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Plug and process loads in commercial buildings account for 5% of U.S. primary energy consumption. Minimizing these loads is a primary challenge in the design and operation of an energy-efficient building.

This presentation describes how the designers, owners, and occupants can take advantage of opportunities to reduce plug loads in the Research Support Facility.

This presentation decribes how building an energy-efficient data center can improve a business's bottom line.

The Research Support Facility complex (RSF, RSF II, parking garage, and associated site lighting) was designed to produce more on-site renewable energy than it uses over the course of a typical weather year, when accounted for at the site. To date, the end use performance monitoring and verification suggests that when the RSF complex is fully built out, we will meet the annual energy use goals. Continued performance monitoring and occupant education are required to ensure annual energy use goals will continue to be met.

This presentation highlights the importance of modeling the off-design performance of equipment in data centers as a consequence of their dynamic behavior and describes an experimentally validated tool for modeling the energy use of the data center and cooling infrastructure.

An energy-efficient data center includes targets for its power usage effectiveness (<1.2) and energy resource efficiency (< 0.9). It should be designed with hot isle–cold isle separation, use free cooling (economizer) and evaporative cooling when available, minimize fan energy, and use the most energy-efficient equipment possible.

This resource provides energy models from the Advanced Energy Design Guide (AEDG) for Medium to Big Box Retail Buildings that have been incorporated into Building Component Library (BCL). The AEDG series provides design guidance for buildings that use 50% less energy than those built to the requirements of the ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2004 commercial code, and are specific to prominent building types across each of the eight U.S. climate zones. More information on the AEDGs can be found at http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/advanced-energy-design-guides and http://www.ashrae.org/aedg.The Building Component Library (BCL) is the U.S. Department of Energy’s comprehensive online searchable library of energy modeling building blocks and descriptive metadata. Novice users and seasoned practitioners can use the freely available and uniquely identifiable components to create energy models and cite the sources of input data, which will increase the credibility and reproducibility of their simulations. More information about the BCL can be found at https://bcl.nrel.gov.

These models are EnergyPlus version 6.0 and were completed in 2011. A Technical Support Document (TSD) that details these models can be found at http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy13osti/52589.pdf. This Technical Support Document describes the process and methodology for the development of the Advanced Energy Design Guide for Medium to Big Box Retail Buildings: Achieving 50% Energy Savings Toward a Net Zero Energy Building (AEDG-MBBR). The AEDG-MBBR is intended to provide recommendations for achieving 50% whole-building energy savings in retail stores over levels achieved by following ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (Standard 90.1-2004). The AEDG-MBBR was developed in collaboration with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the U.S. Department of Energy.

This resource provides energy models from the Advanced Energy Design Guide (AEDG) for K-12 Schools that have been incorporated into Building Component Library (BCL). The AEDG series provides design guidance for buildings that use 50% less energy than those built to the requirements of the ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2004 commercial code, and are specific to prominent building types across each of the eight U.S. climate zones. More information on the AEDGs can be found at http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/advanced-energy-design-guides and http://www.ashrae.org/aedg. The Building Component Library (BCL) is the U.S. Department of Energy’s comprehensive online searchable library of energy modeling building blocks and descriptive metadata. Novice users and seasoned practitioners can use the freely available and uniquely identifiable components to create energy models and cite the sources of input data, which will increase the credibility and reproducibility of their simulations. More information about the BCL can be found at https://bcl.nrel.gov.

These models are EnergyPlus version 7.0 and were completed in 2011. A Technical Support Document (TSD) that details these models can be found at http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy13osti/51437.pdf. This Technical Support Document (TSD) describes the process and methodology for the development of the Advanced Energy Design Guide for K-12 School Buildings: Achieving 50% Energy Savings Toward a Net Zero Energy Building (AEDG-K12). The AEDG-K12 provides recommendations for achieving 50% whole-building energy savings in K-12 schools over levels achieved by following ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings (Standard 90.1-2004). The AEDG-K12 was developed in collaboration with the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

This resource provides energy models from the Advanced Energy Design Guide (AEDG) for Large Hospitals that have been incorporated into Building Component Library (BCL). The AEDG series provides design guidance for buildings that use 50% less energy than those built to the requirements of the ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2004 commercial code, and are specific to prominent building types across each of the eight U.S. climate zones. More information on the AEDGs can be found at http://energy.gov/eere/buildings/advanced-energy-design-guides and http://www.ashrae.org/aedg.The Building Component Library (BCL) is the U.S. Department of Energy’s comprehensive online searchable library of energy modeling building blocks and descriptive metadata. Novice users and seasoned practitioners can use the freely available and uniquely identifiable components to create energy models and cite the sources of input data, which will increase the credibility and reproducibility of their simulations. More information about the BCL can be found at https://bcl.nrel.gov.

These models are EnergyPlus version 7.0 and were completed in 2012. A Technical Support Document (TSD) that details these models can be found at http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy13osti/52588.pdf. This Technical Support Document describes the process and methodology for the development of the Advanced Energy Design Guide for Large Hospitals: Achieving 50% Energy Savings Toward a Net Zero Energy Building (AEDG-LH). The AEDG-LH is intended to provide recommendations for achieving 50% whole-building energy savings in large hospitals over levels achieved by following Standard 90.1-2004. The AEDG-LH was created for a 'standard' mid- to large-size hospital, typically at least 100,000 square feet, but the strategies apply to all sizes and classifications of new construction hospital buildings. Its primary focus is new construction, but recommendations may be applicable to facilities undergoing total renovation, and in part to many other hospital renovation, addition, remodeling, and modernization projects (including changes to one or more systems in existing buildings).

EnergyPlus input data files from the 50% energy savings Advanced Energy Design Guide (AEDG) for Small to Medium Office Buildings.