Adam Hinge, Sustainable Energy Partnerships
Donald Winston, The Durst Organization
Byron Stigge, Buro Happold
ABSTRACT
Some new high performance, green buildings are cited in the literature as what is needed in the future to achieve carbon reduction targets in the buildings sector. Growing anecdotal information suggests that some of these buildings, while built with the latest technologies, are in fact operating at a higher energy intensity than predicted. In one of the more public examples, the new Seattle City Hall, which had received LEED Gold Certification, has been shown to use more energy per square foot than the “less efficient” building that it replaced. In many cases, there are valid reasons for the higher energy intensity, perhaps due to more outside air ventilation or innovative water recycling systems. Additionally, technologies in these buildings, and the interaction of these newer technologies, can be quite complex, and may be challenging to operate as designed and modeled. Continue reading