of refined petroleum = 0.3 tons of CO2e

• $1 of vehicles = 0.02 tons of CO2e

Add up impacts based on the economic outputs of each sector for total impact