Fall 2024 Update

Grid Planning for Building Electrification

As a member of the Energy Systems Integration Group, Grid Planning for Building Electrification Task Force, Rhys Davis and his colleagues have just released a white paper, “Grid Planning for Building Electrification.” The paper dives into the impacts of increased electrification of buildings in the United States as a result of technological advancements, cost reductions of building technologies, consumer preferences, and policy goals for decarbonization. Building electrification is expected to increase the required electricity generation capacity between 10% - 70%. Policymaking and long-term planning studies typically do not give the changes in load growth enough consideration. The paper explains that stakeholders in distribution planning can take steps to establish a grid foundation that addresses the new challenges presented by building electrification. 

The published paper can be found here: ESIG-Grid-Planning-Building-Electrification-report-2024.pdf. 

Upcoming Webinar

An upcoming webinar on October 30, at 4:00 pm EST will present the findings of the report. Registration information can be found at: https://t.e2ma.net/click/gnxqji/kiksd9ob/8sky23

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Idaho Residential Code Compliance Evaluation

RR has been collaborating with Industrial Economics on behalf of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA) to evaluate code compliance in a few north-western states, including Idaho. NEEA commissioned a study on residential code compliance in Idaho for new construction single family homes built under the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) 2018 with Idaho amendments. The evaluation assessed whole-home and measure-level compliance, opportunities to improve compliance, and primary space and water heating fuel selection. From May 2023 to December 2023, the team collected permit data on 140 homes and conducted 164 on-site audits. The study found that 97.8% of homes comply with the code, identified external wall insulation as an area with low compliance and high potential for energy savings, and noted that the majority of homes have gas primary space and water heating.

The study for the State of Idaho has been published and is available at: https://neea.org/resources/idaho-residential-code-compliance-evaluation. 

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Presentations

ASHRAE GOLDEN GATE CHAPTER

Carrie presented "The Future of Weather Files for Building Performance Simulation and Resilient Design,” as the Technical Presentation at the September ASHRAE Golden Gate Chapter meeting.

2024 Reynolds Symposium, University of Oregon

Carrie will participate in “Scales of Resilience,” a panel and Q&A session that will delve into the scales & scopes of resilience & sustainability on October 19th. 

The 2024 UO Reynolds Symposium will focus on design for resiliency in the built environment, covering concepts, strategies, systems, and real-world examples across various scales and scopes. The symposium will explore the importance of local neighborhood resource hubs, supporting community social fabric, and maintaining critical infrastructures and operations in buildings and urban environments.

More information can be found here: https://reynoldssymposium.uoregon.edu/about/.

2024 ASHRAE DECARBonization Conference

Carrie will participate as a panelist in “Future Weather is More Important than You Think,” at the 2024 ASHRAE Decarbonization Conference. The panel will discuss the need to assess building performance with future-looking weather and the impacts on equipment sizing, energy performance, and capital cost impacts. The panel will provide information for planning HVAC systems in a warmer, wetter, and more variable future.

More information can be found here: https://www.ashrae.org/conferences/topical-conferences/2024-ashrae-decarbonization-conference.

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ACEEE 2024 Summer Study on Buildings

The RR team had a great experience in Asilomar at this year’s ACEEE Summer Study on Buildings. We were happy to run into so many friends and colleagues.

We collaborated on the following papers:

Not Too Cool for School: Demystifying Cost and Accelerating Pathways for All-Electric and Healthy Schools

Authors: Reilly Loveland, Alexi Miller, Amy Cortese, Shannon Oliver, New Buildings Institute; Rhys Davis, Resource Refocus; Andrea Swiatocha, Anna Myers, Reagan Redd, U.S. Department of Energy, Schools and Nonprofits.

Out of Site! Lessons Learned from Alternative Approaches to Evaluating the Market’s Response to Code Changes 

Authors: Meghan Bean, Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance; Marian Goebes, Lucy Albin, TRC; Daniel Kaufman, Christine Lee, Greg Englehart, Industrial Economics, Incorporated; Carrie Brown, Resource Refocus; Samuel Manning, NMR Group.

Buildings of Excellence: Driving Resilient, Low-Carbon Multifamily Housing Across New York State

Authors: Carrie Brown, Nathaniel Heckman, Anna LaRue, Rhys Davis, Resource Refocus.

RR also presented a poster highlighting the past eleven years of the Architecture at Zero Competition:

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Architecture at Zero 2024

Image credit: Albert C, FG Tade Latin, Margie O'Driscoll, John Gollop, and Los Angeles County Arts Commision.

The Architecture at Zero 2024 Competition is still accepting registrations! This year’s competition challenge is to design a classroom building for a school in East Los Angeles. 

The deadline for project submissions is December 16th.

Summer 2024 Update

Recognition and awards

ASHRAE

Dr. Carrie Brown was recently installed as an ASHRAE Society Director-at-Large for a three-year term. 

Her other ASHRAE roles include: Center of Excellence for Building Decarbonization steering committee, 2024 Decarbonization Conference for the Built Environment steering committee member, Technical Committee 4.2 Climatic Information chair, Standard 169 Climate Data for Building Standards secretary, Planning Committee consultant, Climate Change Position Document committee voting member, and Resilience Multidisciplinary Task Group member.

IBPSA-USA

We would like to congratulate Carrie on receiving the IBPSA-USA Outstanding Service Award! This award recognizes one or more individuals, groups or firms who have provided outstanding leadership, mentoring, and volunteering in the promotion of building simulation through research, education, practice, or advocacy. 

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Webinars and Presentations

AIA NYS: New York State Climate Impacts Assessment: Understanding and Preparing for Our Changing Climate

Carrie presented at an AIA-New York State webinar about the impact of climate change on the Building Sector in New York State. This webinar included the technical working group co-chairs from the Buildings, the Human Health and Safety, and the Society and Economy sectors of the New York State Climate Impacts Assessment. The webinar covered the findings from the Climate Impacts Assessment and how it can guide statewide initiatives like codes and standards. The session was moderated by Nicholas Rajkovich, PhD, from the University at Buffalo, and Carrie was joined by fellow panelists Amada Stevens, NYSERDA Senior Project Manager, Dr. Janice Barnes, Co-chair of the Human Health & Safety Technical Working Group, and Robin Leichenko, Co-chair of the Society and Economy Technical Working Group. 

ASHRAE NYC: Earth Day 2024: ASHRAE Task Force for Building Decarbonization and Climate Change and Buildings in New York State

Carrie spoke about the guidelines developed by ASHRAE’s Task Force for Building Decarbonization and NYSERDA’s recently released New York State Climate Impacts Assessment which assessed climate impacts across eight sectors: agriculture, buildings, ecosystems, energy, human health and safety, society and economy, transportation, and water resources. A recording of her lecture can be found on YouTube. The full list of speakers and links to recordings of the event can be found at the ASHRAE NYC Chapter website.

BETR Schools 

Rhys Davis was a panelist with members of the New Buildings Institute in another webinar sharing findings from work we jointly completed on building electrification in school that culminated in a report titled: The Building Electrification Technology Roadmap (BETR) for Schools. This report summarizes electrification technologies that can replace traditional fuel-fired equipment, and presents opportunities to stabilize operating cost, lower greenhouse gas emissions, and improve health, wellness, and resilience of entire school communities. 

CalBEM: Performance Metrics for Energy Modelers

Carrie presented at the CalBEM Group 2: Developing BEM Education and Resources Spring Meeting on “Performance Metrics for Energy Modelers.” This webinar discussed the changes of energy and operational carbon emissions and how understanding these metrics can improve a modeler’s ability to achieve energy code compliance, meet other design goals, and communicate results with clients to help identify appropriate design strategies. Carrie’s presentation covered operational carbon emission factors and provided an overview of the ASHRAE standards related to emissions.

UB School of Architecture and Planning Guest Lecture

Carrie and Sheila Naby presented some of our recent large scale modeling work to graduate architecture students in UB’s Environmental Systems 3 course. Sheila shared how we have been using energy modeling and Monte Carlo analysis to evaluate residential energy code compliance in Montana and Idaho. Carrie discussed an existing buildings study we are working on in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as professional opportunities and volunteering related to energy modeling and building performance. 

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AIA California

Nate Heckman recently volunteered with AIA California as part of the jury committee to review the 2024 AIA Design Awards Common App submissions. Committee members were tasked with reviewing submissions based on their technical, and sustainability solutions across the ten principles of the AIA Framework for Design Excellence which seeks to inform progress toward zero-carbon, equitable, resilient, and healthy buildings and built environments.

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2024 ACEEE Summer Study on Buildings

We are looking forward to attending the upcoming ACEEE Summer Study from Sunday to Thursday next week!

The Resource Refocus team is part of three paper presentations and a poster session:

Monday 8/5 - Session 2 (10:30am-12:00pm)

Panel 10: New Construction: From Codes to Net Zero

Buildings of Excellence: Driving Equitable and Climate Resilient Multifamily Housing Across New York State

- Carrie Brown

Panel 3: Commercial Buildings: Technologies, Design, Operations, and Industry Trends

Not Too Cool for School: Demystifying Costs and Accelerating Pathways for All-Electric and Healthy Schools

- Reilly Loveland, NBI, and Rhys Davis

Tuesday 8/6 - poster displays (4:00pm-6:00pm)

Architecture at Zero: A Competition Delivering Decarbonization, Resilience, and Equity

- Nate Heckman and Anna LaRue, in collaboration with AIA California and California Invester-owned Utilities

Wednesday 8/7 - session 2 (10:30am-12:00pm)

Out of Site! Lessons Learned from Alternative Approaches to Evaluating the Market’s Response to Code Changes

- Meghan Bean, NEEA, and Rhys Davis

We Hope to see you at Asilomar!

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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

Carrie elected ASHRAE Director-at-Large

Dr. Carrie Brown was recently installed as an ASHRAE Society Director-at-Large for a three-year term

The ASHRAE Nominating Committee announced their slate of officers and directors for the 2024-25 society year earlier this year, and ASHRAE members voted on the nominees via electronic ballot in May.

Carrie’s other ASHRAE roles include: Center of Excellence for Building Decarbonization steering committee, 2024 Decarbonization Conference for the Built Environment steering committee member, Technical Committee 4.2 Climatic Information chair, Standard 169 Climate Data for Building Standards secretary, Planning Committee consultant, Climate Change Position Document committee voting member, and Resilience Multidisciplinary Task Group member.

Spring 2024 Update

Upcoming Webinar

New York State Climate Impacts Assessment: understanding and preparing for our changing climate

Carrie will be speaking on a webinar hosted by NYSERDA and AIA New York State as part of the effort to promote and disseminate findings in the recently released New York State Climate Impacts Assessment.

The webinar will share the process that guided the New York State Climate Impacts Assessment and how it can guide statewide initiatives. Speakers will discuss how the impacts of climate change may impact New York’s society and economy and these impacts are related to the health, safety, and welfare of all New York residents. Participants will be introduced to adaptation and resilience strategies for a wide array of building types.

Wednesday, May 1 | 12:00-1:00 PM EST

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The Future of Weather Files for Building Performance Simulation in New York State

We are excited to share that RR’s paper submitted to IBPSA’s Building Simulation 2023 conference last September has been published. Read the final paper in the Proceedings of Building Simulation 2023: 18th Conference of IBPSA: https://publications.ibpsa.org/conference/paper/?id=bs2023_1384

If you’d like to know more about this project, you can find the full NYSERDA report here: Assessment of Future Typical Meteorological Year Data Files Final Report (pdf download).

The authors:

• Carrie Brown, Resource Refocus LLC

• Nicholas Rajkovich, The University at Buffalo Department of Architecture

• Elizabeth Gilman, formerly Resource Refocus LLC, now EHDD

• Anna LaRue, Resource Refocus LLC

• Jessica Keast, Resource Refocus LLC

Paper abstract: Weather data has a wide range of applications in the built environment such as the analysis of energy efficiency measures, life cycle cost, and emissions. For the past 50 years, building simulation efforts have typically relied on typical meteorological year (TMY) or reference year data (Crawley, 2015), but recently some applications have switched to alternate weather files, such as actual meteorological year (AMY), extreme meteorological year (XMY), and future typical meteorological year (FTMY) data. This study explored the impact of switching from existing TMY datasets to more recent or future-looking datasets through a literature review, stakeholder interviews, weather file analysis, and a modeling exercise. The study summarized the current state of weather file availability and usage, data variation among available formats, impacts on projected energy use and peak demand, challenges to switching to new formats, and the implications for program and code development protocols for a state agency.

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ASHRAE 

Standard Method for Calculation of Building Operational Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Rhys Davis was selected as a member of the committee to develop ASHRAE standard 242p: Standard Method for Calculation of Building Operational Greenhouse Gas Emissions. The kick-off committee meeting took place March 28th and 29th at ASHRAE HQ in Atlanta, GA. The committee will continue to convene over the next 18 months to develop GHG factors for building operational energy use and determine appropriate calculations, sources, and methodology for different ASHRAE standards that will reference 242p.

ASHRAE NYC Earth Day 2024

Along with ASHRAE President, Ginger Scoggins, and other invited speakers, Carrie Brown recently presented at the ASHRAE NYC chapter’s Earth Day 2024 event. The event’s theme was “Challenge Accepted, Tackling the Climate Crisis.”

Carrie provided  an overview of ASHRAE’s Task Force for Building Decarbonization, which is currently transitioning to the Center of Excellence for Building Decarbonization. Working with over 100 volunteers from around the world, the TFBD priority projects include decarbonization guides, educational seminars and courses, website material, and collaboration with industry partners.

She also summarized NYSERDA’s recently released New York State Climate Impacts Assessment which assessed climate impacts across eight sectors: agriculture, buildings, ecosystems, energy, human health and safety, society and economy, transportation, and water resources. Dr. Brown and Dr. Rajovich co-chaired the Buildings Sector chapter, which evaluated how climate change will affect New York State and how we can build a more resilient future. Examining the short- and long-term impacts of climate change on New York State’s 5.3 million buildings, the chapter summarized key climate hazards, equity and climate justice, adaptation strategies and opportunities for positive change, and emerging research needs in the buildings sector.

Center of Excellence in Building Decarbonization

ASHRAE’s Task Force for Building Decarbonization (TFBD) will be transitioning to a permanent group, the Center of Excellence for Building Decarbonization (CEBD). After working with the TFBD since 2021, Carrie has been named as an inaugural CEBD member. The members will provide strategic direction for ASHRAE building decarbonization activities and work with the Planning Committee to incorporate appropriate goals into the Society strategic plan. They will also monitor future issues and trends and publicize ASHRAE’s decarbonization work globally to establish ASHRAE’s leadership position, in partnership with Marketing.

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New York State Association of Towns

Rhys attended the New York State Association of Towns Annual Meeting in NYC February 18th to 20th to kick-off the project with the International Codes Council developing compliance support for small jurisdictions in New York. Rhys met with ICC and other local team members on the project to discuss how to best engage with NY towns and develop a plan for improving code compliance across the state using tools such as permitting digitization and additional jurisdictional support specifically for energy code compliance. The conference also included sessions on implementing sections of the energy and uniform code that Resource Refocus is in the process of updating as part of our separate work with NYSERDA on codes and standards.

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Architecture at zero

Image Credit: AIA California

The Architecture at Zero 2024 Competition website is live! This year’s competition will be to design a classroom building for a school in East Los Angeles.  This will be a completely new climate zone for the competition. Nate Heckman, Anna LaRue, and Carrie Brown are on the competition planning team.

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Mentoring

Anna is in her second year as a mentor with the New Buildings Institute Next Gen Program, which is “designed to foster the next generation of diverse buildings industry leaders.

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Special Recognition

We are pleased to note that Sheila Naby has recently earned a certificate from the National University of Singapore in Data Science for Construction, Architecture, and Engineering.