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Green building rating systems.
Voluntary systems. Why do we need those Mark? Why don't we just have a code and be
done with it?
Well I'll tell you why... at least my opinion.
It's because if people build to code they build the worst building they can legally build.
Nothing against building
to a stretch code.
But if it's sort of a mamby pamby
kind of a code,
it's not so much.
And since we don't have one here
and people focus more and more and more on first cost
as opposed to life-cycle cost,
that's just insane.
I mean I'll tell ya,
We do energy audits. We've done a few million square feet of energy audits in the
past year.
And if I can walk through building that's only two or three years old
and identify
a series of important investments that can be made, energy conservation measures
that can be invested in, in those very new buildings
that will have maybe a two to three years simple
pay back to positive cash flow
even without the excellent incentives that APS and Salt River Project have,
that's embarrassing.
I'm sorry.
But as a design professional, that's downright embarrassing.
Because people were so focused on
first cost alone
instead of a mix.
Life-cycle cost.
Little bit more of an elaborate
owner driven
basis, and they are not all developer buildings that I'm speaking of.
But voluntary programs reward people for building above code.
Incentive programs like APS Solutions for Business
or SRP Business Solutions or the National Bank of Arizona's financing
programs.
Or Energize Phoenix.
These programs give you cash money, right?
They pay you
and sometimes, I'll show you an example, when you apply the
low-interest loan of 6.24 percent
over 60 months,
you get to a situation where
your savings exceeded
your costs.
Why aren't people just tearing down the walls to run through them and go do this?
I don't know.
It should be happening, but voluntary programs are critical. We
should have a tough code, should be a good code, a code that can be handled,
it will improve over time
but then we should have voluntary programs to reward people for going
above and beyond because what that will do is it will build case studies
that people can
recognizing can build to certain standards exceed them and then brag
about them to their friends.
Or they can position themselves as being
the most focused on energy efficiency in the environment.
Or they can claim their that their Energy Star logo
they can be very proud as they
demonstrate that they're meeting these programs.
Critical.
Rating systems codes and standards. Prescriptive and performance. We spoke
about that. Prescriptive and performance-based.
There's a lot of entities that are saying we need to move towards net-zero
energy.
You know what that means? Well there's a variety of
definitions, but let's consider netzero site energy.
On an annualized basis,
summarized that says that
the building
would produce
at least the same amount of energy
that it consumed over that previous year
doesn't have to be a one for one at every given instant
but if it's 100,000 kilowatt hours that are consumed in the year
100,000
kilowatt hours that are generated on site,
then that would be a net-zero site energy. There are entities, you've heard
of some of them, ASHRAE,
AIA,
that are driving to this
they're not kidding
they're moving in that direction, so we look at it we say all right
how are we going to deal with existing buildings? Because
fully 80 percent of the buildings
that'll be hear in 2050 are already here, right?
Were in one.
This isn't going anywhere between now and 2050 unless there's some
pretty serious
issue, right?
But think about that. What are we gonna do with those? There's another standard.
The ASHRAE standard 100.
100-2006 R. It's being redone now.
And if you talk to Gordon Holness
about it specifically, whose leading the charge for ASHRAE,
you recognize that
this code he's focusing on it being a performance-based code
very specifically
we want you to target
a certain cbecks
guideline, a certain EUI, commercial building energy consumption survey, some
baseline comparison remember if it's measured and reported it can be managed
and improved. So we come up with these measurements and we strive towards them
and then creative, bright folks
like us can get together and identify ways to do it and demonstrate our
knowledge, and aha!, our wisdom as to how to do this and not just build to that
level of the code
and we're going to get accolades we're going to take advantage of
APS Solutions for Business programs or SRP
Business Solutions programs where we're going to leverage incentives that we get
to the federal government
this is what we're going to do
because honestly that's a whole lot more fun
I think
Then just designing a building to meet code
for first cost.
We see voluntary programs and mandatory. We need the mandatory, we need to know
where the wall is.
Buildings are not useful,
in my opinion, unless they have
at least some walls, right? We need
some level of a code as to a performance that we can work from
and voluntary programs allow us to do that. This is a fabulous location if you
ever get the opportunity
and you're having a sleepless night and you got a computer in your lap,
you don't feel like watching infomercials,
then go ahead and pull this up
if you care about codes.
This is the Energy Codes Universe which is really quite a brilliant a little
site. Energycodesocean.org
The future. "The Future" of energy codes, okay?
What we're seeing here with this universe
model code developers like ICC
we notice 4 dots here on theses rings
that means that ICC is involved in the development,
the adoption, the implementation, and the enforcement of codes.
We look now there are manufacturing groups
like NAMA and others
that focus on the energy efficiency of equipment
and devices and technology.
Building industry.
NAHB is engaged in the development an adoption of codes.
Regional groups.
We've got a variety of them SWEEP for example, Southwest Energy Efficiency
Program. Jeff Schlegel locally, they do some wonderful work.
So we see
all these different groups engaged government
the EIEIO is not up there by the way I looked for it,
so don't go looking.
Advocates.
We have all of these
individuals and groups that are engaged in the energy enterprise and as you
click over each of these then it gives you information about what that
organization is, so to me it's fascinating
it's great information.
I recommend you look there. ICC membership association dedicated to
ultimately building safety and fire
that was the beginning correct?
And now it has moved to
develop the I-Codes, 14 different codes, the family of codes
that are adopted in all 50 states
in many many many of the countries around the world
and now there's also the
IECC the International
Energy Conservation Code.
They also provide training certification and code interpretation services.
They're constantly improving these
because to implement codes
is to do market transformation.
Creating awareness about the codes and the standards.
Educating people as to how to build to them
and building demand for them. Advocacy interaction...excuse me...
interacting with
various jurisdictions, people who are involved in code development and
enforcement and
ensuring that they're implemented
throughout areas.