Blog - Smart Buildings Center

Department of Energy Invests $74 Million in Building & Construction Technologies & Innovations

February 11, 2020 By Britton Rife

On February 10th, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced $74 million for 63 selected projects to research, develop, and test energy-efficient and flexible building technologies, systems, and construction practices to improve the energy performance of our Nation’s buildings and electric grid. Awardees include National Laboratories, universities, small businesses, and industry partners.

America’s 125 million residential and commercial buildings use more energy than any other sector in the United States, accounting for 40% of the Nation’s energy use and nearly 75% of its electricity consumption. The research partnerships announced today will pursue new technologies to enhance the energy productivity of buildings and improve the capacity of buildings to operate more flexibly.

“DOE is accelerating its quest to improve the energy productivity and flexibility of America’s residential and commercial buildings,” said Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Daniel R Simmons. “We’re renewing our commitment to develop state-of-the-art building technologies that will empower Americans with more options to enhance buildings performance quickly without disruption to their lives.”

Many of the projects announced today will advance technologies to unlock deep energy savings through grid interactive efficient buildings and advanced building construction technologies and practices, without sacrificing the comfort of building occupants or the performance of labor-saving devices and equipment. For example, the grid interactive efficient building projects will make advances in technologies to link buildings to one another across the internet and the power grid, which would enable a greater degree of flexibility over conventional buildings to reschedule operations to periods of the day when energy is cheaper and more efficient to use.

Crucially, those projects are also required to address the cybersecurity of flexible buildings and verify the performance of their equipment. Other projects will focus on developing novel thermal energy storage materials, advancements in non-vapor compression HVAC technologies, fuel-driven building equipment, and solid-state lighting.

Learn more about these projects from the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy HERE and HERE.

USGBC Workshop: Getting to LEED Zero Energy & LEED Zero Carbon – Seattle, Feb 24th

February 11, 2020 By Britton Rife

Date: February 24, 2020
Time: 12:30-3:00 pm
Location: Smart Buildings Center, 1200 12th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98144

Description
How do you take LEED and your high performing building to the next level to mitigate the impacts of climate change?

This new workshop shows you how LEED Zero supports the goals of LEED and expands the verification life-cycle of high performing buildings. It teaches LEED Zero from the why to the what and most importantly, the how.

First, the workshop will review the critical need for action as global climate change and carbon emissions are bringing with them complex human health, environmental and economic challenges. LEED Zero provides a framework for building projects to transition from leadership in design to leadership in performance. LEEDv4.1 is already driving the built environment to higher levels of holistic sustainability performance; LEED v4.1 BD+C certification recognizes buildings designed for leadership; LEED v4.1 O+M certification rewards projects maintaining that leadership during operations. LEED Zero takes this one step further to certify net zero energy, carbon, water and waste performance levels.

Then, diving into the details of LEED Zero, we break down the definitions, key concepts, equations and other requirements to achieve LEED Zero Energy and Carbon Certification. The workshop will explore connections to relevant LEED v4.1 BD+C and O+M prerequisites and credits which set up project teams for the path to LEED Zero.

While this workshop focuses on energy and carbon, we briefly introduce LEED Zero Waste and Water certification to recognize other valuable net zero goals. Join us to go from comprehension to action for LEED Zero so you can be part of a global effort to transform the built environment in the era of climate change.

GBCI Credit: 3 CE hours (LEED-specific BD+C and O+M), Intermediate level

Learning outcomes

Describe the transition from design to performance that results in the achievement of net zero energy and net zero carbon goals during building operations.
Recognize LEED Zero as an imperative for the betterment of the health of people and planet.
Identify key energy and carbon management concepts reflected in LEED v4.1 BD+C and O+M credits as the foundation for projects to design for and achieve net zero energy and goals for buildings.
Examine energy use and carbon emission profiles of diverse building types.

Use the discount code SBC-10-2020 for a 10% discount on registration!

REGISTER HERE

SBC Video Training: Verifying Proper Operation of Outdoor Air Damper Controls

February 11, 2020 By Britton Rife

Have you seen our new SBC Video Training Series on Diagnostic Tool Applications yet? If not, check out the series on our YouTube Channel or click the link below to watch the second video in the series.

Identifying Fan Operation During Unoccupied Hours
This video demonstrates the use of a motor logger to verify the operating schedule of fans, applicable to any motor driven device such as exhaust fans, supply/return fans, terminal unit fans and pumps. The training covers programming and deployment of the data loggers as well as data analysis.

Thank you to Puget Sound Energy and Seattle City Light for their support in developing the video training series!

Smart Tech for Buildings Summit Recap

February 3, 2020 By Britton Rife

ATS Automation sponsored a well-attended and informative Smart Tech for Buildings Summit on Thursday (1/30) in Seattle. Smart Buildings Center (SBC) staff attended all the sessions and were impressed by the quality of the speakers. The summit started with a primer on smart buildings and helped ground us all in both terminology and in the issues that are part of the here and now of smart buildings. Lucy Gedney of ATS promised that the sessions would focus on three of the pillars associated with the International Well Being Institute’s “well standard” – air, light, and comfort. The summit delivered on that promise.

One overarching theme throughout the summit was that occupant experience is becoming more and more at the forefront in the design and operation of buildings. But, tenant comfort, energy efficiency, and equipment life extension are not mutually exclusive; in fact, smart buildings technology makes it possible to achieve all of these benefits.

Melanie Danuser, Britton Rife, and Melissa Sokolowsky exhibiting at the Smart Tech for Buildings Summit

Jennifer Wagner of Onsite, LLC gave an impressive presentation documenting her research on the value of data driven solutions to infection prevention and control in hospitals. In other sessions, speakers presented data showing the improvements in occupant satisfaction, test scores, and worker productivity in commercial and education settings.

A very nice session on data analytics drove home the opportunity and challenge of collecting, storing, analyzing, and – most importantly – acting on the information derived from the analysis of building performance data. A representative from Amazon described their Alexa for Business products which reduce the annoying downtime associated with meeting room start up procedures – a ubiquitous frustration for us all. A representative from Roby explained how the Roby AI workplace concierge can help improve tenant satisfaction and operational efficiency by streamlining facility management requests through their app.

Throughout the summit speakers offered assurance that even with smart technology’s inherent ability to automate processes, there will always be a need for human interaction in the operation and maintenance of buildings. We appreciated the event for its content as SBC plans to build out a Smart Buildings curriculum and credential through the Building Operator Certification program. The session content framed the progress in the field of smart buildings and how it impacts the knowledge and skills facilities professionals need to succeed in an industry that is transforming as smarter technologies and practices are being deployed in buildings.

In the end, the summit offered attendees the opportunity to connect with others in the industry to share best practices and lessons learned from implementing smart technologies and practices. The event also served as an inspiration for the now-under-development agenda for SBC’s Smart Buildings Exchange (SBX 2020) conference scheduled for September 2nd-3rd at the Bell Harbor Conference Center in Seattle. The SBC in tandem with a growing list of sponsors – which now includes McKinstry, Siemens, Seattle City Light, Puget Sound Energy, MacDonald-Miller, ATS Automation, and BOMA – is using this conference to expand on many of the themes heard at the ATS summit. Focusing on today’s issues of why, what, and how in the smart buildings space, this conference will be of interest to building owners and managers, facility professionals, engineers, architects, utilities, government, and energy efficiency professionals. Event registration is now open. We hope to see you there!

Smart Buildings Exchange Early-Bird Registration Open!

January 9, 2020 By Britton Rife

A limited number of early-bird tickets for Smart Buildings Exchange, September 2-3, 2020, in Seattle are now available — register now and save $100!

About the event
Buildings are digitizing. Throughout the built environment, new technologies are connecting building systems and occupants in ways that generate confusion, opportunity, challenges and concerns over risks. From enabling buildings to perform for occupants and owners in previously unimaginable ways, to leveraging buildings to accelerate smart cities and electrification of transportation for a cleaner and healthier Earth, the opportunities are countless and exciting. Smart Buildings Exchange brings together the key audiences to challenge the hype, bear witness to the innovation, and explore the business case for accelerating the adoption and commercialization of smart buildings technologies and practices.

Exhibitor & Sponsorship Opportunities
Smart Buildings Exchange will host a boutique style exhibition highlighting industry leading vendors and sponsors that represent the Pacific Northwest vision for “smart” including the latest in smart building technologies and practices. Exhibitor & Sponsorship opportunities are limited — please download our Sponsorship Prospectus or contact britton.rife@neec.net for more information about ways your organization or business can participate in the conference.

NEEC members get 15% off of registration! Be sure to reach out to info@neec.net to receive your NEEC member discount code before registering.

Smart Buildings Exchange (SBX) 2020
September 2 – 3, 2020
Bell Harbor Conference Center, Seattle
https://smartbuildingscenter.org/sbx

SBC EP Board Members Receive West Sound STEM Network Outstanding Partnership Awards

January 9, 2020 By Britton Rife

West Sound STEM Network, a regional network with over 50 members from a cross-sector of industry, education, government, and nonprofit sectors dedicated to ensuring that area youth have access to career pathways that lead to family-wage, high-demand careers, recently presented four “Outstanding Partnership” awards at the West Sound STEM Network Career Connect Washington Summit. Two of the awards were presented to Smart Buildings Center Education Program (SBC EP) Board members Perry England, MacDonald-Miller, and Robb Andrade, Siemens.

MacDonald-Miller and Siemens are industry members of West Sound STEM and a driving force in developing the controls programmer and associate controls specialist apprenticeships. MacDonald-Miller and Siemens provide outstanding leadership on the Senior Leadership Team and on the Implementation Team and regularly interact with and support education and industry within the West Sound STEM Network region. MacDonald-Miller has led STEM Cafes for teachers with a focus on engineering design, and Siemens works with educators and schools in the region to bring real-world applications into the classroom. These efforts provide real-world training opportunities for teachers and students to increase their own STEM knowledge, connect with industry, and engage in activities that they can take back to their classroom. The professional development links real-world application to classroom instruction in a way that is engaging and understandable to both teachers and students. MacDonald-Miller and Siemens have also hosted teacher externships and worksite learning tours for students. Thank you to MacDonald-Miller and Siemens for providing these deep and meaningful connections for educators and students which are critical to support developing the workforce of today and tomorrow.