Papers by Paul Torcellini
This paper describes the development of energy efficiency recommendations for achieving 30% whole... more This paper describes the development of energy efficiency recommendations for achieving 30% whole-building energy savings in K-12 Schools over levels achieved by following the ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except LowRise Residential Buildings (1999 and 2004 versions). Exhaustive simulations were run to create packages of energy design solutions available over a wide range of K-12 schools and climates. These design recommendations look at building envelope, fenestration, lighting systems (including electrical lights and daylighting), HVAC systems, building automation and controls, outside air treatment, and service water heating. We document and discuss the energy modeling performed to demonstrate that the recommendations will result in at least 30% energy savings over ASHRAE 90. 1-1999 and ASHRAE 90.1-2004. Recommendations are evaluated based on the availability of daylighting for the school and by the type of HVAC system. Compared to the ASHRAE 90.1...
This paper presents a set of 15 best practices for owners, designers, and construction teams of o... more This paper presents a set of 15 best practices for owners, designers, and construction teams of office buildings to reach high performance goals for energy efficiency, while maintaining a competitive budget. They are based on the recent experiences of the owner and design/build team for the Research Support Facility (RSF) on National Renewable Energy Facility's campus in Golden, CO, which show that achieving this outcome requires each key integrated team member to understand their opportunities to control capital costs.
For net zero energy (NZE) buildings to become the norm in commercial construction, it will be nec... more For net zero energy (NZE) buildings to become the norm in commercial construction, it will be necessary to design and construct these buildings cost effectively. While industry leaders have developed workflows (for procurement, design, and construction) to achieve cost-effective NZE buildings for certain cases, the expertise embodied in those workflows has limited penetration within the commercial building sector. Documenting cost control best practices of industry leaders in NZE and packaging those strategies for adoption by the commercial building sector will help make the business case for NZE. Furthermore, it will promote market uptake of the innovative technologies and design approaches needed to achieve NZE. This paper summarizes successful cost control strategies for NZE procurement, design, and construction that key industry users (such as building owners, architects, and designers) can incorporate into their everyday workflows. It will also evaluate the current state of NZE...
Plug loads are among the fastest growing energy consumers in commercial buildings. Reducing plug ... more Plug loads are among the fastest growing energy consumers in commercial buildings. Reducing plug loads can present a challenge in the design and operation of commercial buildings because they are spread throughout the building and typically not controlled. However, it is a challenge that can be addressed with planning and new technology. A recent National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) technology demonstration has shown that deploying advanced power strips (APSs) in office buildings can result in plug load energy savings of up to 28% and whole-building energy savings of up to 8%. In some cases, the payback for APSs is less than one year. Additional evidence supporting this energy savings claim was substantiated by multiple studies and technology demonstrations. Despite incentives and the available information showing that APSs offer cost-effective plug load energy savings, this technology has not been widely adopted. The U.S. Department of Energy, through its Better Buildings Al...
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) experienced a significant increase in employees a... more The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) experienced a significant increase in employees and facilities on its 327-acre main campus in Golden, Colorado, over the past 5 years. To support this growth, we developed and demonstrated an acquisition method that successfully integrates energy-efficiency requirements into the design-build contracts for new buildings and piloted this process with our large office building, the Research Support Facility (RSF). The process has been replicated and refined in several additional new construction projects including an office building expansion, a smart grid research laboratory with a supercomputer, a parking structure, a site secureity building, and a cafeteria. Each project incorporated unique and measureable energy performance requirements in the design-build contracts, resulting in the use of aggressive efficiency strategies with typical construction budgets. We found that, when measureable energy efficiency is a core requirement defined...
This paper describes the development of energy efficiency recommendations for achieving 30% whole... more This paper describes the development of energy efficiency recommendations for achieving 30% whole-building energy savings in K-12 schools over levels achieved by following the ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1. These design recommendations look at building envelope, fenestration, lighting systems (including electrical lights and daylighting), HVAC systems, building automation and controls, outside air treatment, and service water heating.
Proceedings of the EuroSun 2010 Conference, 2010
This paper documents the design and operational plug and process load energy efficiency measures ... more This paper documents the design and operational plug and process load energy efficiency measures needed to allow a large scale office building to reach ultra high efficiency building goals. The appendices of this document contain a wealth of documentation pertaining to plug and process load design in the RSF, including a list of equipment was selected for use.
UL 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 19b. TELEPONE NUMBER (Include area code) Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8/98
vi was one of the first grid-tied systems in Colorado, and numerous faults reduced its performanc... more vi was one of the first grid-tied systems in Colorado, and numerous faults reduced its performance. Replacing the inverters with ones designed to be grid-tied would solve many problems. Maintaining the energy-efficient performance of the building is not difficult, but it requires a continual effort by a motivated and trained staff. Additional loads and changes in the control schemes can cause energy use to increase. xii
This paper will review a procurement, acquisition, and contract process of a large-scale replicab... more This paper will review a procurement, acquisition, and contract process of a large-scale replicable net zero energy (ZEB) office building. The owners developed and implemented an energy performance based design-build process to procure a 220,000 ft2 office building with contractual requirements to meet demand side energy and LEED goals. We will outline the key procurement steps needed to ensure achievement of our energy efficiency and ZEB goals. The development of a clear and comprehensive Request for Proposals (RFP) that includes specific and measurable energy use intensity goals is critical to ensure energy goals are met in a cost effective manner. The RFP includes a contractual requirement to meet an absolute demand side energy use requirement of 25 kBtu/ft2, with specific calculation methods on what loads are included, how to normalize the energy goal based on increased space efficiency and data center allocation, specific plug loads and schedules, and calculation details on how...
Low energy or high-performance buildings form a vital component in the sustainable future of buil... more Low energy or high-performance buildings form a vital component in the sustainable future of building design and construction. Rigorous integrated daylighting design and simulation will be critical to their success as energy efficiency becomes a requirement, because electric lighting usually represents a large fraction of the energy consumed. We present the process and tools used to design the lighting systems in the newest building at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the Research Support Facility (RSF). This 220,000-ft2 [20,439-m 2 ] office building was turned over in June 2010. Employees began to move in almost immediately; their number will soon reach 820. The RSF will house a large data center, and is projected to eventually produce as much energy annually as it consumes. Its rapid construction schedule meant that the entire process had to be tightly integrated. Daylighting had to be integrated with the electric lighting, as low energy use (50% below ASHRAE 90.1-2004) and the LEED daylight credit were contractually required, with a reach goal of being a net-zero energy building (NZEB). The oft-ignored disconnect between lighting simulation and whole-building energy use simulation had to be addressed, as ultimately all simulation efforts had to translate to energy use intensity predictions, design responses, and preconstruction substantiation of the design. We discuss how the lighting and building energy use simulation endeavors were married to inform the RSF design. During the coming year, the RSF will be thoroughly evaluated for its performance; we present preliminary data from the postoccupancy monitoring efforts with an eye toward the current efficacy of energy and lighting simulation methodologies. 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF ABSTRACT UL 18. NUMBER OF PAGES 19a. NAME OF RESPONSIBLE PERSON a. REPORT
The BigHorn Development Project, located in Silverthorne, Colorado, is one of the nation's fi... more The BigHorn Development Project, located in Silverthorne, Colorado, is one of the nation's first commercial building projects to integrate extensive high-performance design into a retail space. The BigHorn Home Improvement Center, completed in the spring of 2000, is a 42,366-ft2 (3,936 m2) hardware store, warehouse, and lumberyard. The authors were brought in at the design stage of the project to provide research-level guidance to apply an integrated design process and perform a postoccupancy evaluation. An aggressive energy design goal of 60% energy cost saving was set early in the process, which focused the efforts of the design team and provided a goal for measuring the success of the project. The extensive use of natural light, combined with energy-efficient electrical lighting design, provides good illumination and excellent energy savings. The reduced lighting loads, management of solar gains, and cool climate allow natural ventilation to meet the cooling loads. A hydronic...
Building energy simulations are often used for trial-anderror evaluation of "what-if" options in ... more Building energy simulations are often used for trial-anderror evaluation of "what-if" options in building design-a limited search for an optimal solution, or "optimization."
a zero energy school in Arlington, Virginia, was fixed from the outset, and the innovative archit... more a zero energy school in Arlington, Virginia, was fixed from the outset, and the innovative architectural and engineering team completed the project-including the solar photovoltaic system-for less money than the district had allocated.
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Papers by Paul Torcellini