Field Notes Winter 2020
Posted by Dana Rider | Date December 18, 2020
This post complements our Field Notes newsletter, which features quarterly updates on CEE's research projects. Sign up for Field Notes to get this information in your inbox.
Sustainable Buildings 2030
Background: Better building designs hold great potential for energy savings, so the nonprofit Architecture 2030 challenged the building community to adopt aggressive energy performance targets that increase every five years, culminating in new buildings being carbon neutral in 2030. This aspiration has been put into practice in Minnesota in the form of Sustainable Buildings 2030 (SB 2030), which is funded through the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Division of Energy Resources and led by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Sustainable Building Research.
As an SB 2030 team member, CEE helped shape the development of the standards and the ongoing implementation of various project efforts to make the process as rigorous and streamlined as possible. As of the CEE team’s most recent update, they had completed a cost-effectiveness analysis, as the SB 2030 program requires each five-year step down in energy use intensity to be cost-effective. CEE worked with the project team and Department of Commerce to either reaffirm the existing standard or finalize an update.
Update: CEE’s recent work on this project includes a comparison of prescriptive-based building energy performance standards against the performance-based SB 2030 energy standard for various small building types. This analysis was done with the EnergyPlus simulation tool and reference building models developed by the U.S. Department of Energy. CEE’s contributions helped the SB 2030 team update the current program standard from 70% to 80% reduction in energy use over average building baseline and made it easier for smaller buildings to participate without the significant up-front cost of performing full building simulations. CEE is also continuing its ongoing role as the technical reviewer of plans and energy simulations for individual projects that use the SB 2030 program.
Residential Cooling Loads in Minnesota
Background: Residential cooling is one of the largest growing loads in the United States. A colder climate and the lower cooling needs of Minnesota’s homes has led to a lag in adoption of cooling and efficiency cooling technology in Minnesota. However, in recent years, cooling has grown considerably in Minnesota — approximately 75% of Minnesota’s homes now have whole-house cooling systems.
Yet, many homes still use minimum-efficiency conventional cooling solutions, despite the existence of higher-efficiency options that perform better. This presents an opportunity for more efficient cooling in Minnesota.
This research served to address the current state of cooling in Minnesota; innovations in cooling technology; barriers to higher-performance cooling systems; and opportunities for homeowners, contractors, and programs to increase the overall performance and energy efficiency of their systems.
Update: Lessons learned from the project results include that there are many opportunities to increase cooling system efficiencies for individual installations, but that the loads and energy use are often not significant enough to ensure short paybacks. Additionally, occupant behavior, particularly their comfort, has a huge impact on cooling usage — often driving loads and operating costs lower. This creates a challenge for traditional, efficiency-based rebate programs, but an opportunity for other approaches such as behavioral programs, control programs, combining loads and systems, and innovative application.
Final stages of the project included creating a cooling calculation tool to help utility efficiency program staff and efficiency stakeholders prioritize efforts for residential cooling based on opportunities for energy savings.
Ben Schoenbauer, lead researcher on the project, gave a webinar discussing results on December 1, 2020, which will soon be available on the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s website. The final report will be released in early 2021.
This project is supported by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources through the Conservation Applied Research and Development (CARD) program, which is funded by Minnesota ratepayers.
Research for Equitable Decarbonization
Background: CEE recently published our 2040 vision for equitable decarbonization of the building sector. The opening line of that vision is: “Equitable decarbonization of the building sector is needed to meet the urgent climate challenge, requiring the transformation of energy systems, consumer options, and trades workforce — a transition akin to the massive mobilization of capital in the post-war period in the U.S.” — and CEE Policy Director Mike Bull recently dove deeper in a blog on the collaboration that will be necessary to embrace a decarbonized future.
The vision was conceived in part based on the results and recommendations we have seen come out of energy research in recent years — and the vision will, in turn, inform the choices we make in the future regarding where to allocate our research efforts.
Update: Current research projects both led to and stem from this vision. Much of CEE’s recent research has focused on the electrification of heating systems, which is a very significant portion of overall building energy use in our heating-dominated climate — to solve the problem of electric heating is to make major headway on the problem of electrification (and thus, of decarbonization) overall.
CEE is at the forefront of research on heat pump technology, which the 2018 Minnesota potential study identified as the technology expected to provide 25% of total residential electrical savings in the next decade. Current projects on heat pumps include the following:
Equitable decarbonization carries a premise of clean electricity, which is currently a barrier we are seeking to understand through research. Other projects that relate to our 2040 vision through the topics of grid modernization, renewable energy costs, and load shifting:
We’re starting the conversation early to make room for equity in the discussion — the many changes, both small and large, in energy and infrastructure over the coming years will affect us all, but with early consideration, we can make sure that some communities don’t bear all the burdens or reap all the benefits. CEE will continue to learn from and pursue research in the interests of a clean energy future for all.
Commercial and Industrial Refrigeration Market Assessment
Background: Refrigeration represents a significant portion of commercial and industrial loads, and recent research has shown that it also holds substantial potential for electric program savings in the next decade. However, refrigeration savings have made up a very small amount of large utilities’ overall savings in recent years. In 2019, CEE undertook a CARD-funded study to assess the markets of commercial and industrial refrigeration to close that gap in realized savings. The study includes a phase of initial market characterization followed by local interviews and site visits, as well as analysis of statewide potential and cost-effectiveness.
Update: The market study resulted in a series of recommendations — many of them aimed at tailoring program approaches — that could triple the cost-effective CIP program impact within refrigeration-dominated facilities in Minnesota, like grocery stores, food processing and cold storage facilities, and ice arenas. Some of those recommendations were as follows:
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A small number of contractors were found to have a significant amount of power and sway within the commercial and industrial refrigeration sectors. Refrigeration savings programs should conduct frequent personal outreach to these dominant contractors and other key industry contacts with influence on refrigeration facilities.
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The vast majority of potential program growth is associated with optimizing existing refrigeration systems rather than in maximizing the efficiency of the relatively few new refrigeration systems that are installed each year. Programs should promote additional optimization measures with new program approaches that more aggressively target existing facilities that might not otherwise be making any upgrades, like having a refrigeration efficiency expert work on-site with service technicians.
For a full list of recommendations, see the final report, which is forthcoming in early 2021. Russ Landry, lead researcher on the project, led a webinar discussing project findings on December 10, 2020, which will eventually be available on the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s website.
This project is supported by a grant from the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources through the Conservation Applied Research and Development (CARD) program, which is funded by Minnesota ratepayers.