The First Facility Management Blog

A new standard for the design of high performance green buildings is set to revolutionize the building industry. Published by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), in conjunction with the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES), and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Standard 189.1, Standard for the Design of High-Performance, Green Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is the first code intended commercial green building standard in the United States.

The standard provides a green building foundation for those who strive to design, build, and operate green buildings. From site location to energy use to recycling, this standard will set the foundation for green buildings through its adoption into local codes. It covers key topic areas similar to green building rating systems: site sustainability, water use efficiency, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality and the building’s impact on the atmosphere, materials and resources.

The energy efficiency goal of Standard 189.1 is to provide significant energy reduction over that in ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007. It offers a broader scope than Standard 90.1 and is intended to provide minimum requirements for the siting, design, and construction of high performance, green buildings.

“The far reaching influence of the built environment necessitates action to reduce its impact,” Gordon Holness, ASHRAE president, said. “Provisions in the standard can reduce negative environmental impacts through high performance building design, construction, and operations practices. Ultimately, the aim is not just energy efficiency but a balance of environmental responsibility, resource efficiency, occupant comfort and well being, and community sensitivity, all while supporting the goal of sustainable development.”

Standard 189.1 has been written by experts representing all areas of the building industry, including engineers, lighting designers, sustainability experts, building owners, designers, architects, code and compliance officials, utilities, materials experts, and equipment manufacturers. The technical requirements in the standard were also supported by input from the building industry during the public review process.

For complete information on the standard, including a readable copy, visit this link.

Drafters of the International Code Council’s International Green Construction Code (IGCC) are nearing completion of the first ever integrated green code for traditional and high performance commercial buildings, set for a public release in March.

“This will be the first time code officials, owners, and designers will have an integrated regulatory framework to put into practice that meets the goal of greening the construction and design of new and existing buildings,” according to Code Council CEO Richard P. Weiland. “Only a code that is usable, enforceable, and adoptable will have the capability of impacting our built environment in dramatic ways.”

The IGCC is designed specifically to integrate and coordinate with the other International Codes already being enforced by governmental code officials at all levels. All 50 states and more than 20,000 U.S. jurisdictions use the International Codes developed by the Code Council for safety and sustainability.

The International Codes also serve as the basis for construction of federal properties around the world, and as a reference for many nations outside the United States. The International Code Council is a non-profit membership association dedicated to building safety, fire prevention, energy efficiency, and sustainable building construction and performance.

The IGCC links the International Codes to a public process, bringing together diverse areas of expertise to create the first integrated, regulatory framework for green commercial buildings. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and ASTM International are Cooperating Sponsors. Other organizations with representation on the IGCC drafting committee, known as the Sustainable Building Technology Committee (SBTC), include the U.S. Green Building Council, the Green Globes Initiative, and more than a dozen others.

“We are not an industry or advocacy organization, but rather the same folks who have written the building codes used throughout the United States and around the world for decades,” said Code Council Board Member and SBTC Chair Ravi Shah. “From the beginning of our code development earlier this year, we’ve had 29 SBTC members and countless work group members from across the spectrum of government, industry, non-profit and academia weaving their views into a consensus code,” Shah said.

The Code Council’s consensus process invites continual public input from all perspectives, culminating in a final approval from code officials to ensure the best possible rate of compliance. A critical element of the IGCC is that it is consistent and coordinated with existing International Codes that span the spectrum of the industry from building, to energy conservation, fire safety, plumbing, mechanical fuel gas and existing buildings among others.

“Voluntary systems have led market transformation and paved the way for a regulatory framework that includes specialized standards addressing highly technical areas around installation and equipment performance,” Weiland said. “And with our Cooperating Sponsors at the AIA and ASTM International providing the essential perspective of the design and standards communities, there is finally an option on the table that a local, state or federal code official can actually use, enforce and adopt to impact the built environment.”

The first public version of the IGCC is expected to inform many policy discussions currently underway. At the same time, the IGCC will undergo continual maintenance with the solicitation of additional public comments thru hearings being conducted in August. The IGCC will then go through another round of review, comments and public hearings in 2011 for the publication for the 2012 ICC Family of Codes.

A new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) report, Report of the Task Group for Innovative 21st Century Building Environments for VA Healthcare Delivery, prepared by the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) could help the federal agency move its healthcare facilities into the 21st century. The task group concludes, “VA is in a position to transform and lead healthcare delivery into a completely new and revolutionary force within our society.”

In 2008, officials at the VA asked NIBS to coordinate the organization’s exploration for a new paradigm to provide a new generation of high-performance, sustainable healthcare environments for the changing population of veterans. The Institute convened a multi-disciplinary task group to investigate and document state-of-the-art practices for flexible healing environments.

Made up of of more than 25 architects, engineers, hospital administrators, healthcare professionals, and other renowned experts in the healthcare industry, the task group worked with a VA advisory group that provided data and information on the current practices of VA operations and facilities. The task group developed five principal conclusions with supporting recommendations applicable to transforming new and renovated healthcare facilities. If implemented, these recommendations would provide the VA with a model that is paramount to the future success of veteran healthcare delivery and without precedent in the U.S. healthcare industry.

A pdf of the executive summary of the report is available for free download here: Executive Summary. To request pdfs of the full report (which is available in two sections), send an e-mail to tfm@groupc.com with the words VA Healthcare Report in the subject line of your correspondence.

The Building Intelligence Group has been retained to conduct a research project on the issues and needs for operators and technicians involved with High Performance buildings. This project is being funded by the National Science Foundation, and the results will be used to define the needs for future operations personnel including required tools, training, and processes.

The Group’s work involves research on issues and trends as well as conducting a series of surveys, interviews, and focus groups with building operations staff. The Building Intelligence Group has posted an online survey and are encouraging those involved with the operations of commercial buildings to participate in filling this out. The survey will run through mid-June.

Facility professionals involved with the day-to-day operations of commercial or institutional facilities are being asked to provide their input. The survey will take approximately five minutes to complete. Survey participants will be entered into a drawing for a $100 American Express gift card. The information will be used anonymously as part of the research project and will remain confidential. Please note that this survey being conducted strictly for non-commercial research purposes and will involve no solicitations of any kind. To participate in the survey, click this link.

On May 12, 2009, the Massachusetts Board of Building Regulations and Standards voted to adopt a stretch energy code for the state that would make new commercial buildings under 100,000 square feet up to 30% more energy efficient than base standards and reduce carbon emissions by nearly 40%. The new rules will mean significant energy cost savings for building owners and tenants who pay some of the highest electricity rates in the country.

The stretch code applies to new and existing building types including residential, but the standards related to new, small- and mid-sized commercial buildings are based on a protocol developed by New Buildings Institute (NBI) called Core Performance. NBI, a nonprofit organization working to improve the energy performance of commercial buildings, created Core Performance as a direct path to high performance building that does not require modeling. The Core Performance Guide describes a set of simple, discrete design strategies that, when applied under an integrated design process, result in an energy efficient building that is cheaper to operate and more comfortable for occupants.

Several Massachusetts utilities and energy service providers (including National Grid, NSTAR, Western Massachusetts Electric Company, and Cape Light Compact) currently offer financial and technical support for commercial buildings designed using Core Performance. NBI has been working along with Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships to support efforts to bring this new stretch code to the state.

“Buildings consume two-thirds of the U.S. power supply and emit nearly half of the greenhouse gases,” said Dave Hewitt, NBI executive director. “Reach [or stretch] codes are the best way to lock in the energy savings and carbon reduction benefits of high performance building and bring those numbers down. Massachusetts is the first state to take this important and necessary step. We expect others will take note of Massachusetts’ leadership and follow suit,” he said.

In addition to energy savings, the new code could mean new jobs, according to early findings of a study by the Institute for Market Transformation (IMT). The study showed that 30% improvements in building energy efficiency add little to initial construction costs, but shift spending from materials to labor. IMT estimates that advanced codes, such as those adopted in Massachusetts, could create more than 20,000 new jobs nationally.

Effective immediately, municipalities in the state can choose whether to adopt the code, 780 CMR 120.AA, as a more energy-efficient alternative to the base energy code. The Core Performance basic requirements in the stretch code include efficiency standards for measures such as window performance, lighting controls, mechanical equipment efficiency and demand-control ventilation. Local government entities could go further and adopt up to 14 measures described in Core Performance as “enhanced performance strategies.” These include additional improvements such as heat recovery, night venting, daylighting, plug load controls and appliance efficiency.

Alternatively, a project team could provide documentation that the building’s energy requirements are at least 20% below the ASHRAE 90.1-2007 standard, a model energy code developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers.

Members of the U.S. Congress and representatives from the International Facility Management Association met to discuss energy efficiency and high performance federal buildings last week during IFMA Advocacy Day 2009.

Held April 22, the second annual Advocacy Day featured presentations from Rep. Dennis Moore, D-Kan.; Rep. Russ Carnahan, D-Mo.; Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas; Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas; and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla. The lawmakers spoke on issues ranging from energy efficiency and climate change to federal property sales and the role of the U.S. General Services Administration.

Following the presentations, members of the IFMA board of directors met with senators and representatives from their home states and other congressional staff to discuss the role the 111th U.S. Congress will play in shaping the future of the built environment. IFMA representatives encouraged lawmakers to join the congressional High Performance Buildings Caucus to stay informed about the health and safety impacts of the built environment and opportunities to design and operate buildings that are safer and more sustainable.

“Advocacy Day 2009 was an unqualified success. IFMA’s board of directors heard first hand about Congress’ interest in creating high performance federal buildings, investing in energy efficient technologies and promoting education and training for federal facility managers,” said IFMA Director of Government Relations Jeffrey Johnson. “The congressional members we spoke with were engaged and receptive and understand how the built environment impacts their districts. We look forward to working with lawmakers in the future and continuing to elevate the role of the facility manager on Capitol Hill.”

IFMA’s next event in the nation’s capital will be its fourth annual Public Policy Forum in September. Held in conjunction with the National Academies of Sciences’ Federal Facilities Council, the forum will focus on efficient energy use in buildings.

The International Facility Management Association has joined the High-Performance Commercial Green Building Partnership, a consortium of leading organizations from the building community that seeks to provide guidance and technical expertise on sustainability issues to the Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Program.

The partnership was formed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, along with a steering committee of nine other leading organizations, in response to a DOE request for consortia to advise the department on high-performance building issues. IFMA will serve as an advisory member in the group, where it will represent building owners and operators from the public and private sectors.

“IFMA is pleased to join this consortium and represent the facility management community in advancing the high performance building issues at the core of every workplace professional’s strategic facility plan,” said IFMA President and CEO David J. Brady. “Our members are continually finding new ways to minimize their organizations’ carbon footprints, reduce energy consumption, and increase productivity, and this collaboration will enable us to share these insights with the DOE and related agencies.”

The partnership intends to be recognized as a “Partnership Consortium” by the DOE as requested in response to the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, Section 421. This section deals with the formation of the Net-Zero Commercial Building Initiative, which is intended to establish a research, development and deployment strategy toward achieving net-zero energy performance levels in commercial buildings.

The partnership will also assemble a resource network beyond the steering committee and advisory members consisting of individual design professionals, construction companies, universities, utility companies, agencies, manufacturers, and other parties that have demonstrated leadership in high-performance and sustainable building.

On June 18, 2007, Representatives of Congress, administrators from the U.S. Department of Energy, and members of the building industry gathered on Capitol Hill to introduce the new leadership of the High-Performance Building Congressional Caucus and discuss the current state of the U.S. building stock. The centerpiece of the briefing was the Assessment to the U.S. Congress and U.S. Department of Energy on High-Performance Buildings, a report prepared by the High-Performance Building Council, a group of over 100 public and private sector organizations.

The report was prepared in response to Section 914 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which addresses the need for not just “green” but high-performance buildings that combine the objectives of reducing resource and energy consumption with improving the environmental impact and functionality of buildings and the comfort and productivity of their occupants.

Since early 2006, the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC) has advocated for the implementation of Section 914 and the formation of an industry coalition to assess current consensus standards and rating systems. Upon formation of the High-Performance Building Council, SBIC has served as its Secretariat. Together with the National Institute of Building Sciences, SBIC identified industry groups for participation, engaged the House Committee on Science and Technology, and developed objectives for the first phase of the group’s work.

“Today’s high-performance buildings are the exception, not the rule,” Representative Judy Biggert (R-IL) reminded attendees of the Congressional briefing. “Russ [Carnahan] and I want to find creative ways to change that.” The Assessment to Congress was only the first phase of the High-Performance Building Council’s effort. On the heels of unveiling the report, the Council is launching its second phase, which will consist of profiling the attributes, metrics, measures, and standards for high-performance buildings. SBIC looks forward to continuing to serve the group as its Secretariat.

A complete copy of the report is available for download here: HPBCFinalReport.pdf