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This Fact Sheet provides an overview of the Better Buildings Workforce Guidelines project. The Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) are working with industry stakeholders to develop voluntary national guidelines that will improve the quality and consistency of commercial building workforce training and certification programs for five key energy-related jobs.

This checklist will assist facility managers and building owners evaluate the capabilities of HVAC companies and the proposals they submit for installation of new HVAC equipment. The questions on the checklist will help owners and managers understand the requirements contained within the ACCA HVAC quality installation Standard 5.

Following are the terms of the ENERGY STAR Partnership Agreement as it pertains to the manufacture and labeling of ENERGY STAR qualified light commercial HVAC products.

7x7x7: Design Energy Water is an innovative program by the Division of the State Architect that encouraged California school districts to develop long-range master plans that reduce energy and water consumption on campuses and improve the quality of educational spaces. The State Architect engages seven architectural firms to develop seven conceptual case studies that reduce school energy and water consumption and result in better learning environments on seven different types of campuses (six K-12 schools and a community college). The seven campuses are representative of typical building types from different eras constructed across California’s varied climate zones. The purpose and primary goal of this program is to enable all existing K-14 facilities to be zero energy by 2030.

This report overviews trends in the construction industry and the resulting impacts on energy consumption. The report provides a specific profile of the construction industry and patterns of energy use followed by sections providing product and market insights and information on policy efforts, such as taxes and regulations, which are in­tended to influence building energy use. Information on voluntary programs is also offered.

This report provides an overview of the key elements of submetering and associated energy management systems to foster an understanding of the many potential benefits and complexities associated with use of these systems. While submeters by themselves have no direct impact on resource use, the data they capture informs real-time energy and water performance, can pinpoint performance variations over time or relative to other buildings, feeds into building automation systems that drive continuous operational improvements, and provides the information needed to encourage behavioral and operational changes by building operators and occupants.

This draft specification provides a description of performance characteristics for high-efficiency fume hood models. Fume hoods are used to exhaust hazardous gases from laboratory activities, and are typically found in commercial buildings that contain laboratories, such as hospitals, universities, and research facilities. The final specification will be developed with Commercial Building Energy Alliance (CBEA) member and manufacturer input and include minimum requirements that will be of interest to a critical number of CBEA members.

This case study describes how Brandywine utilizes two components in its lease to drive energy efficiency and data transparency in its managed portfolio. These measures enable the company to track energy usage, implement cost-effective energy efficiency measures, meet energy-saving targets, and save tenants money.

The California Lighting Technology Center partnered with Finelite, Inc. and Adura Technologies to develop and demonstrate a unique, wireless task/ambient office lighting solution ideally suited for the retrofit market. The system consists of two key elements: a task/ambient lighting system and advanced, wireless lighting controls. The combination substantially reduce energy use and improves lighting quality, and provides personal lighting control for individual work spaces, and does not require additional wiring or rewiring of existing luminaries or lighting circuits. The system has three specific components: adaptive ambient lighting, light-emitting diode task lighting, and wireless controls.