Metrics and Benchmarks for Energy Efficiency in Laboratories

Abstract

A wide spectrum of laboratory owners, ranging from universities to federal agencies, have explicit goals for energy efficiency in their facilities. For example, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPACT 2005) requires all new federal buildings to exceed ASHRAE 90.1-2004 1 by at least 30 percent. The University of California Regents Policy requires all new construction to exceed California Title 24 2 by at least 20 percent. A new laboratory is much more likely to meet energy efficiency goals if quantitative metrics and targets are explicitly specified in programming documents and tracked during the course of the delivery process. If efficiency targets are not explicitly and properly defined, any additional capital costs or design time associated with attaining higher efficiencies can be difficult to justify. The purpose of this guide is to provide guidance on how to specify and compute energy efficiency metrics and benchmarks for laboratories, at the whole building as well as the system level. The information in this guide can be used to incorporate quantitative metrics and targets into the programming of new laboratory facilities. Many of these metrics can also be applied to evaluate existing facilities. For information on strategies and technologies to achieve energy efficiency, the reader is referred to Labs21 resources, including technology best practice guides, case studies, and the design guide (available at www.labs21century.gov/toolkit).