7. REGLAMENTO INTERNO
7.1. CONCEPTO:
There are various smart buildings technologies available today that can help reduce emissions at each stage of a building’s lifecycle. Energy modelling software can help architects determine how design influences energy use. Builders can use software to compare energy models with actual construction. Once the building is complete, ICT can measure and benchmark its performance and compare actual to predicted energy efficiency. Occupants can install a BMS to automate building functions such as lighting and heating and cooling and if a building undergoes a change of use, ICT can be used to redesign its energy model and measure the impacts of this change.
Fig. 12.2 shows how ICT can identify energy consumption, optimise for reduction in energy and emissions and transform current ways of designing and using the built environment. The US and Canada are home to some of the most exciting and ambitious innovations in smart building technology.
SMART buildings in North America
North American buildings are among the most inefficient in the world,76 responsible for a quarter
of all global building emissions. Since most of the floor space that will be in use in the US and Canada by 2020 already exists, retrofitting and better management of existing buildings will be at least as important as efficiencies in new build. Some states in the US, such as California, have already demonstrated significant potential to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions in buildings.
Recognising the contribution that buildings make to global emissions, both the US federal government and individual states have implemented a number of policy initiatives that are starting to improve buildings’ efficiency. Among the measures are the implementation of building codes and standards, offering
incentives to builders, owners and occupiers to adopt efficiency measures, strengthening the business case for investing in efficiency technology and training more people to implement and operate BMS.
But despite ICT’s proven role in improving the energy efficiency of buildings, emissions are still rising. A number of barriers appear to be preventing those involved in the design, construction and use of buildings from adopting the technology and realising the full abatement opportunities.
Hurdles to adoption
There are a number of barriers to the adoption of the technology and realising the full emissions savings opportunities. These include:
76 US and Canada have the highest building emissions per capita, according to Enkvist P., T. Naucler and J. Rosander (2007), ‘A Cost Curve for Greenhouse Gas Reduction’, The McKinsey Quarterly, Number 1; data from Global Insight.
77 Solaire site visit; expert interviews, Jan – Feb 2008.
78 California has decoupled energy generation from provision so that energy efficiency can be profitable.
Case study: smart living
The Solaire building in New York was the US’s first “green” residential tower and was inspired by the Battery Park City Authority’s initiatives. As well as other sustainability features, it contains a comprehensive BMS to control the entire building. This was built into the plans at the design stage, is continuously updated and undergoes an annual re-commission. The BMS provides real time monitoring and reacts to external stimuli, such as the weather. Winner of several awards and recipient of the LEED Gold rating, the Solaire is 35% more energy efficient than building code requirements and uses 67% less energy than other similarly sized buildings in peak hours. Since opening in 2002, energy consumption has decreased by 16% and, as a result of its green
credentials, the developers have been able to charge a rental premium of 10%.77
• Lack of incentives for architects, builders, developers and owners to invest in smart building technology from which they will not benefit
• Unclear business case for investing in energy efficiency: energy consumption is a small part of building cost structure, yet building automation costs can be high and payback periods are often long
• The buildings sector is slow to adopt new technology – a 20-25-year cycle for residential units and a 15-year cycle for commercial buildings is typical
• A lack of skilled technicians to handle complex BMS – most buildings of less than 10,000 sq ft (930 sq metres) do not have trained operating staff
• As each building is designed and built as unique, it is difficult to apply common standards for efficiency and operations
• Interoperable technologies exist but are not uniformly deployed. Many experts agree that an open standard would be the most effective way to enable further innovation
• Lack of incentives for energy companies to sell less energy and encourage efficiency among customers.78
“ Building owners and operators want simplicity. They do not want too much automation and intelligence built into the system without the ability to override it.”Gareth Ashley, Associate, Arup
“ If airplanes were built like buildings, you wouldn’t fly in them.”Stephen Selkowitz, LBNL
Overcoming the hurdles in North America
A number of solutions could be implemented to overcome these barriers:
• Develop new business models to overcome the misalignment in incentives that currently exists, such as performance contracting and tax credits • Develop new financial mechanisms for builders that support investment in energy efficiency, such as mortgages that fund energy efficiency or carbon credits
• Prioritise sectors such as retail where energy forms a large share of addressable costs • Develop green building valuation tools
• Develop supportive long-term solutions such as government- or industry-led alliances that can accelerate industry change
• Provide better training to building operators and information to users by simple devices such as visual smart meters or interfaces to influence behavioural change
• Develop open standards to enable interoperability of BMS.
Faced with the rising energy costs of the past few years, the US government has begun to tackle energy efficiency as a matter of urgency and overcome some of these hurdles.
At the federal level, the US government is active in developing voluntary standards and tools such as the Energy Star programme, which is now extending to rate building energy efficiency. At state and council levels, California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, AB 32, which calls for GHG reductions to 1990 levels by 2020 and Wisconsin’s plan to reduce GHG emissions from public buildings by 20% by 2010 are just two of many initiatives underway.
A number of developments have taken place in the commercial sector and within industry bodies. Venture capital investment for energy efficient solutions increased by 42% in 2005- 2006. Considerable promotion has gone into efficiency improvements in HVAC, smart buildings and other environmental systems.79
79 Cleantech Ventures, www. cleantechventures.com.au 80 Analysis includes data from expert interviews, Jan – Feb 2008.