scope:

PURPOSE/SCOPE

The purpose of this book is to provide protocols for the operational performance measurement of occupied commercial buildings. To reduce energy use and carbon emissions in existing buildings, it is necessary to measure energy and water use to provide a systematic basis for the management of the buildings so as to achieve that end. This must be accomplished while maintaining acceptable levels of building service for the occupants.

This book provides standardized and consistent protocols for measuring energy, water, and IEQ performance of commercial buildings. For building owners, these protocols provide clear procedures for the evaluation of the real, on-the-ground effectiveness of building operational management and cost savings as well as benchmarks for appropriate comparison to peer buildings to show how well a building is performing. For facility managers, details of what is to be measured and how it is to be measured are included for incorporation into the operation and maintenance (O&M) plan for the building. The result will be to establish verified operating performance of the owner's portfolio through the tracking of actual operating cost savings over time.

This book provides an overview of protocols, or procedures, for the operational performance measurement of commercial buildings including energy use, water use, and IEQ. The energy protocols apply to all forms of energy, including electricity, gas, oil, district heating/cooling, and renewables; the water use protocols apply to individual facilities or meters; and the IEQ protocols apply to thermal comfort, IAQ, lighting, and acoustics. Cost and resource information will also be discussed in each section, as appropriate.

These protocols do not cover the following:

• Sampling methodologies used in large-scale demand-side management programs

• Asset performance determination based on calculations or simulations

• Metering standards

• Major industrial loads

• Forensics, audit procedures, or commissioning procedures

• Campuses or groups of buildings

• Carbon or other emission impacts

With the standardized, consistent building performance protocols presented here, a firm basis is provided to assess claims of a building's high performance. Such a basis benefits building owners, tenants, designers, financiers, and analysts alike.