Ball State University Architecture 632 High Performance Buildings FEMP Report Mido Mahmoud

Transcription

1 Ball State University Architecture 632 High Performance Buildings FEMP Report Mido Mahmoud

2 Guiding Principle l : Employ integrated Assessment, Operation and Management Principles One important point that I did not know much before taking this course was how to organize a integrated team, that also is the first aspect from the guiding principle I. For example, as architecture students and future architects is important to know which are the members of a team and the roles that they need to cover. Even though architects not deal with each aspect like engineering offices, we need to know and understand each principle during for the process of the project and have knowledge of the different professionals that would be part of the process like: energy program managers, energy program engineerings, HVAC Supervisors, Environmental Managers, ES&H Managers, and Purchasing and Building Managers. For example is not common to see architects that can contact directly the ES&H Manger, which role is important and concerns everything related to environmental issues. I want to mention this, because in some cases it is not common to include environmental design principles in architecture offices and I found very useful this part of the course to incorporate sustainable operations and maintenance practices within the appropriate Environmental Management System. On the other hand I also consider that assessing the existing conditions and operational procedures of the building and major building system, is a good strategy for improvement the performance of existing buildings, like the examples that were shown by the guest professor some weeks before in class. Other important point, probably the one that we have also worked on during the semester are the operations, including goals for energy, water, material use and recycling and indoor environmental quality. In the case of our project we did not work much on material use and recycling, but it is also mentioned as an important aspect in the life cycle of the building and how we can include this information within existing EMS plans or Site Sustainability Plans. Moreover the building management plan for setting this operations is another aspect I consider important in terms of our semester project, because it helps to supports performance goals that we as architects want to achieve but also can help to maintain the building during the next years, which is something we did not talk too much this semester.

3 In terms of occupant education and occupant survey I believe is also helpful but not as much as the other aspects I mentioned before, I will consider this as additional aspects. Probably Site - level or building specific occupant education literature, training sessions or outreach events as well as flyers, brochures, or intranet announcements will also help to support sustainable building operations. In the case of surveys I believe will be more useful in office spaces or educational buildings like schools or universities where people spend more hours interacting with the spaces of the building. Also to mantian the good functionally of the building's system components is important to meet the commissioning requirements, that will understand the complexity of the builng. According to the steps we followed this semester to do our project, I can say that this aspect as well as considerations for a management plan can be next steps to investigate and apply in our semester project. It will be interesting to learn more the types of ECMs, including maintenance, building Automation Systems and Capital Improvement in the High performance building class from the school. Probably this goal can be achieve by looking at the actual resources for this topic, like the Building commission Association or the FEMP continues commissioning guide book. Guiding Principle ll : Optimize Energy Performance As this section includes actions, requirements and recommended evidence of compliance in energy efficiency, on site renewable energy, measurements and verification as well as benchmarking, I found this a very useful tool in relation to our semester project in terms of identifying and implementing sustainable operations and maintenance practices in the areas of energy efficiency. For example in terms of actions, this second module associates some requirements with energy efficiency, one aspect I did not know before.

4 As we also worked this semester on energy efficiency performance, the options listed in this course as tools to measure this performance are very interesting in relation to our final goals in the course. The options can be to receive the Energy Star rating of 75 or higher, reduce measured building energy use by 20% compared to building energy use in 2003 or reduce energy use by 20% compared to the ASHRAE baseline building design. Also a second requirement that is listed in this course is the use of the ENERGY STAR end FEMP designated efficiency products. This part of the module provides great information for requirements and tools of measurement, but one important thing I did not Know before taking this module of energy efficiency buildings, is how these options should be selected. It is interesting to know that depending on the type of the building we choose we will select our options. For example offices, medical buildings like federal buildings can be rated by different options like Energy Star rating of 75. Also in special cases when a spaces cannot rated, is best to use other options. In case of our semester project the use of tools like the portfolio manger would be very useful to calculate the energy efficiency performance score, as it is very useful for track and assesses energy and greenhouse gas emission. Also, in my personal experience, attending this last year to Ball State and traveling with other students to other cities and States like Michigan, I have appreciated many old buildings, including manufactures, office and school buildings. I believe that are very limited in terms of options. For example option 3, that includes the reduction of energy use by 20% compared to the ASHRAE baseline building design cannot be used for this type of building condition. Because this option utilizes modeling methodology to prove reduction of energy use in the building this option is not feasible. However, the course also mentions how significant remodeling or energy saving measures installations may apply for older buildings, what would be very useful in the context of this cities. I cited this example because I have observe many older buildings in this States that may need to undergo significant considerations to meet this requirements in order to be practical for agencies. Another important consideration in terms of meeting this requirements are the improvements in building characteristics that have lower energy performance scores and that need to meet an energy label. It is interesting that in the case of a score of 62, minor energy saving improvements may be enough to boost the score up to 75. Some of this useful improvements can include the reprogram of building controls and installation of lighting occupancy sensors. Other considerations that we also have made in our semester project, and that I also considered as options for my project are simple HVAC systems and solar PV panels. Moreover is interesting how FEMP has developed a program called ENABLE which is a type of streamlined ESPC process to quickly fund this systems. Another point mentioned as a s required action, is the generation of on- site renewable energy. In relation to this topic we did not talk too much in class how in locations where renewable energy is not cost effective, a report or statement to that effect is required to comply with this action. Also, is interesting that renewable energy projects must be located on site to achieve compliance, and renewable energy certificates cannot be used. In this case and according to the module explanation many agencies may already have policies in place that overlap with this requirement.

5 Guiding Principle lll : Protect and Conserve Water In this module I found very interesting the guidelines to reduce indoor and outdoor water use. Also it is interesting to know that federal agencies like departments of justice, NASA, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human services have the highest use intensity. The first part explains how indoor water will allow you to use a site meter as opposed to a building meter, what allows you to show a reduction in your combined indoor and outdoor potable water use. According to this course if this reduction is at least 20% based on 2003 or year thereafter you can meet the guiding principle. Moreover this option have flexibity for some type of buildings what I found very interesting, in particularly leased spaces that do not have access to water meters, but they do get water bills. In this special case those bills are considered quality water data and can be used to demonstrate the 20% reduction. In the case of reducing outdoor water use, you can reduce potable irrigation water use by 50% compared to conventional methods. This option consists in examining the standard operating procedures for irrigation in your area and document the methods used to reach a reduction of 50%, what can account to meet this requirement. On the other hand, if you have a meter, your consumption can be compared to measured irrigation water use in 2003 or a year thereafter with quality water data. Finally they talked about a third option which is to use no potable irrigation water. In this particular case where you are not using water for irrigation and can demonstrate that, you can meet this requirement. I believe that this last option is more interesting in terms of architectural solutions and innovative methods for sustainable buildings. Probably for small projects like our project this semester, that can be easier achieve this option, but it must be more difficult in projects with bigger square footage or bigger buildings.

6 Guiding Principle lv: Enhance Indoor Environmental Quality During the review of this module I found very useful principles that are also related to our semester project, like ventilation and thermal comfort, day lighting and lighting controls. Also topics of moisture control, low emitting material, integrated pest management were mentioned. I want to start saying that meeting the requirements for ventilation and thermal comfort might be one of the most difficult to achieve. To consider this aspect during the design process is essential for architects in terms of thermal environmental design strategies that might be apply in order to meet requirements like the Energy Star Criteria. If architects and designer take into account this considerations to achieve an Energy Star label, this would avoid later and tedious work like meeting the ASHRAE Standard Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy and the ASHRAE Standard Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality. This second option would include to determine what information you have, what information you need, and how are you going to gather that information, using specific techniques and systems in the building to meet that codes, what would result in tedious work. Another aspect that is important to know for architecture students is to understand the criteria to install occupancy sensors and to know the difference between good spaces and appropriate spaces. For example storages, mechanical rooms,janitor closets,etc. I mention architecture students because, we need to be enough prepare to work with engineerings and understand about electrical and lighting plans as well as documentation about this appropriate spaces.

7 Guiding Principle V: Reduce Environmental Impact of Materials Learning about this principle was interesting because meeting this principle also helps you to comply with other product purchase requirements that are necessary for other Guiding Principles, like ENERGY STAR- and FEMP-Designated Products, WaterSense Products, Low-Emitting Products, Recycled Content, Biobased Content, Environmentally Preferable Products, and Ozone-Depleting Compounds. The first part of this module talks about how to address recycled content, where you need to meet, or exceed the EPA 's recycled content recommendations for building modification, maintenance and cleaning. I also found this very valuable for architects and architecture offices because solicitation of products not only include operation and maintenance of products for building, but also construction products. This is also related to the architects roles in terms of selecting materials and products. In this module an interesting list of different categories that are strong related to the architecture profession is mention like : Construction Products,Landscaping Products, Miscellaneous Products, Park & Recreation Products. Taking about our semester project, is interesting to notice how recycled content is incorporated into various kinds of building insulation which can be use for bioclimatic design strategies in a project. I also found this module very useful in terms of information regarding the topic of guidelines for architecture offices. For example, how to address biobased content in products, as a topic of interest for architects. I did not know that this can require agencies to use the USDA-designated products and materials with the highest biobased content level according to the USDA s biobased content guidelines, what also I found helpful for architects in terms of choosing products that meet performance requirements and are available at a reasonable cost. Other aspect that is interesting is the information regarding the type of biobased products provided in this section, that I did not know before, like products composed of recent biological components,agricultural materials, forestry materials, and marine materials. Moreover some product categories and their biobased content percentage was also interesting to know, as some of them are materials that we as architecture students usually propose for our studio's designs, like

8 acoustical composite panels ( 37 % ), roof coating ( 20 % ), Carpets ( 7 %), Structural Wall Panels ( 94 %), or Insulation Foam ( 7 % ). Finally I think that in terms of guidelines and information about the different types of materials that we as architects can choose, like environmentally products that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment over their lifecycle, this module has been a great tool and also very helpful to know how to make environmentally preferable decisions.