Project Description

In the past, assessments of the impacts of federal energy policies in the commercial sector have been limited by the lack of a consistent data set characterizing equipment usage, building shell characteristics, energy use, and the costs of achieving particular efficiency levels. Over the last five years, LBNL has created a highly detailed, comprehensive, and consistent data set for energy end-uses that accounts for approximately 90% of the primary energy consumed in the commercial sector.

This data set was originally developed for use in the Electric Power Research Institute's (EPRI's) Commercial End-Use Planning System (COMMEND 4.0), but it has broad applicability to other analyses. Consequently, we have summarized the building and equipment data in seven LBNL reports that characterize the use of the efficiency technologies in commercial buildings:

1. Space Conditioning Equipment,
2. Lighting Equipment,
3. Office Equipment,
4. Water Heaters,
5. Low- and High-Temperature Refrigeration,
6. Lighting and HVAC interactions, and
7. Technology Data Summaries.

A brief description of each report follows.

 Space Conditioning

This report (Sezgen et al. 1995a) characterizes the space-conditioning technologies found in commercial buildings and develops cost-efficiency data for these technologies. The report also characterizes the annual and peak space-conditioning requirements for the building stock. Data in this report come from various sources including DOE, EPRI, LBNL, and cost-estimation publications used in industry. Prototype simulations using the DOE-2 building energy analysis program were used to generate data related to the efficiencies of shell measures, HVAC systems, and utilization systems (controls and economizers). Eleven building types, two vintages (new and existing), and five climates were used to represent the U.S. commercial building stock for this purpose.

 Lighting

This report (Sezgen et al. 1994) characterizes the lighting technologies found in commercial buildings, develops cost-efficiency data for these technologies, and characterizes current lighting utilization patterns and lighting level requirements. In addition, the report characterizes the interactions between lighting and space conditioning end uses in commercial buildings in the U.S. The data in this report come from various sources including DOE, LBNL, the Illuminating Engineering Society, the Lighting Research Institute (LRI), and the U.S. Census Bureau. Lighting/HVAC interactions data were generated through computer simulations using the DOE-2 building energy analysis program. A separate report on lighting/HVAC interactions (Sezgen and Koomey 1998) characterizes the effects of a reduction in lighting energy on building loads and energy expenditures for the different building types in the U.S.

 Office Equipment

This report (Koomey et al. 1995) describes a detailed end-use forecast of office equipment energy use for the U.S. commercial sector. Data in this report come from various sources including recent surveys of office equipment ownership and usage, industry forecasts, trade press assessments, personal communications from industry participants, Energy Star requirements, and the EIA's 1995 Annual Energy Outlook. Our analysis is based on a spreadsheet model that explicitly treats changes in power and usage for all relevant equipment types. A summary of this publication and the major findings is also available on-line

 Water Heating

This report (Sezgen et al. 1995c) characterizes the commercial floorstock in terms of water heating requirements and technology saturations. The report also develops cost-efficiency data for these water heating technologies. Data in this report come from a variety of sources including DOE, LBNL, EPRI, and ASHRAE. Currently, COMMEND 4.0 does not support any discrete model for water heating end-uses. In the future, the framework proposed in this report may be adopted for COMMEND.

 Refrigeration

This report (Sezgen et al. 1995b) characterizes the commercial floorstock in terms of refrigeration requirements and technology saturations and develops cost-efficiency data for these refrigeration technologies. Data in this report come from numerous sources including DOE, LBNL, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), and EPRI. The data are presented in a form compatible with the modeling framework for the refrigeration end-use in COMMEND 4.0.

 Lighting and HVAC interactions

This paper characterizes the effects of lighting/HVAC interactions on the annual heating/cooling requirements of prototypical U.S. commercial buildings through computer simulations using the DOE-2.1E building energy analysis program. Twelve building types of two vintages and five climates are chosen to represent the U.S. commercial building stock. For each combination of building type, vintage, and climate, a prototypical building is simulated with varying lighting power densities, and the resultant changes in heating and cooling loads are recorded. These loads are used together with market information on the saturation of the different HVAC equipment in the commercial buildings to determine the changes in energy use and expenditures for heating and cooling.

 Technology data summaries

This report (Koomey et al. 1994) summarizes the characteristics and costs of seventeen efficiency technologies, most of which have wide application in commercial buildings. It was prepared for the Technology Characterization Database of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Technologies covered include energy management systems, electronic ballasts, compact fluorescent lamps, lighting controls, high albedo materials, efficient motors and drive controls, daylight control glazing, insulating glazing, solar control glazing, switchable glazing, and advanced insulation.

Project Staff

A. Osman Sezgen

Jonathan G. Koomey

Ellen M. Franconi

Maryann Piette

R. Cooper Richey

Key Data

Key tables from office equipment analysis, in Excel 5 format.

Saturation of different commercial space conditioning fuels and technologies by building type, in Excel 5 format.

Publications

Koomey, Jonathan G., Francis X. Johnson, Jennifer Schuman, Ellen Franconi, Steve Greenberg, Jim D. Lutz, Brent T. Griffith, Dariush Aresteh, Celina Atkinson, Kristin Heinemeier, Y. Joe Huang, Lynn Price, Greg Rosenquist, Francis M. Rubinstein, Steve Selkowitz, Haider Taha, and Isaac Turiel. 1994. Buildings Sector Demand-Side Efficiency Technology Summaries. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. LBL-33887. March. | Abstract | 440K PDF

Koomey, Jonathan G., Mike Cramer, Mary Ann Piette, and Joe Eto. 1995. Efficiency Improvements in U.S. Office Equipment: Expected Policy Impacts and Uncertainties. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. LBL-37383. December. | Executive Summary | 664K PDF

Sezgen, A. Osman, Ellen M. Franconi, Jonathan G. Koomey, Steve E. Greenberg, and Asim Afzal. 1995a. Technology data characterizing space conditioning in commercial buildings: Application to end-use forecasting with COMMEND 4.0. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. LBL-37065. December. | Abstract | 752K PDF

Sezgen, A. Osman, Y. Joe Huang, Barbara A. Atkinson, and Jonathan G. Koomey. 1994. Technology data characterizing lighting in commercial buildings: Application to end-use forecasting with COMMEND 4.0. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. LBL-34243. May. | Abstract | 191K PDF

Sezgen, A. Osman, and Jonathan G. Koomey. 1995b. Technology data characterizing refrigeration in commercial buildings: Application to end-use forecasting with COMMEND 4.0. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. LBL-37397. December. | Abstract | 84K PDF

Sezgen, A. Osman, and Jonathan G. Koomey. 1995c. Technology data characterizing water heating in commercial buildings: Application to end-use forecasting with COMMEND 4.0. Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. LBL-37398. December. | Abstract | 96K PDF

Sezgen, A. Osman, and Jonathan G. Koomey. 1998. Interactions between lighting and space conditioning energy use in U.S. commercial buildings. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. LBNL-39795. April 1998, Abstract | 149K

Other Resources

Canadian Commercial Energy End-use Data Analysis Centre

Energy Information Administration Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey

Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR programs

Pacific Gas and Electric Company Commercial Buildings Survey

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory buildings programs

Energy Star energy conservation energy savings energy efficiency environment climate change weatherization solar energy appliances energy audit energy tools efficient buildings energy education heating cooling heat pumps furnaces boilers air conditioners insulation ducts skylights windows thermostats fuel switching mechanical ventilation water heater water heating refrigerator freezer dishwasher clotheswasher clothes dryer miscellaneous energy home energy comfort remodeling residential energy.