Energy efficiency no longer a luxury, experts say
Often flying mainly under the radar of the news media, a quiet but steady revolution in building codes requiring greater energy efficiency has occurred over the last 20 years.
“The codes have been upgraded every few years, and the minimum efficiency requirement goes up a little each time,” said Mark Timberlake, owner of Timberlake Engineering. “It’s almost 30 to 40 percent more efficient than 20 years ago. Even if it is at bare minimum, it’s better than it was.”
Although Columbia prides itself on its forward thinking, adopting the Kyoto Protocol, using alternative sources of energy, such as wind and landfill methane, and requiring LEED (Leadership in Energy Efficiency Design) certification for consultants, Timberlake says the City of Columbia should provide better incentives to encourage greater energy efficiency in commercial buildings.
“Boone Electric [Cooperative] has got a really aggressive and extensive program,” Timberlake said, citing the company’s rebates that help pay for the additional expense of a ground-source heat pump or dual-fuel system with electric heat pump and gas furnace backup. “The City of Columbia’s programs are not as attractive.”
Columbia has not adopted the international energy conservation code (IECC) or more advanced ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers) design guidelines, but the entire state is behind in that respect, said Frank Cunningham, engineer with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Energy Center.
Connie Kacprowicz, spokeswoman for Columbia Water and Light, said the city recognizes that its building codes need to be updated, and they are up for review soon by the City Council. The city’s Integrated Resource Plan, which the council will discuss later this month, deals with the city’s electric supply and demand, and includes draft recommendations to improve city building codes and to add more commercial energy conservation programs.
Although the city has programs aimed at bringing residences up to Energy Star standards, it offers no similar commercial program at present. However, Columbia does offer industrial inspections and energy audits for commercial space, provides low-interest loans to upgrade lighting, insulation and HVAC units and gives rebates for energy-efficient air conditioners.
According to the Architecture 2030 organization, U.S. buildings drink up 76 percent of the U.S. energy supply and generate nearly half, 48 percent, of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions. Companies are learning that energy efficiency, often called “E2” by its promoters, is worth the investment.
“Ten or twenty years ago, you hired somebody to ‘engineer’ your building; they did it, you moved into it, and you paid the bills,” said Nick Peckham of Peckham and Wright Architects, “but now I think people are seeing that there is an economic consequence with first costs and long-term operating costs to be considered.”
E2-friendly building codes are an outgrowth of public demand, Peckham said, which in some ways has been driven by rising energy costs. “Sensitivity to issues that fit under the umbrella of sustainability has become more of a top-mind awareness of people of all ages and all walks of life all over the country,” he said. “It’s important to understand that one of the key reasons we have codes of different sorts is to protect the life and safety of the public. Today many companies see smart money going to the edge of technology in terms of energy efficiency.”
As costs have risen, business has grown more sensitive to issues of sustainability as well, Peckham said, “There’s been a change in the technology, there’s been a change in public awareness, and there’s been a rapid evolution of insight into the relationship between the built environment and the natural environment.”
In a lightly occupied office, Timberlake said, energy costs usually average about 40 percent for lighting, 30 percent for air conditioning, 20 percent for heating and 10 percent for appliances and equipment. In a business that relies heavily on computers, the equipment percentage can be much higher.
In commercial buildings, cost savings usually begin with installing more efficient lighting, motion sensors that turn off lights when they aren’t needed, and dimmable fixtures, Cunningham said. Acquiring more efficient office machines is another good step to take, and companies have realized savings by trading in old computers, copiers and fax machines for ones with an Energy Star rating. The rating often means the machines have a “sleep” mode that turns them off when they are not in use. In addition, Cunningham said, there have been many advances in reducing the heat and humidity generated by computer equipment, which eases the pressure on the heating and cooling system for the building.
When designing a new commercial building, its orientation and the placement of windows in relation to the sun are major E2 factors. Greater utilization of natural sunlight allows some lights to be dimmed during the day. In addition, a north-south orientation, in which the building’s longest walls face north and south, helps minimize the extra heat gain from the strong morning and afternoon sun in east- and west-facing windows, which tends to push air conditioning costs upward. Likewise, the glare from east- and west-facing windows causes employees to shutter windows and turn up the lights, which increases lighting costs.
Going beyond minimum energy efficiency adds cost, and sometimes clients just don’t have the money, Timberlake said. But in the long-run, it’s less expensive to pay the extra money up front and save on energy costs later.
It’s not rocket science, but trained common sense. “The rocket science is doing the calculation, the cost-benefit analysis,” he said.