Abstract
Buildings currently consume 36% of the world’s energy and contribute nearly 40% of CO2 emissions. Many countries desire to generate virtual models of their nation’s buildings in order to coordinate research activities and inform market opportunities for a more sustainable built environment. The United States Department of Energy uses a suite of Commercial Prototype Building Models, which currently includes 16 building types and covers 80% of US commercial floorspace. Efforts are underway to expand this suite by developing prototype models for additional building types. In this paper, we outline a systematic approach to defining the building, collecting relevant information and creating a flexible model while doing so in the pragmatic context of a courthouse building. Informed by building design guides, databases, documented projects and inputs from courthouse design experts, we define a small, 69,324 ft2 (6440 m2), four-courtroom, low-rise courthouse as the prototype to represent an average-size courthouse in the US. We present building characteristics relevant for energy model development and provide the rationale for their selection. These details combined with climate- and construction-vintage-specific requirements for the building envelope and systems from building standards will be used for developing the courthouse model for the Commercial Prototype Building Models suite. The comprehensive information presented will also guide model modification to capture the dynamics of smaller or larger courthouses more accurately for building or system size-specific research.
Highlights
The United States (US) Department of Energy (DOE) has set aggressive goals for energy-efficiency in buildings—a 30% reduction in average energy use intensity of all US buildings by 2030 compared to a 2010 baseline [1]
To determine the prototype courthouse building characteristics, we reviewed the 2012 Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) data [41] that includes a detail dataset for a statistical sample of 26 courthouses, which combined with sample weights, represents 6278 courthouses in the United States (2012 CBECS used a sample size of 6720 buildings under 53 building type subcategories to provide statistical information about energy consumption, expenditures and energy-related characteristics of 5.6 million commercial buildings in the US)
To examine the implementation of this guidance, we reviewed the space-specific schedules modelled for the General Services Administration (GSA) LEED Cost Study [35] and noted space occupancy from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in modelled for the GSA LEED Cost Study [35] and noted space occupancy from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in general office areas and judge’s chambers, 8 a.m. to Noon in jury assembly area, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in courtrooms, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in jury deliberation rooms and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in holding cells
Summary
The current combination results in an overall set of 2448 building models that covers 80% of the US commercial floorspace [4]. These models have been used to analyze the energy savings and cost impacts of energy-efficiency code updates [4,6]; develop prescriptive new construction and retrofit design guides [7,8]; create technical potential scales for building asset scores [9,10]; develop typical energy-conservation measures savings estimates for up-front incentives through utility programs [11]; create performance, cost, lifetime and time-to-market.
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