This presentation provides background on the conception, development and potential use of the ASHRAE Advanced Energy Design Guide Series.  So far, AEDG volumes have been developed to guide designers in the achievement of 30 percent energy savings for Small Office Buildings, Small Retail Buildings, K-12 Schools and Warehouses. Future volumes will address Roadside Lodging and other building types and will extend the potential savings to 50 percent.

Community planners have the opportunity for significant reduction of the environmental impact of human activity.   The current interest in green buildings often overlooks the far greater conservation potential of sustainable communities. Creating net zero energy and net zero water usage communities is much easier than creating single buildings with the same performance. Communities can be vital, complex ecologies that obtain maximum use of consumed resources while minimizing waste discharge.  These goals are best achieved by exploiting the synergies among the separate infrastructure systems while obtaining multiple benefits from each conservation strategy.  For example, greenways can provide not only pedestrian pathways but also management and cleansing of storm water run-off.  Co-location of neighborhood scaled power, thermal, and waste water treatment plants allows the by-products of each system to be used as resources for others.  Sewage treatment plant gas can offset some fuel usage for power generation and sewage treatment plant water effluent provides cooling tower make-up for the cooling plants. Pursuing these issues at the community level addresses issues at the most effective scale.  For example, sewage treatment is best handled at a neighborhood scale so that the treated effluent water can be recycled for local non-potable uses, such as irrigation, exterior housekeeping and flushing.  Renewable energy production, on the other hand, is best handled on a regional scale, so that sites can be selected for most effective harvesting of the resource. When these strategies are pursued in a single building, both conservation and economic effectiveness are often seriously diminished.

This presentation discusses the fundamentals of energy and water conservation in buildings, focusing on building mechanical systems.  It then presents how these principles have been implemented in four corporate headquarters offices buildings around the world.  Different approaches to energy conservation are presented, ranging from architecturally integrated HVAC systems to innovative applications of packaged equipment.  Presented water conservation strategies range from water conserving fixtures through desalination of brackish groundwater.

This presentation examines several different innovative approaches to HVAC systems that demonstrate significant improvements compared with conventional systems. Two approaches to reducing lift for compression refrigeration comfort systems are presented. 

• Dual temperature redundant chiller plant
• Hybrid thermo-pile system

Two airside system approaches to minimizing reheat for dehumidification are also presented.  The systems are designed for high airflow, humidity controlled spaces that ordinarily rely on reheat to maintain conditions, but the presented configurations significantly reduce the need for reheat. 

• Return bypass air handling unit for health care
• Return air plenum system for mixed-use laboratory buildings

Underfloor Air Distribution Systems (UFAD) are rapidly penetrated the office building arena across the United States because they provide a number of advantages, (and a few disadvantages) over conventional office building HVAC systems. This session will present new design approaches and new solutions that refine and improve the performance and flexibility of UFAD systems.  Some of the issues to be dealt with include maintenance of uniform supply temperatures in the underfloor plenum, evaluation and exploitation of thermal stratification in the occupied spaces, avoidance of leakage issues in the floor plenum, control of space humidity for humid climates, and maintenance of comfort conditions in all occupied spaces.

This presentation focuses on the opportunities for new buildings to forgo central air-conditioning and use pas­sive ventilation strategies (commonly called ‘natural ventilation’). The presentation is technical in nature and works through a decision flow chart of various aspects of the building that impact the ability to passively cool the building. Attendees will learn how to decide early in a project if it is a good fit for passive cooling.  The presentation will also show how computational fluid dynamics can not only inform the decision as to whether or not natural ventilation will work in a specific building, but can also guide detailed design decisions on design for natural ventilation.

This presentation gives a synopsis of the LEED v4.0 Energy and atmosphere credits.  It begins with a general description of and history of LEED.  It then describes the pre-requisite requirements for this section.  Next is a detailed discussion of each of the E&A credits, looking at the how the points are awarded, at the flow chart of the process of accruing points. Then follows an in depth discussion of whole building simulation and a detailed discussion of ASHRAE 90.1, Appendix G. Next is a discussion of the characteristics and limitations of the Appendix G methodology and the energy conservation strategies that perform well for this method.  Then, some of the ancillary tools for whole building energy simulation are presented.

This presentation focuses on how to prepare buildings for natural disasters and acts of terror.  It identifies the elements of a building risk assessment, stressing realistic threats and realistic desired outcomes.  It shows strategies for making building life safety systems more resistant to catastrophic events.  The presentation presents the approach and some of the recommendations of the New York City Building Resilience Task Force, a group of professionals convened by the Mayor of New York to develop recommendations for the city and for building owners in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Sandy.

One of the basic precepts of climate responsive building design is to use available free environmental resources to maintain comfort inside the building.  For mechanical engineers, it means using airside or waterside economizer.  This presentation will demonstrate the comparative effectiveness of these measures, along with some enhancements to increase that effectiveness. It will also examine the impact of climate responsive envelope design on energy efficiency and will briefly examine the limits of passive cooling design in several climates.

This presentation will discuss options for water conservation and wastewater harvesting techniques.  Technology for water conservation will be discussed.  Utilization of on-site non-potable water resources will be discussed, and methods of capturing and treating these resources will be presented.  The requirements of water consumption end-uses that can benefit from non-potable resources will be presented, along with technical issues that limit the exploitation of these resources.  A case study showing a 2/3 reduction in potable water consumption through the utilization of both conservation measures and non-potable water harvesting will be presented.

This presentation gives a synopsis of the requirements of the 2014 New York City Energy Conservation Code.  This code is based upon IECC 2012 but includes a number of important amendments, including some amendments to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2010 that is referenced in IECC.  The presentation included a introduction to the submission requirements and to the inspectio0n protocols required to insure that the constructed works are consistent with the submitted documentation.

The “energy problem” is not a single problem but is an interconnected web of problems that have significant impact on the global environment and on the global economy.  It actually can be evaluated as a set of disconnects between societal needs and the current energy infrastructure for meeting those needs.  Currently proposed solutions to the perceived energy problems of today’s global community too often focus on specific technologies and address only a small portion of the overall problem. The tendency to “silo-ize” these issues tends to produce revolutionary solutions to minor problems and to foster neglect of larger issues. The approach described in this presentation attempts to deconstruct the “energy problem” into component parts to facilitate evaluation of proposed solutions and technologies in the larger context.

This presentation will focus on the thermal and optical performance of the building envelope and will demonstrate techniques that can be used to analyze envelope performance. The physics of glass and window frame performance will be presented.  A whole building analysis will be presented to show the impact of different configurations of the building envelope on energy performance.  Daylighting analyses will demonstrate the impact of glazing fraction on interior daylight levels.  Finally, the impact of exterior wall construction on building energy consumption will be demonstrated.

Passive House, a new standard for building energy efficiency has recently been introduced to the United States from Europe, appearing both in the European “Passiv Haus” version and in an American version, PHIUS + 2015, funded by US DOE, tailored for the wide climatic variation of the United States.  Both standards are very specific with respect to envelope design, but, specifications for HVAC systems are very general.  The standards share three pillars, the first of which limits space conditioning conduction and infiltration heat transfer, heating and cooling, peak and/or annual, but does not affect HVAC system design.  The second pillar, limits total source energy consumption, which implicitly affects HVAC system efficiency at meeting the limited heat transfer requirements in the first pillar.  The third pillar, air-tightness, reduces both sensible and latent loads on the system, but has no detailed implications for the system design.  Balanced heat recovery ventilation is required, with criteria for heat recovery efficiency and transport (fan) energy.  In Europe, space conditioning airflow rate is limited to the ventilation airflow, but this requirement has proved less than optimal for some North American climates, and has been modified in PHIUS +2015.  This presentation will explore characteristics of HVAC systems that are consistent with the Passive House standards.  It will present both detailed specifications of systems functionality and control sequences, and will present product types that are currently available in the marketplace.  The intent is to provide guidance for designing HVAC systems that complement Passive House architecture.

Learning goals for the presentation.  After the presentation, the attendee should be able to:

1. Understand the strategies for building performance embodied in the Passive House standards.
2. Recognize how these principles can be incorporated into building design to improve indoor comfort and improve efficiency of environmental control.
3. Recognize which HVAC systems are compatible with Passive house.
4. Overcome some of the unique challenges that Passive House buildings pose for HVAC system designers.

The latest volume of the Advanced Energy Design Guides, extends the successful approach of the previous guides to Zero Energy Building K-12 School Design.  The new guide focuses on the previously targeted audience: architects and engineers designing the building, but adds an owner/operator perspective on Zero Energy.  Rather than focusing on renewable energy systems, the guide spotlights the design, operational, usage, and behavior approaches necessary to achieve zero energy.   The new guide follows the "a way, but not the only way" approach of previous guides, presenting a comprehensive, integrated, systematic approach to achieving the aggressive energy efficiency targets necessary for Zero Energy. This program will teach the architect how to use the Zero Energy K-12 School Advanced Energy Design guide to access valuable information on:

• The integrated design process;
• Zero Energy programming and design
• Benchmarking, coordination, and commissioning;
• Design strategies by climate and program element
• How-to tips and detailed caveats

Learning goals for the presentation.  After the presentation, the attended should be able to:

1. Understand the entire scope of a zero energy K12 School project, including the owner’s perspective.
2. Recognize which energy efficiency measures are appropriate for a Zero Energy K12 school in a specific climate.
3. Use the AEDG to help communicate to clients the challenge of using a Zero Energy building according to the design intent, insuring that the aggressive energy goal is met
4. Improve their management of the design process to achieve the Zero Energy goal.

This presentation demonstrates the effect of ventilation on the energy consumption of buildings.  The presentation will first examine energy efficiency strategies using outdoor air beyond the minimum required for ventilation.  These strategies include, natural ventilation, airside economizer and evaporatively enhanced airside economizers.  The presentation will then illustrate heat balance calculations for mixed air and dedicated outdoor air systems, including energy recovery systems.  The presentation will then address strategies for reusing relief air (air that must be exhausted from the building to allow the introduction of required outdoor ventilation) from heavily populated areas to provide make-up air for heavily exhausted air.  Finally, the presentation will examine the energy impact of the LEED enhanced ventilation credit in several climates.  

Learning Goals – At the end of this presentation, the attendee will be able to:

1. Recognize advantages of outdoor air as a free-cooling strategy for a project in a given climate
2. Recognize applicable new systems and design strategies that can optimize the energy impact of outdoor air ventilation.
3. Understand how recycling relief air can relieve outdoor make-up air requirements for highly exhausted spaces.
4. Understand the energy efficiency implications of increasing outdoor air ventilation rates to enhance indoor environmental quality.

Thermally active structure is an evolving strategy that has become a popular system in green buildings. Originally implemented for heating only, as radiant heating floors, this strategy has, over the past 20 years been implemented also as a cooling strategy. The addition of cooling capability adds a number of design constraints and potential operational problems to the successful implementation of the system. This presentation explores the many design, construction and operational issues of thermally active heating and cooling structures. Issues addressed include:

• Most effective applications of the technology
• Design tools
• Case studies of successful implementations
• Design issues
• Construction issues
• Constraints and limitations
• How-to tips

1. At an operating condition, return temperature to the chiller is lower than at design
2. At an operating condition, supply temperature at the load is higher than at design

Learning Goals

1. Recognize low-delta-T syndrome.
2. Understand the impact of low-delta-T syndrome on chiller plant operation
3. Understand what characteristics of a chiller plant system can result in this condition
4. Retrofit existing chiller plants to minimize this condition.
5. Design a new chiller plant that will avoid this condition entirely.

• The integrated design process
• Zero Energy programming and design
• Coordination and commissioning
• Design strategies by climate and system
• Electric grid integration
• How-to tips and detailed caveats

1. Understand the entire scope of a zero energy office project, including the owner’s perspective.
2. Recognize which energy conservation measures are effective in which climates to achieve the zero energy goal.
3. Use the AEDG to help communicate to clients the challenge of operating a Zero Energy building according to the design intent, insuring that the aggressive energy goal is met.
4. Improve their management of the design process to achieve the Zero Energy goal.

Learning Goals

1. Review the strategies that are utilized to lower approach temperatures in heat transfer devices
2. Understand how minimizing approach temperature in the distribution system enables more efficient production of cooling and heating
3. Recognize how cooling coil selection can minimize both pumping energy and maximize chiller efficiency.
4. Select heat exchangers to maximize temperature differential in the overall hydronic distribution system.

Learning Goals

1. Recognize the operating characteristics that affect condensing boiler efficiency
2. Know how to design space heating delivery systems to maximize the effectiveness of condensing boilers
3. Select condensing boilers based upon the operating characteristics of a particular application
4. Understand how to avoid excessive cycling and mixing of return and supply water during part load operation