Focused Building Performance Optimization
Space Load Processing
While knowledge of energy consumption by end use is a useful – and standard – design metric, understanding energy use by space type provides another window into optimizing building performance.
Through custom scripting, written initially for our work in building energy conservation programs for campus environments, AEI developed our Space Load Processor (SPL) for deconstructing energy analysis to the level of specific program spaces within a larger model. This unique view into building energy use allows us, our partners, and our clients to focus the precious resources of schedule and time where they matter most.
While we’ve adapted this tool for use in our design projects, we first used it at the The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC). Combining energy modeling and statistical methods, we assessed energy use and conservation opportunities in nearly 100 buildings. A representative sample of twenty buildings was audited and modeled.
Using the SPL, information was then extrapolated by space type to the entire study population. AEI’s customized scripting allowed us to analyze measures for specific programmatic areas of buildings based on system knowledge and overall building energy consumption, obviating the need for sub-metering. We provided an initial low-to-high range of estimates and re-categorized measures as estimates for first cost and investment efficiency (payback) were refined. Findings of the study resulted in immediate conservation efforts and were included in UNC’s Climate Action Plan in groupings of “carbon countermeasures.”
