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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), academia, and private sector subject matter experts, recently completed an energy study to evaluate potential site and source energy-use reduction in new Army buildings. The study was completed in response to the mandates for energy savings in federal buildings enacted by the U.S. Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (U.S. Congress 2007). The building types studied included an Unaccompanied Enlisted Personnel Housing (UEPH or barracks), a brigade headquarters (administrative building), a company operation facility, a maintenance facility, and a dining facility (DFAC). The study was conducted for representative locations in all 15 DOE identified climate zones in the United States with building designs adapted to these climatic conditions. This paper presents the results of the energy analysis for a typical Army dining facility. It discusses energy efficiency measures and combinations used to reduce both internal and external loads on the building and overall energy use. The largest load in a DFAC is the cooking, and the currently available best-in-class kitchen equipment is included in the final design. The potential site energy savings compared to the energy code range from 21% to 38%. The potential source energy savings compared to Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey ranges from 37% to 42%. Additional savings may be obtained if an efficient cogeneration system is used and the building is considered as a part of the building cluster or community to fully utilize the energy from the cogeneration system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) require that all new federal facilities be built fossil fuel free by 2030. This raises the bar considerably from the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which required federal facilities be built to achieve at least 30% energy savings over ASHRAE Standard 90.1 - 2004. On the trajectory towards the 2030 goal, buildings have to meet 65% decrease of source energy from the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) survey for the building type specified. The EISA requirement is not a comparison between a baseline and an energy efficient simulation, but a direct comparison with the actual results from the final simulation with the EISA target. This is not a delta percentage comparison; it includes total source energy and all the building loads must be addressed and not left out of the calculation as an unregulated portion of the building load. The result of the study was guidance on how to reach a 60-80% energy use reduction from Commercial Building Energy Consumption Study (CBECS). The 2005 Energy Policy Act requires that federal facilities be built to achieve at least a 30% energy savings over the 2004 ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004. The Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in collaboration with USACE HQ and Centers of Standardization for respective building types, subject matter expert (SME) contractors, and the DOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) participated in a study to recommend design guides to achieve the Federal requirements for new buildings to be constructed under the Military Transformation Program. The building types included Unaccompanied Enlisted Personnel Housing or UEPH, administrative buildings (e.g., a brigade headquarters, and a company operation facility), a tactical equipment maintenance facility, and a dining facility. This paper presents the results of the energy analysis for the soldier barracks (UEPH). It provides the baseline building selected for the analysis and the modeling assumptions. As a result of a computer analysis using EnergyPlus, the target energy budgets are defined for all DOE 15 Climate Zones. Finally, a recommended set of energy efficient solutions for each climate zone is presented that shows the buildings limit as it approached net zero ready. It shows potential energy savings both on the building site and source energy when energy use reduction is considered on a building-by-building basis. It also shows further energy use reduction opportunities when energy improvements are made with each building considered as a part of the building cluster or community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Centre for Efficient and Renewable Energy in Buildings (CEREB) is a unique teaching, research and demonstration resource for the built environment hosting a number of renewable and intelligent energy solutions. CEREB has been developed in partnership between London South Bank, City and Kingston Universities with funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), London Development Agency (LDA) and M&E Sustainability. Located at roof level of the new London South Bank University teaching facility K2, the Centre houses evacuated solar tubes for domestic hot water, Photovoltaics (PV) providing electricity and ground source heat pumps providing heating for the entire building, and, through reverse cycle operation, provide cooling in the summer. The data from the monitoring systems is available via a web interface that allows it to be used for collaborative research, which gives the Centre an important international dimension. The data has been collected since May 2010 and its performance closely monitored to add invaluable resource for understanding how to design, operate and manage technologies for future low carbon buildings - both new build and retrofit. This paper reviews the performance of the building integrated renewables; solar thermal, PV and ground source heat pumps. It explores the designed building against real performance through data collected to date and identifies difficulties in integrating, commissioning and operating renewable technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]