Green Building Blog

Energy Recovery Ventilators Can Enhance Indoor Air Quality While Saving Energy and Money

FRESH AIR FUNDAMENTALS. Fresh air being key to good health, it's a shame we cannot rely on the supply and quality of our indoor air these days. Thanks to technology, our building envelopes - the physical separation between the interior and exterior of a structure - have grown significantly tighter. One hundred years ago people enjoyed generous amounts of OA (Outside Air) flowing through gaps in doors, windows, joints, and cracks. A cool draft through an old building was typical and necessary for a good ghost story. However, the cost of energy and technology has changed our perspective on drafts as well as mechanically cooled or heated air. We don't want to pay extra to heat or cool more air than we have to due to excessive outdoor air coming in or conditioned air leaving the building before delivering its full potential. Tighter envelopes lessen the avenues for air entry and escape in order to achieve energy savings. So ... tighter envelopes that reduce energy costs as well as the amount of emissions fleeing into the atmosphere is a good thing, yes? Naturally, but as with most things, you can have too much of a good thing.

According to the EPA, "Indoor levels of pollutants may be 2 to 5 times - and occasionally more than 100 times - higher than outdoor pollutant levels {and} have been ranked among the top five environmental risks to public health."

Energy audits are one of the best ways to discover money-saving opportunities in an existing building. A commercial or industrial energy audit, also called an energy analysis, will identify how much energy a building uses, how efficiently it uses that energy, and where changes and improvements can be made that will impact both the occupant comfort and the bottom line.

Maybe you’ve heard that LED lighting is the wave (pun intended) of the future. You may have also heard that LED lighting is expensive.  While upfront costs may be higher than what you’re using now, in the long run, LEDs come out ahead in several areas.

Here we’ll provide five solid reasons your facility should invest in LED lighting. Hopefully they will help you determine if making the switch is truly the best thing for your facility as well as gain management approval when approaching them about funding the upgrade.

How engineers can work better with the architect so they can design and build a more energy efficient building and better serve the client.

Energy efficiency has been the buzzword among building engineers, and many architects, for some time now. But if a new building is being constructed, added on to or renovated, energy efficiency may not be top-of-mind to the developer. Here’s why it should be, and some tips on how to incorporate energy efficiency measures that make everyone – especially the client – happy.

One of the best things you can do is start thinking about energy early on. The earlier the better! Why? Creating an energy efficient building that is also functional and aesthetically pleasing takes time. Whether or not you’re building for LEED® certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), you can build to USGBC’s guidelines for energy efficiency. Help your client understand that there are no “cookie-cutter” answers here. Each project is unique and will require its own unique solutions. It may cost a little more up front, but it will save the client money throughout the life of the building.

Traditional vs Integrated Design

Or, “Beat the summer heat without losing your shirt!”

Here in the Midwest we are entering the summer season with hot and humid weather expected for the next few months. During this time, the cost of cooling buildings goes up considerably. High temperatures and high humidity combine to increase the energy used by cooling equipment.

Beyond typical and low or no-cost energy saving measures you should already be doing (see “HVAC Gains with No Budget Pains”), here are three ways to reduce the potential for wasting energy in commercial and industrial buildings. Most people don’t usually consider these, but they can make a huge difference.