building controls for energy efficiency characteristics ... · bullitt foundation cascadia center...

© New Buildings Institute, 2016

Building Controls for Energy Efficiency

Characteristics, Energy Impacts, and Lessons

from Zero Net Energy Buildings

PASSIVE HOUSE NW – MARCH 10, 2016

ALEXI MILLER, PE


New Buildings Institute:The Virtuous Cycle

We are an engine of

innovation for the

energy efficiency

industry. We drive

research, uncover

solutions, and advance

industry practices and

policies that deliver

positive change in the

built environment.


Sections

2. Controls Design Selection

Process, Users and Energy

3

1. Background and Controls

Characteristics

3. Conclusions, Trends and

Recommendations


Controls Section 1

• Background‒ About ZNE and the controls

study

‒ The buildings and the

participants

• Controls

Characteristics‒ Types of controls found in

study buildings

Photo: Sherman Carter Barnhart

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Background:Getting to Zero Net Energy BuildingsA Zero Net Energy (ZNE) building generates as much energy as it consumes

annually. Also known as Net Zero Energy.

» Zero = ‘nothing’

» Net = On-site Energy Production (renewable) minus Energy Use, over 1 year

» Energy = All energy (electric, gas, steam, liquid fuel etc.) consumed on site

5


Background:Getting to Zero Net Energy Buildings


CA = >35% of

ZNE Bldgs

Background:Getting to Zero Net Energy Buildings


Research Review:Overview

Investigate Building Energy Monitoring & Controls Systems in Low-Energy and ZNE Buildings

Areas of inquiry:1. The Selection and the System

What did they choose and why

2. The Energy Impact

Savings assumptions in modeling and attribution in use

3. The Use and User Experience

How is it being used and what is effective and lacking

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The Buildings

Zero Net Energy buildings in North

America from NBI’s Getting to Zero

database

Mainly 10,000 – 100,000+ sq. ft.

– Some smaller buildings

represented

Mainly Offices & Higher Ed

– Also Courthouse, Lab, Library,

Museum

Climate: CA has most ZNE buildings

– Also: Canada, PNW, NE, CO

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The People

• Designers:

– 21 one-on-one interviews

• Operators:

– 6 one-on-one interviews

• Occupants:

– 130 web-based surveys

across 5 buildings

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List of Participant Buildings

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Project Location Size Range Building Type RetrofitOperator Survey

Completed

435 Indio Way CA 25k - 50k sf Office X

Bullitt Foundation Cascadia Center for Sustainable Design

and ConstructionWA 50k - 100k sf Office X

Cornell NYC Tech First Academic Building NY over 100k sf Education

David and Lucile Packard Foundation CA 25k - 50k sf Office X

DPR Construction's San Francisco Office CA 10k - 25k sf Office X

Exploratorium CA over 100k sf Other X

Hanover Page Mill Building CA 50k - 100k sf Office

IDeAs Z2 Office Building CA 5k - 10k sf Office X

Lane Community College, Downtown Academic Center OR 50k - 100k sf Education

Leslie Shao-Ming

Field Station at Jasper RidgeCA 5k - 10k sf Education

Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Field

HeadquartersMA 25k - 50k sf Office

Morphosis Architecture Studio CA 10k - 25k sf Office

NREL Research Support Facility CO over 100k sf Office X

Rice Fergus Miller Office and Studio WA 25k - 50k sf Office X

Rocky Mountain Institute Innovation Center CO 10k - 25k sf Office

Sacred Heart Schools Stevens Family Library CA 5k - 10k sf Education X

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge HQ and Visitor Center CA 10k - 25k sf Office

UC San Diego J Craig Venter Institute CA 25k - 50k sf Other

UniverCity Childcare Centre BC 5k - 10k sf Education

VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre BC 10k - 25k sf Assembly X

Watsonville Water Resources Center CA 10k - 25k sf Office

Wayne Aspinall Courthouse and Federal Building CO 25k - 50k sf Courthouse X

West Berkeley Public Library CA 5k - 10k sf Library X


Types of ControlsThe constellation of building control systems

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• Whole Building Controls– Integrated across various end-uses

(some or all)

– Ex: EMS, EIS, BMS, BAS, EMCS

• End-Use Level Controls– Electric Lighting

– Daylighting & Glare Control

– Heating

– Cooling

– Ventilation

– Plug Loads

– Data Infrastructure / Servers


Types of Controls:Controls Integration by End-Use

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Types of Controls:Plug Load Overview

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Standard Commercial Building

High Efficiency

Design

=

~50% load reduction

High Efficiency

Building

+

Optimized Plug

Loads

=

~60% load

reduction

Source: D. Kaneda, IDeAs and Integal Engineering


Types of Controls:Plug Loads

• 64% of buildings surveyed use plug load

controls or monitoring

• Software: equipment power management

software – turn it off when not in use

– Controls at device or over IT network

• Hardware: plug strips, sensors, timers, etc.

– Controls at device or circuit level

• People: Prompts, Feedback, Campaigns, Green

Policies, Competitions

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Controls Section 2

• Controls Design Selection Process‒ Who chooses what and why

• User Experience‒ Responses from operators

and occupants on their experience with controls

• Energy Findings‒ Actual and estimated

savings for the building and the systems due to controls


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Controls Design Selection Process:Designing a successful control system is a balancing act

• Rigid execution of design intent

• Thorough documentation and

specifications

• Detailed sequence of operations

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• Flexibility in implementation

• Flexibility in operation


Controls Design Selection Process: Who chooses

• Mechanical Engineer (ME) takes the lead on the controls selection process getting input from the owner and other sub contractors on an as-needed basis

• ME is responsible for writing sequence of operation and controls specification and in some cases were involved in selection the controls vendor

– Control subcontractors are a sub-trade of a sub-trade – making them a first-tier (separate) contractor would help elevate their input the design process

• When asked who should be involved in the controls selection process, the future building operator was frequently mentioned

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Controls Design Selection Process: Selection Criteria

• Prior Experience is the #1 selection criteria

– Indicator of the importance of getting key players involved early in

the design process

– Demonstrates the important role controls play in achieving a ZNE

goal

Criteria for Selecting a Controls Vendor/Subcontractor

19


Controls Design Selection Process: Follow Up

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Despite the focus on performance and the qualification of the

design and construction teams associated with these projects…

The #1 reason for excessive follow-up:

Incorrect installation of controls systems in the field


Control Design Selection Process: Communication Protocols

• A majority of designers indicated that they did not feel like communication

protocols limited their options during the design phase

– There was no correlation between the designers who did feel limited by

conflicting communication protocols and the type of communication

protocol implemented

• “Integration Issues” were the second most common reason selected for

excessive follow-up

• This applied to projects

that used both open source

and proprietary

communication protocols

21


User Experience: Operations Survey Summary

• All agree: bring Operator into design process early– Operator involved in all

sequence development efforts

– Operator involved in commissioning process

• Often, operators learn on the job (without formal training)– Heavy reliance on Operations

and Maintenance (O&M) Manual and Commissioning process and report

• Building Operator & Controls Vendor – close relationship– Frequent communication in

Year 1

22

• Maintaining Building Performance: Operator should write & use a System Support Manual or Procedure Manual

Building Monitoring Responsibility


User Experience: Occupant Survey Summary

• Occupants generally are satisfied with their ZNE building work spaces

• Design teams & operators must balance automation vs. occupant interaction

• 75% of occupants satisfied with daylighting – but often want more glare

control

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• Broad satisfaction with natural ventilation, DOAS

• Heating systems are well regarded; desire for more control for cooling

• Plug load controls are not problematic or obtrusive for most occupants

Occupant Interest in

Interaction with Lighting

and Shade Controls


User Experience: Occupant Survey Summary

24

• Occupant satisfaction with building control interaction varies widely, by

system and across buildings– Typically Very to Moderately Satisfied: Electric Lighting, Daylighting, Ventilation, Plug Loads

– Variable Satisfaction across Spectrum: Glare Control, Heating, Cooling, Indoor Noise Control


Energy Findings: Participant Buildings

25


Energy Findings: Setting Energy Targets

100% of design teams set an aggressive low-energy EUI target

26

100% of design

teams considered

setting early energy

targets as key to the

design process &

outcomes

Energy Targets are Key


Energy Findings: Whole Building Energy Aspects

• Baseline: High-Performance/LEED

• Energy modeling: More than one software package used

– eQuest remains #1, but this is shifting

– Radiant systems, natural ventilation modeled with IES/TAS

• Keys to ZNE: Building Siting

• Keys to ZNE: Envelope Design

• Keys to ZNE: HVAC Systems

– Ground source heat pumps

– Advanced air source heat pumps

– Radiant heating & cooling distribution

– Variable refrigerant volume

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Whole Buildings Energy Savings per Controlled System

Energy Findings: System Level Priorities

• Lighting Controls: Daylighting first, then other electric lighting controls.

• HVAC Controls: Passive first: natural ventilation & use of thermal massing.

Then, optimize mechanical system control and monitoring.

• Glare Controls (Shading & Blinds): 33% got thermal savings => Reduced

thermal loads & thus HVAC system needs.

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• Plug Load Controls: up to

50% of usage in some ZNE

buildings. Designers are

still experimenting with

different control approaches.

Number of Responses

“Design For Off”


Controls Section 3

• Take Aways‒ On value, conflicts, advice

and surprises

• Trends̶ What is emerging and game

changers

• Recommendations‒ Paths to better performance


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The Value of Controls

• Are Controls important

to get to ZNE?

– Yes: 100%

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• Would you select the

same controls again?

– Yes: 77%


Conflicts:

Problems and Some Solutions• “Control communication

platforms and protocols between

systems need improvement”

• “Controls always have some problems”

31

Problem:

“The principal issue with every

ZNE building that I have

studied carefully has been

control systems, measurement

and verification.”

Suggested Solution:

It’s a matter of writing a detailed

sequence of operations, having a

great relationship with your

vendor and requiring

accountability for integration.


3 Risks from Poor Control

Performance

The 3 ‘Es’ at risk from ineffective control design, installation and/or operations:

1. Energy: excessive use

= cost and environmental impacts

2. Equipment: equipment and

integration issues = maintenance and capital cost impacts

3. Everyone: poor indoor conditions =

occupant and real estate value impacts

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Schematic courtesy of PAE Engineers


1. Buildings are a box driven first by

good design -- then by systems,

people and controls

33

Take Aways


1. Buildings are a box driven first by

good design -- then by systems,

people and controls

34

Take Aways

2. New Roles and Old Relationships

3. Occupants are a new Operator4. Controls are at the Nexus of

Energy Performance


Emerging Trends &

Game Changers• Integrated and lower cost

control systems

• Monitoring and feedback

• Energy Model-based Control

• Utility Demand Response

• Other:

– Robotics

– DC building systems

– Energy storage

– Protocol standardization

35


Industry Implications

36

1. Large new market for new

control related products

2. Complexity and

communications issues hinder

adoption and outcomes

3. ZNE buildings will remain grid

connected and districts and

aggregation of bldgs. will

increase

4. Getting to zero is both a market

and a policy trend


Five Recommendations

1. Prioritize Passive Strategies – then layer in controls to optimize the whole

building outcomes

2. Integrate the Controls Contractor – controls contractor needs to be a

primary team member from design through occupancy

3. Increase Operator Training and Support – bring controls training

and improved hand-off documentation to operators and ongoing access to the design team and controls contractor

4. Provide Occupants Control but Backup with Default Settings – occupants want some engagement and control access but a ‘hybrid’ system that returns controls to default settings and “Off” is necessary

5. Build Industry Awareness and Knowledge of Emerging

Trends –of a) integrated, wireless and adaptive controls, b) feedback and dashboards, c) DC systems and renewable integration, d) utility load management, price and program issues, and e) ZNE policy drivers

37


Business as Usual


Resources:

Rice Fergus Miller ZNE Retrofit

Controls in Zero Net Energy Buildings:

newbuildings.org/news/zne-controls-report

www.newbuildings.org

http://newbuildings.org/news/zne-controls-report

http://www.newbuildings.org/

building controls for energy efficiency characteristics ... · bullitt foundation cascadia center...

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