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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.

Older, inefficient commercial rooftop unit (RTU) air conditioning systems are common and can waste from $1,000 to $3,700 per unit annually, depending on the building size and type. By replacing or retrofitting them, you can save money, improve your energy efficiency, make your building more comfortable, and help the environment. The Advanced RTU Campaign (ARC) encourages commercial building owners and operators to replace their old RTUs with more efficient units or to retrofit their RTUs with advanced controls in order to take advantage of these benefits. This website shows updates to the campaign including resources and progress towards the campaign's goal.

The Energy Management Package was developed by LBNL and DOE to deliver energy management and low- and no-cost energy efficiency opportunities to the small commercial building sector (less than 50,000 sq. ft.). This whole-building efficiency service offering was designed to be delivered by HVAC contractors at low transaction cost, and includes analysis of whole-building monthly or interval energy data and benchmarking, using free and low cost software tools. The website includes links to the Package itself, the business model associated with delivery of the Package, an introductory webinar, and an overview slide deck. Contractors servicing the small commercial sector who are interested to help demonstrate this approach should contact the point of contact below.

The package helps contractors to address questions such as:
What no- or low-cost measures could generate savings in a building?
How much energy does a building use compared with similar buildings?
How has energy usage changed over time? If the owner has already made upgrades, have they been effective?
How much money could potentially be saved through energy upgrades?

Comprehensive commissioning can greatly improve the quality and energy efficiency of commercial refrigeration systems. This guide provides direction to owners and managers of commercial and industrial facilities that use refrigeration systems to help ensure that project requirements are met and that owners' expectations are achieved. This includes retail grocery, food service, refrigerated warehousing, and industrial refrigeration systems. The guide was produced as an ASHRAE special publication with funding from DOE/NREL.

Refrigeration systems account for a significant portion of commercial building energy use, especially in the food sales and service sector. Thousands of systems are installed annually in grocery stores and convenience stores, as well as food distribution and processing facilities. The key is to design and operate these systems to minimize energy consumption. DOE, NREL, ASHRAE, and industry experts recently completed the Refrigeration Commissioning Guide for Commercial and Industrial Systems to lead owners, design teams, and operators through the process of commissioning.

This presentation offers strategies for commissioning and ongoing comissioning of zero energy buildings.

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.

Information on commissioning the entire building envelope, from design through construction.