Recommendations for 15% Above ASHRAE 90.1-2007 Code-Compliant Building Energy Efficiency Measures for Small Retail Buildings

In the 79th Legislature (2005) the Energy Systems Laboratory was required to develop three alternative methods for achieving 15% above-code energy savings in new residential, commercial and industrial construction. The Laboratory continues to work closely with code officials, energy raters, manufacturers, state officials and other stakeholders to develop cost effective energy efficiency measures. This report presents detailed information about the recommendations for achieving 15% above code-compliant building energy performance, which are based on the ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007, for small retail buildings across the State of Texas. The recommendations were developed for three ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 climate zones in Texas along with simple payback calculations. The analysis was performed using the eQuest 3.64 simulation software (JJH. 2009) based on the DOE-2.2 simulation of ASHRAE 90.1-2007 code-compliant, small retail building and the appropriate TMY2 weather files. According to the ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 Climate Zone, a representative county was selected in each climate zone: Harris County for Climate Zone 2, Tarrant County for Climate Zone 3, and Potter County for Climate Zone 4. The ASHRAE 90.1-2007 code-compliant, small retail base-case models were then constructed for each climate zone. A total of 15 recommendations based on the energy savings above the base-case building were selected. These measures include building envelope and fenestration, HVAC system, service hot water (SHW) system, lighting, and renewable options. The implementation costs of each individual measure were also calculated along with simple payback calculations. These measures were then combined to achieve the total source energy savings of the group is 15% above the base-case ASHRAE 90.1-2007 code-compliant small retail building. As a result, three example combinations were proposed for each climate zone. Each combination was formed to have a different payback period. Figures 1 to 3 present a description of the individual measures and combinations of these measures which achieve 15% source energy savings above the ASHRAE 90.1-2007 code-compliant building. Annual energy savings, estimated costs, simple payback, and NOx, SO2, and CO2 emissions reduction are provided