August 13, 2007 — To ensure that buildings are designed to and actually operate at peak efficiency as intended, ASHRAE is developing tools related to carbon metrics and performance measurement.
ASHRAE, the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers and the US Green Building Council are collaborating to provide guidance on measuring and reporting building performance. They are examining what should be measured and in what way to consistently achieve high-performance buildings over time, says ASHRAE.
The goal is to provide a consistent method of measuring, expressing and comparing energy use, water use and indoor environmental quality (IAQ, thermal comfort, acoustics and lighting) of buildings. Baseline criteria will be established in each of these areas.
The initial phase of the study, an extensive literature evaluation, is expected to be completed Sept. 1, 2007.
In other research, ASHRAE is working to provide measures of the carbon emission equivalents of the energy used in buildings (gas, electricity, and other fuels).
While first order estimates are available from US Environmental Protection Agency tools, the conversion factors need to be known by region and by time of day, including benchmarks. This would allow accurate tools to be made available to designers to evaluate the carbon footprint of their proposed designs.
For more information, see the ASHRAE Web site.
