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Use ASHRAE's bEQ tool to delve into energy performance
To improve your building performance, you need to dig deeper than your utility bills and shine a light on areas of energy waste. But finding inefficiencies can be a challenge and requires time and resources you may not have on hand.
Enter the Building Energy Quotient (bEQ), an energy rating label that gives facility managers a detailed overview of their efficiency standing. Offered by ASEtRAE, Building EQ is more than a performance score - the process also includes a Level 1 audit or energy modeling, plus a list of improvement recommendations.
Only by verifying where inefficiencies exist can you hone in and prioritize meaningful energy saving projects. Use bEQ to benchmark your energy use, disclose your rating to the public, and receive professional guidance on how to improve your operations.
Tool Features
Building EQ offers two rating labels that qualify energy performance: In Operation and As Designed.
"The In Operation rating focuses on your property's actual energy use for the preceding 12 to 18 months and is based on concrete operating data supplied from utility bills," explains Amy Musser, chair of the bEQ committee and partner at Vandemusser Design, which offers green building consulting.
It also requires an ASEtRAE Level 1 Energy Audit, which includes a detailed list of efficiency recommendations and estimates of costs and paybacks for each measure. The audit must be conducted by an ASHRAE Building Energy Assessment Professional (BEAP).
"This helps owners and operators to see how their energy usage compares to the energy usage of a median baseline property and highlights their building's potential for energy performance improvement," Musser adds.
Using the As Designed rating, owners can evaluate a building's performance potential by stripping away occupant and operational factors. Any property, including those in operation for 12 months or less, can apply for this label. Using a standardized model that is compared to the median energy usage intensity (measured as BTUs per square foot) of similar building types, an ASEtRAE Building Energy Modeling Professional (BEMP) will simulate your as-built energy usage.
Because the process neutralizes operating conditions, it is useful for owners who want to determine if they're maximizing the capability of their existing systems. This also allows FMs to...