Strategic Energy Management Through Optimizing the Energy Performance of Buildings

The energy engineers, building equipment experts, and technology specialists at ORNL have more than 250 cumulative years’ experience in applications research and are recognized experts in their fields. The synergy of expertise in the Residential, Commercial, and Industrial Energy Efficiency group has engendered a unique, comprehensive capability in strategic energy management and optimizing the energy performance of buildings.

ORNL develops and implements strategic energy management techniques that meet the challenges of prioritizing, setting goals, and funding energy improvements. These accomplishments are based on the comprehensive knowledge of building systems and building energy use, including the macro level of multi-building sites, whole-building systems, system components, and system interactions.

Integrated Energy Systems in Hotel (Gas Technology Institute Fact Sheet) (11/04)

Benchmarking and Energy Star Awards
Strategic energy management through benchmarking is a cost-effective, easy-to-use method for focusing and prioritizing energy-improvement decisions.

ORNL has unmatched expertise in building energy performance benchmarking, baselining, and target setting, and has pioneered an advanced methodology that is changing the way buildings are benchmarked. ORNL’s energy engineers used this methodology to develop benchmarking engines used in EPA’s Energy Star rating systems and have helped federal agencies improve strategic energy management and reduce costs in many large federal buildings (more than 200 benchmarked; 25 major Energy Star awards). ORNL is developing advanced benchmarking tools for energy and water use for EPA Energy Star, the State of California, HUD, and others.

With minimal effort and ORNL’s help, an organization can:
• See where the performance of its buildings rank among similar U.S. buildings
• Easily pinpoint buildings that use excessive energy
• Estimate the improvement needed to bring buildings up to par
• Estimate cost savings
• Qualify buildings for Energy Star.




With ORNL’s help, the new visitor’s center at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Retro-Commissioning (R-Cx)
R-Cx is the most cost-effective and best common-sense measure building owners can take to cut energy use and improve efficiency. R-Cx consists of determining how energy-consuming equipment is operating – lighting, space cooling and heating, water heating, energy management control systems – and then making adjustments to optimize overall energy performance.

ORNL has the comprehensive knowledge of whole-building systems, system components, and system interactions that is required to analyze building performance and do effective R-Cx. ORNL is uniquely qualified to optimize building energy performance and educate the organization so the savings will last.

Examples:
• ORNL’s R-Cx work for the Federal Courthouse in Jacksonville, Florida, cut energy use by 50%
• Energy cost savings in the Atlanta Federal Center paid back the investment in R-Cx in less than a year, and continue to accrue at more than $100,000 per year.

 

 

 


Terry Sharp of ORNL assesses energy savings
opportunities at the Atlanta Federal Center.