Reducing Plug Loads
Given that buildings consume nearly half (48.7 percent) of all energy produced in the U.S., according to the Washington-based U.S. Energy Information Administration, it’s clear the built environment represents the largest opportunity for greening our economy. Contributing to the massive energy drain by buildings are the excessively high demands for lighting, server rooms and devices plugged in at the desktop.
“I think from an energy perspective, we’ve got huge opportunities when it comes to retrofits,” Hansen says. She explains many of HDR’s clients are finding energy-saving measures by retrofitting with LED light fixtures because of the rapid advances in LED technology that are helping to reduce plug-load levels.
Similarly, according to Anica Landreneau, Associate AIA, LEED AP BD+C, principal and director of sustainable consulting, global, for St. Louis-based HOK, many building owners who have tracked their energy consumption have found 50 percent of their building energy use comes from occupant plug loads, which include task lighting, laptops, mobile devices and other electronics. “So when we’re looking at opportunities to green existing buildings, it’s not just in the controls—a lot of it has to do with occupant plug loads at the desktop,” she says. These can be reduced by retrofitting interiors with occupancy sensors and LED lighting fixtures, as well as encouraging employees to set aggressive power-management settings on their computer equipment.
Another equally large, yet less obvious, energy drain stems from the perceived need (and sensitivity) by many clients for onsite data storage and security. Landreneau notes many of HOK’s clients are still “very secretive about their processing needs so they want to keep it all under lock and key onsite. But it’s a huge plug load. It’s a huge cooling load. It’s a big problem.”
The solution? “I think when you look forward, we’re probably going to start looking more and more to cloud computing,” she suggests. Although the shift to cloud computing will take some adjusting, the energy savings—not just at a micro but a macro level—should encourage building owners to reconsider their data storage needs.
Meeting in the Middle
Although sustainable design and construction may be far more commonplace than it was 20 years ago, “there are still areas of the country where green design is not mainstream,” Wilson suggests. “We recently designed an interiors project in a major city in the central part of the country that was seeking LEED-CI platinum certification and we could only find one contractor who was willing to bid on the project.”
Other hurdles include tenant/lease agreements and the fees for resource consumption. Landreneau explains: “Landlords at this point don’t feel like they can pass along a higher rent per square foot to pay for energy savings if the tenant is going to be paying for the energy. I think we’ll get there in the future, but right now there’s a disconnect between what motivates landlords and what motivates tenants and not a lot of interaction between the two.”
The good news is the design and construction community is actively engaged in raising the bar in terms of getting the industry up to speed. “Specific sectors within the [existing building] community, such as hospitality, multifamily, etc., are having challenges meeting some of the requirements,” Henderson notes. “But I do think they recognize those issues and we’re trying to understand that community and what they need and how we can meet in the middle.”
Green Interiors Resources
U.S. Green Building Council, LEED-CI v4 Materials & Resources credits
Health Product Declaration Collaborative
Perkins+Will Precautionary List
Becoming a Green Building Professional (Wiley, 2012)
Green Building Product Certifications: Getting What You Need (Building Green, 2011)