Presentation by Jerry Yudelson, President, Green Building Initiative, on 7 May in Calgary, AB, sponsored by DIRTT Environmental Solutions. How to move from a focus on green building and sustainable development to a focus on performance of sustainable cities. Using new software tools is going to be the best way to accelerate these changes.
27. C2014GreenBuildingInitiative
Green stormwater infrastructure includes a range of soil-
water-plant systems that intercept stormwater, infiltrate
some of it into the ground, evaporate some of it into the
air, and in some cases release some of it slowly back into
the storm sewer system.
Philadelphia Green Stormwater Plan
The question is how we can accommodate 80% of the world’s population of 9 billion in cities by 2050, at much higher levels of income, energy use, meat protein, etc., without depleting earth’s resources, causing irreversible climate change and without compromising ecosystem services beyond the “breaking point”. We postulate that a green or sustainability revolution is the answer, but we haven’t been greatly successful so far.
Why haven’t we been successful so far? Cite LEED statistics: 3% of building area, mostly newer buildings, ½ of 1% of total buildings. Same for Canada.
…And we haven’t been very good at monitoring, measuring or reporting performance on building energy use and the impact of changes made to improve energy efficiency.
In reality, we need to go beyond energy use at the building level and focus on total carbon emissions from the built environment.
In the UK and the EU in general, the focus is on measuring carbon emissions not just energy use. Here is one such project.
In the EU, the Energy Performance in Buildings Directive has beenin force since 2010; here’s a UK example.
European stretch goal: 100 kWh/sqm/a PRIMARY energy useEuropean site use median: 135 kWh/sq.m.; 43,000 EUIU.S. Average: 400 kWh/m2/a (2003)50% better than average still not good enough!75% (or more) required2030 Challenge (next slide)Solon: 34,000 Btu/sq.ft./year energy use
Every building should be beautifulEvery building LEED PlatinumEvery building should aim at “BSAGs”Achieve measured 35 to 45 kBtu/sq.ft. (EUI) performanceWhere SHOULD WE be aiming? I decided to find out!LEED Platinum (or equivalent)Built since 2003>50,000 sq.ft. (>5,000 sqm)Non-residential useMust provide energy data for one yearWater data, as available
Here is a chart of actual performance of 15/19 buildings (no labs/hospitals)Median use = 138 kWh/sq.m. (EUI = 44,000)
Here is a chart of actual performance of 15buildings (no labs/hospitals)Median use = 153 kWh/sq.m. (EUI = 48,000)
Green Globes traces its origins to a system started in the United Kingdom called BREEAM, Building Research Establishment Environment Assessment Method. BREEAM is a widely used environmental assessment method for buildings and one of the first systems used globally to rate existing buildings. It set the standard for best practices in sustainable buildings and has become an important measure in describing a buildings environmental performance.
European stretch goal: 100 kWh/sqm/a PRIMARY energy useEuropean site use median: 135 kWh/sq.m.; 43,000 EUIU.S. Average: 400 kWh/m2/a (2003)50% better than average still not good enough!75% (or more) required2030 Challenge (next slide)Solon: 34,000 Btu/sq.ft./year energy use
Zero Net Energy Buildings are Feasible today; here’s an example:35,000 Btu/sq.ft./year (measured 2011)
“What gets measured, gets managed”Without reports, we are flying blind/can’t fixWhy should governments put their faith in green building without performance reports?
Traditional Automation does not scale, it’s a hardware model and is too complex, too expensive, too unreliable, too many versions of firmware to supportSwitch were interested in how to tackle the really massive sustainable cities developments in Asia, - developments with in excess of 250k residents – we knew our solution could not deliver for that and none of our competitors could deliver for that scale of projectSwitch made a decision that only the cloud could scale for those kinds of numbersOur experience taught us we had to deliver a solution that could scale with a strong emphasis on energy and environmental since the need to conserve energy will be one of the key drivers for buildings to implement automation
European stretch goal: 100 kWh/sqm/a PRIMARY energy useEuropean site use median: 135 kWh/sq.m.; 43,000 EUIU.S. Average: 400 kWh/m2/a (2003)50% better than average still not good enough!75% (or more) required2030 Challenge (next slide)Solon: 34,000 Btu/sq.ft./year energy use
If you want to score, run to where the ball is headed, not to where it is.Ask yourself and your clients: how green will the built environment be in 2020?Non-performing green buildings will pay a penalty in that market!