In response to the national need for energy conservation and in recognition of the high consumption of energy in buildings, the U.S. Department of Energy gave a grant to the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) for development of a national energy conservation standard for new buildings. The resulting standard, ASHRAE 90-75, establishes thermal design requirements for exterior walls and roofs. It is incorporated in some building codes.
Seeking greater energy-use reduction, Congress passed the Energy Conservation Standards for New Buildings Act of 1976, mandating development of energy performance standards for new buildings (BEPS). Accordingly, the Department of Energy develops such standards, for adoption by federal agencies and state and local building codes. BEPS consists of three fundamental elements:
1. Energy budget levels for different classifications of buildings in different climates, expressed as rate of energy consumption, Btu/ ft2-yr.
2. A method for applying these energy budget levels to a specific building design to obtain a specific annual rate of energy consumption, or design energy budget, for the proposed building.
3. A method for calculating the estimated annual rate of energy consumption, or design energy consumption, of the proposed building.
The design energy consumption may not exceed the design energy budget of a new building. Even without these regulations, energy conservation for buildings makes good sense, for a reduction in energy usage also reduces building operating costs. It is worthwhile, therefore, to spend more on a building initially to save energy over its service life, at least to the point where the amortized annual value of the increased investment equals the annual savings in energy costs. As a consequence, life-cycle cost, considered the sum of initial, operating, and maintenance costs, may be given preference over initial cost in establishment of a cost budget for a proposed building.
Energy use and conservation are key elements in an architects approach to design. Aided by computer simulation, engineers can develop system concepts and evaluate system performance, deriving optimal operation schedules and procedures.
During the initial design phase, the computer can be used in feasibility studies involving energy programs, preliminary load calculations for the selection of heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems and equipment, technical and economic evaluation of conservation alternatives. Using solar heating and cooling systems for new and existing facilities, modeling energy consumption levels, forecasting probable operating costs, and developing energy recovery systems can be
investigated during the early design of a project.
