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

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.

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.

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:

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.