Retrotec USACE - Manual (Page 118)

A4 ENERGY & PROCESS ASESSMENT PROTOCOL
A.2.3 List of Energy Conservation Measures for the Different Building
Archetypes
There are hundreds of ECMs that might apply to various buildings. Those
ECMs that most commonly apply vary by building archetype. Houses might
normally apply increased roof insulation, sealing of doors and windows, window
upgrades, and more effi cient furnaces. Large offi ce buildings would more likely
apply lighting upgrades, better controls, and more effi cient ventilation options.
Annex 46 has assembled a large number of ECMs (presented in Appendix
L) and characterized them by whether they are appropriate for various arche-
types. ECMs might be more appropriate dependent on problems reported in
buildings. For example, if mold problems are commonly reported in barracks,
then a number of ECMs would be appropriate to both save energy and combat
the mold problem.
It is necessary to estimate the penetration of energy effi cient technologies
into each archetype. How many small offi ce buildings have had lighting retro-
fi ts? Or how many employ carbon dioxide–based demand control ventilation?
The older the archetype—for example, 1940s buildings—the more important
it is to know the upgrade or recapitalization history, since this might limit the
current upgrade possibilities. Usually a small group familiar with the building
portfolio will estimate the market penetration.
A.2.4 Approach for Screening the Cost-effectiveness of the ECM(s) for
the Building Portfolio
For most of the cases, cost-effectiveness of ECMs is obtained based on pay-
back period. Accordingly, the payback analysis requires the cost of implement-
ing the ECM(s), changes in the building’s energy consumption, the cost of
energy, and the cost of borrowing. Thus, using modeling tools such as FEDS
can be valuable in evaluating the cost-effectiveness of ECMs. In the absence
of such tools, fi rst estimates can be derived by analyzing energy data collected
before and after retrofi tting buildings of similar archetype with ECM(s) or by
comparing the energy consumption of buildings with different archetypes. It
should be noted that such an approach is not suited for decision-making at the
individual building level.
A.3 Recapitalization and Incremental Costs
“Recapitalization is the replacement of building subsystems, which include
among other things roofs, electrical distribution equipment, HVAC equipment
(air handlers, compressors, chillers, boilers), building control systems, paving,
and fi re protection apparatus.” The term “capital renewal” is often used in