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This presentation considers issues that arise in developing a roadmap toward sustainable and secure energy for US Army and other agency installations in Europe and elsewhere. Issues include scope, baseline, conservation and efficiency, energy balance, grid integration, resilience and security, procurement and financing, performance-period issues and end-of-performance-period issues.
FEMP handbook for net zero energy, water, and/or waste strategies for existing buildings.
As the United States continues its progress toward sustainable construction, net zero building design is becoming an increasingly important and popular topic. Two definitions of net zero energy performance, monthly and annual, provide different levels of energy autonomy and efficiency within a building. This article analyzes the viability and incremental cost for two-, three-, and four-story multifamily apartment buildings to reach both annual and monthly net zero energy performance throughout four climate zones in the United States using baseline reference buildings that represent current construction practices. Building size plays a large role in determining the capability for a building model to reach annual or monthly net zero. Two-story buildings are capable of reaching annual net zero with an increase in construction cost of about 4.4–5.6%. Three-story buildings in warmer climates can achieve annual net zero with an increase of about 5.1%, but models in colder climates cannot reach annual net zero performance. Four-story buildings cannot achieve net zero, owing to insufficient building area for solar arrays to produce electricity. Monthly net zero energy performance was significantly harder to achieve, with the only case reaching this goal being the two-story Houston based model, at an added cost of 8.2%. Generally speaking, only small buildings in warm climates will be able to achieve monthly net zero without vastly oversizing photovoltaic systems and increasing costs without adequate payback.
Net-zero energy building (NZEB) design has been gaining widespread acceptance as a major driver to reach feasible long-term goals of energy reductions in a building sector for the coming decades. Accordingly, net-zero energy targets for commercial buildings have been specified by federal and/or local government agencies in U.S. Although moving toward NZEB goals has technically feasible long-term advantages, economic issues are one of primarily concerns by building owners and designers for the application of advanced building technologies in NZEB design of their retrofit or new building construction. However, the lack of life cycle cost (LCC) data has still hindered reliable understanding of adopting NZEB design by building owners in a cost-effective manner. In response to this gap, this study conducts life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) of NZEB design with an energy-efficient heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and a solar power generation system. Here, to enable NZEB design, an air-source VRF heat pump (HP) type system is considered for energy-efficient HVAC equipment in an office building model with a grid-tied photovoltaic (PV) system. Results reveal that the LCC of NZEBs varies primarily due to a combined effect of annual site EUIs, on-site power generation, and cost-items of each location in U.S. climates. Some hot and mild climate zones in the U.S. represent that LCC values of NZEBs are considerably lower. In contrast, some other cold zones result in unattractive LCC values for NZEBs, caused by a combined effect of relatively lower potential of on-site PV electricity generation and city cost indices. Yet, with subsidized financing by the federal government for PV installation costs, LCC values of NZEBs become significantly attractive in most climate locations.
The University of Hawaii at Manoa (UHM) partnered with the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop and implement solutions to retrofit exiting buildings to reduce energy consumption by at least 30% as part of DOE’s Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP) Program.1 Kuykendall Hall, located on the UHM campus in Honolulu, was the focus of a CBP analysis and design collaboration among the University of Hawai’i, their consultants, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). Kuykendall Hall consists of two 1960s-era wings – a four-story wing containing classrooms, and a seven-story tower containing offices – with a total floor area of approximately 76,000 square feet (ft2). The retrofit design, which uses local prevailing winds to aid ventilation and cooling and incorporates envelope and lighting elements that reduce the need for cooling, was initially on track to use about 50% less energy than the current building, exceeding the CBP’s 30% savings goal. With the addition of building-mounted solar electric panels, the retrofitted building is projected to achieve net-zero annual energy use. Achieving net-zero energy addressed an emerging challenge to the university – how to lower energy usage and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuel in the face of already-high energy prices that are forecast to double by 2040. Not only will the retrofit dramatically reduce Kuykendall Hall’s annual energy costs, but the project lays the groundwork for new campus policies and processes and low-energy design approaches and is building a campus knowledge base on low-energy practices. This project is a model of integrated design and building delivery that will be replicated in future projects on the campus.
A modeling framework integrating both building energy modeling and power system modeling is introduced for the design of net zero energy (NZE) districts for the simultaneous selection of both demand-side efficiency measures and supply-side generation technologies. A novel district control scheme is proposed for pursuing NZE on a subhourly basis while mitigating potential grid impacts such as power backfeeding and voltage violations. As a case study, Pena Station NEXT, a new 100-building, mixed-use district on a 1200-node distribution feeder in Denver, Colorado, is modeled in the integrated framework. An exhaustive scenario analysis is conducted for sizing the district's distributed energy resources, considering multiple objectives such as capital cost, net energy import, and equipment violations. Here, when trying to achieve annual NZE, the district incurs frequent operating violations, and achieving NZE on a 15-min basis is also limited by seasonal fluctuations in photovoltaic output, illustrating the need for diverse generation or seasonal storage. As a practical compromise, both annual and 15-min district import can be reduced by ~78% without significant violations.
The primary objective of the Net-Zero Energy Building Operator Training Program (NZEBOT) was to develop certificate level training programs for commercial building owners, managers and operators, principally in the areas of energy / sustainability management. The expected outcome of the project was a multi-faceted mechanism for developing the skill-based competency of building operators, owners, architects/engineers, construction professionals, tenants, brokers and other interested groups in energy efficient building technologies and best practices. The training program draws heavily on DOE supported and developed materials available in the existing literature, as well as existing, modified, and newly developed curricula from the Department of Engineering Technology & Construction Management (ETCM) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC-Charlotte).
FEMP handbook for Federal Campuses attempting to achieve net zero energy, water, and/or waste.
The US Army has been a leader in developing net zero installations. This chapter provides lessons learned from the Army program to support NATO installations with their net zero energy efforts.
Transformations, Inc. is a residential development and building company that has partnered with Building Science Corporation to build new construction net-zero energy houses in Massachusetts under the Building America program. There are three communities that will be constructed through this partnership: Devens Sustainable Housing ('Devens'), The Homes at Easthampton Meadow ('Easthampton') andPhase II of the Coppersmith Way Development ('Townsend'). This report intends to cover all of the single-family new construction homes that have been completed to date. The houses built in these developments are net zero energy homes built in a cold climate. They will contribute to finding answers to specific research questions for homes with high R double stud walls and high efficiency ductlessair source heat pump systems ('mini-splits'); allow to explore topics related to the financing of photovoltaic systems and basements vs. slab-on-grade construction; and provide feedback related to the performance of ductless mini-split air source heat pumps.
Transformations, Inc. is a residential development and building company that has partnered with Building Science Corporation to build new construction net-zero energy houses in Massachusetts under the Building America program. There are three communities that will be constructed through this partnership: Devens Sustainable Housing ("Devens"), The Homes at Easthampton Meadow ("Easthampton") and Phase II of the Coppersmith Way Development ("Townsend"). This report intends to cover all of the single-family new construction homes that have been completed to date. The houses built in these developments are net zero energy homes built in a cold climate. They will contribute to finding answers to specific research questions for homes with high R double stud walls and high efficiency ductless air source heat pump systems ("mini-splits"); allow to explore topics related to the financing of photovoltaic systems and basements vs. slab-on-grade construction; and provide feedback related to the performance of ductless mini-split air source heat pumps.
Learn how NREL researchers are using advanced modeling and visualization tools to help create the planned net-zero energy district, Peña Station NEXT, near the Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado. This project will result in tools for smart city design that can be applied across the country.
FEMP funded handbook on how to design NEW buildings to achieve net zero energy, water, and/or waste.
The primary objective of this study is to achieve net-zero energy (NZE) wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) by utilizing energy efficiency opportunities (EEO), combined heat and power (CHP) systems, and other renewable energy (RE) sources, e.g., solar, water, and wind powers. Herein, this study discusses an innovative energy solution for WWTPs in the United States, and one of the WWTPs with a flow capacity of 1.5 million gallons per day (MGD) was selected as a case study. An optimization tool, Hybrid Optimization of Multiple Energy Resources (HOMER) software, is used in this study to find the best energy system configuration to run the system. An energy audit for one WWTP was conducted in early 2020 and the report is used to do this study. The proposed EEOs were able to reduce WWTP energy consumption by about 11%. The excess anaerobic digester gas was utilized in a CHP system to cover about 42% of the facility’s consumption. Also, 3% of the utility energy consumption can be claimed by microturbines in the aeration tanks. Another two renewable energy systems, solar photovoltaic (PV) with 29% and water turbines with 15%, contribute to covering 100% of the WWTP energy consumption and achieving an NZE WWTP.
In 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) defined a zero energy campus as "an energy-efficient campus where, on a source energy basis, the actual annual delivered energy is less than or equal to the on-site renewable exported energy." This handbook is focused on applying the EERE definition of zero energy campuses to federal sector campuses. However, it is not intended to replace, substitute, or modify any statutory or regulatory requirements and mandates.
In 2005, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, with support from NREL and other partners, built one of the first homes in the US to achieve net-zero energy based on monitored data. A family of three moved into the house when it was completed and lives there still. The home has been monitored continuously for the past ten years. Although PV production has remained steady, net energy performance has varied each year. The home was a net producer of energy annually in each of the first three years and in the ninth year, but not in years four through eight. Over the years, the PV system provided between 124% and 64% of the home source energy use. Electricity use in the home increased steadily during the first eight years, even though no significant new appliance was introduced into the house, such as a window air conditioner. Miscellaneous electric loads and space heating, both strongly dependent on occupant behavior, appear to be primarily responsible for the observed increase in energy use. An interesting aspect of this case study is how, even within a single family, natural changes in occupant lifestyles over time (e.g., kids growing up, schedules changing) can substantially impact the overall energy intensity of a home. Data from the last ten years will be explored for lessons learned that can improve the way we design low-load homes without sacrificing comfort or convenience for the occupants, and how we can make realistic predictions of long-term energy performance.
In 2005, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver, with support from NREL and other partners, built one of the first homes in the US to achieve net-zero energy based on monitored data. A family of three moved into the house when it was completed and lives there still. The home has been monitored continuously for the past ten years. Although PV production has remained steady, net energy performance has varied each year. The home was a net producer of energy annually in each of the first three years and in the ninth year, but not in years four through eight. Over the years, the PV system provided between 124% and 64% of the home source energy use. Electricity use in the home increased steadily during the first eight years, even though no significant new appliance was introduced into the house, such as a window air conditioner. Miscellaneous electric loads and space heating, both strongly dependent on occupant behavior, appear to be primarily responsible for the observed increase in energy use. An interesting aspect of this case study is how, even within a single family, natural changes in occupant lifestyles over time (e.g., kids growing up, schedules changing) can substantially impact the overall energy intensity of a home. Data from the last ten years will be explored for lessons learned that can improve the way we design low-load homes without sacrificing comfort or convenience for the occupants, and how we can make realistic predictions of long-term energy performance.
In 2015, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) defined zero energy buildings as "an energy-efficient building where, on a source energy basis, the actual annual delivered energy is less than or equal to the on-site renewable exported energy." This document is focused on applying EERE’s definition of zero energy buildings to federal sector new buildings. However, it is not intended to replace, substitute, or modify any statutory or regulatory requirements and mandates.