Testing the theory: demonstration projects and the validation of integrated design protocols for advanced energy retrofits

摘要

This paper details an initial set of observations resulting from the launch of five building retrofit demonstration projects currently underway for deploying the Integrated Design (ID) Advanced Energy Retrofit (AER) Roadmap; a market-oriented product developed by the authors of this paper for accelerating the pace of advanced energy retrofits in the United States (US). This project is one of many dedicated to improving the energy profile of existing buildings at the Consortium for Building Energy Innovation (CBEI) - formerly the Energy Efficient Buildings Hub - a research initiative sponsored by the Building Technologies Office of the US Department of Energy. Achieving significant energy reductions in the renovation of small to medium-sized commercial building remains an elusive goal, albeit an important one. To this end, the three-part document suite that is the ID AER Roadmap was conceived to offer all participants involved in the actual design, construction and operations of a retrofit project the management based tools to create a collaborative, replicable process that assures greater energy reductions following the retrofit of a building's various material and engineering systems. This paper discusses a number of important initial results from the testing and verification of the roadmap's seven ID process protocols. Discussed in some detail is the particular method by which each of the five project teams has employed the various components of the ID AER Roadmap, and where instructive, client profiles and building type differences will be identified to the extent that they impact the execution of the ID protocols of the AER Roadmap.