How to Cut Energy Use by Half in Commercial Buildings

How to Cut Energy Use in Half in Commercial Buildings – DOE, NREL Reports and the CRE Solution

The U.S. Department of Energy and its National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has recently added large office buildings and large hospitals to its inventory of technical reports that provide recommendations on how to achieve a 50% energy savings as compared to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004 (prior reports include General Merchandise, Grocery Store, Lodging and Medium Offices). This reduction below code will achieve buildings that meet the current 60% reduction target called for by the 2030 Challenge.

Taken together with Architecture 2030’s recent release of the CRE Solution, a proposed 3-year, tax deduction program that encourages commercial property owners to complete substantive efficiency renovation projects, these DOE technical reports offer promising recommendations for achieving the transformation of commercial buildings in the U.S.  The CRE Solution’s deduction would be granted on the full value of qualifying efficiency improvements up to a maximum amount. It is designed to be fully transferable to a new owner and tradeable for cash for the life of the deduction. The CRE Solution would amend the Energy Efficient Commercial Building Tax Deduction (26 U.S.C. 179(d)) from $1.80 per sq.ft. to a range of $3.00 to $9.00 per sq.ft. for meeting energy reduction targets seen below:

View the first Technical Support Document, Strategies for 50% Energy Savings in Large Office Buildings (pdf), the second Technical Support Document: Large Hospital 50% Energy Savings (pdf) and NREL’s prior reports listed above available on www.nrel.gov. For more information, visit the Building Technologies Program web site.