NASA Net Zero Energy Buildings Roadmap Shanti Pless, Jennifer Scheib, Paul Torcellini, Bob Hendron, and Michelle Slovensky

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NASA Net Zero Energy Buildings Roadmap Shanti Pless, Jennifer Scheib, Paul Torcellini, Bob Hendron, and Michelle Slovensky NASA Net Zero Energy Buildings Roadmap Shanti Pless, Jennifer Scheib, Paul Torcellini, Bob Hendron, and Michelle Slovensky NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. Technical Report NREL/TP-5500-60838 October 2014 Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 NASA Net Zero Energy Buildings Roadmap Shanti Pless, Jennifer Scheib, Paul Torcellini, Bob Hendron, and Michelle Slovensky Prepared under Task No. WFT7.1000 Final Report prepared for NASA Interagency Agreement # IAG-13-01895 NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. National Renewable Energy Laboratory Technical Report 15013 Denver West Parkway NREL/TP-5500-60838 Golden, CO 80401 October 2014 303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308 NOTICE This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or any agency thereof. This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. Available electronically at http://www.osti.gov/scitech Available for a processing fee to U.S. Department of Energy and its contractors, in paper, from: U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information P.O. Box 62 Oak Ridge, TN 37831-0062 phone: 865.576.8401 fax: 865.576.5728 email: mailto:[email protected] Available for sale to the public, in paper, from: U.S. Department of Commerce National Technical Information Service 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22161 phone: 800.553.6847 fax: 703.605.6900 email: [email protected] online ordering: http://www.ntis.gov/help/ordermethods.aspx Cover Photos: (left to right) photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 16416, photo from SunEdison, NREL 17423, photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 16560, photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL 17613, photo by Dean Armstrong, NREL 17436, photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 17721. NREL prints on paper that contains recycled content. Executive Summary To prepare for the time-phased net zero energy buildings (NZEBs) requirement for new federal buildings starting in 2020, set forth in Executive Order (EO) 13514, NASA requested that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) develop a roadmap for NASA’s compliance. NASA detailed a Statement of Work that requested information on strategic, organizational, and tactical aspects of net zero energy buildings. This roadmap presents a high-level approach to NZEB planning, design, construction, and operations, based on NREL’s firsthand experience procuring NZEBs, and based on NREL and other industry research on NZEB feasibility. The strategic approach to NZEBs starts with an interpretation of the EO language relating to NZEBs. Specifically, this roadmap defines an NZEB acquisition process as one that first sets an aggressive energy use intensity goal for the building in project planning. It then meets the reduced demand goal through energy efficiency approaches and technologies. Lastly, it adds renewable energy in a prioritized manner, using building-associated, emission-free sources first, to offset the annual conventional energy use required at the building. The NZEB process extends through the life of the building, requiring a balance of energy use and production in each fiscal year. The roadmap continues by identifying the most important organizational changes that will have to take place at NASA for the agency to successfully adopt the NZEB process: (1) identify or create energy performance assurance capability to act as the conduit for information and critical eye for NZEB topics within the agency and during the course of individual projects; and (2) effect culture change at the building level, which includes engaging occupants and facility staff to take ownership of the skills required to achieve an NZEB goal. The organizational and tactical approaches to NZEBs as presented in this roadmap are intertwined: the organizational approach categorizes the unique elements of NZEB construction that are required in every NZEB; the tactical approach lists all specific actions and associated metrics that make up the organizational categories. It is unlikely that any project will use all tactics. Combined, the organizational and tactical sections of the roadmap present a high-level how-to approach to NZEBs, focused at the project level. Key attributes of the approach are that it: • Starts from NASA’s current efforts in high performance building design and construction, and extends from the trajectory of current federal building performance requirements. • Addresses EO 13514 NZEB language as a building-by-building goal, which requires project teams to overcome barriers but also allows ownership of the benefits. • Identifies a set of 57 tactics (or skills) that NASA will need if it is to achieve the NZEB requirement. • Presents a pathway for NASA facilities staff to become proficient or experts (trains others) in one or a handful of high performance building systems. • Proposes an approach for selecting tactics and a timeline for vetting all tactics, resulting in NASA standard NZEB planning, design, construction, and operation by 2030. The roadmap concludes by identifying the risks that could prevent NASA from becoming proficient in NZEB new construction by 2030 and prioritizes the steps for implementing the roadmap. iii This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications. Acronyms CP Capstone proficiency DBIA Design Build Institute of America EO Executive Order EUI Energy use intensity GSHP Ground source heat pump HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design MEL Miscellaneous electric load NBI New Buildings Institute NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory NZEB Net zero energy building NZER Net zero energy ready O&M Operations and maintenance OP Organizational proficiency PER Preliminary Engineering Report POE Post Occupancy Evaluation PPL Plug and process load PV Photovoltaic RE Renewable energy REC Renewable energy certificates RFP Request for Proposals SHW Solar hot water SSPP Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan T&D Transmission and distribution TLCC Total life cycle cost USGBC US Green Building Council iv Table of Contents 1 Introduction and Background ............................................................................................................. 1 2 Strategic Approach .............................................................................................................................. 3 2.1 Value of Net Zero Energy Buildings ............................................................................................. 3 2.2 Application of Executive Order 13514 ......................................................................................... 6 2.3 Strategic Metrics To Verify Success ........................................................................................... 15 2.4 Culture Change ............................................................................................................................ 18 3 Organizational Level Considerations ............................................................................................... 22 3.1 Capstone and Organizational Proficiency Categories ................................................................. 22 3.2 Organizational Metrics ................................................................................................................ 24 3.3 Project-Specific Metrics .............................................................................................................. 26 4 Tactical Level Considerations ........................................................................................................... 30 4.1 Tactical Objectives ...................................................................................................................... 30 4.2 Application of Tactics to Achieve Organizational Proficiency ................................................... 48 5 Risks .................................................................................................................................................... 51 References ................................................................................................................................................. 52 v List of Figures Figure 2-1 Energy-related
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