[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 26 (Thursday, February 7, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 9042-9044]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-02753]
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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Request for Information (RFI) for Commercial Building Energy
Asset Score
AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of
Energy.
[[Page 9043]]
ACTION: Notice for Request for Information.
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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has developed a
preliminary commercial building energy asset score (hereinafter
``score''). The score provides information regarding the efficiency of
a building's major energy consuming systems and is intended to enable
greater understanding of building performance and potential savings.
DOE is developing this voluntary program as part of its effort to
achieve a 20 percent improvement in the energy efficiency of commercial
buildings by 2020.
DATES: Comments may be submitted on or before March 11, 2013.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments via email to asset.score@ee.doe.gov or send
mail to: Joan Glickman, Attn: Commercial Building Asset Score RFI, EE-
2J, 1000 Independence Ave., SW., Washington, DC 20585.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Joan Glickman, asset.score@ee.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The methodology used to score buildings and
generate other relevant information is described in detail in the
document entitled ``Commercial Building Energy Asset Score: Program
Overview and Technical Protocol Version 1.0'' (hereinafter ``the
Protocol''). This request for information (RFI) seeks input on the
following three components of the Protocol:
1. Data collection and validation;
2. The asset score report; and
3. Score durability.
This RFI provides an overview of the three program components.
Additional detail on each of the three topics is provided in the
Protocol. Stakeholders are encouraged to download the Protocol, which
is available at the following link: http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/commercial_initiative/pdfs/energy_asset_score_technical_protocol_phase1.pdf
This is the second RFI that DOE has issued related to the score. On
August 8, 2011, DOE issued an RFI seeking input to inform overall
development of the voluntary program. In addition, DOE conducted market
research and outreach to better understand the perspective of industry
and other interested groups. These efforts, along with initial pilot
testing of the score with commercial building owners and operators in
2012, informed the development of the current score. More information
on the asset score development process can be found at this site:
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/commercial/assetscore.html.
DOE plans to continue to work with commercial building owners and
operators to pilot test the score in 2013, including application of the
score to additional building types. During this testing period, DOE
will continue to refine the program as well as conduct additional
analysis to inform future program development. Future development of
the program will continue to be guided by previously established
principles, as described in Section 2.2 of the Protocol. In brief, the
system must produce credible scores and useful information at an
affordable cost.
1. Data Collection and Validation
To obtain an energy asset score using the tool, building owners
must input at least the minimum required set of information about a
building. This ``simple-level'' use of the tool requires filling in
approximately 20-30 data fields. Based on this information, the tool
produces a preliminary report not intended to be used for official
purposes such as public display or a real estate transaction. DOE
recommends that building owners who want to display a report publicly
or use the score for transactional purposes obtain an advanced report,
which requires completion of approximately 60-80 fields of data and
will likely also require that the data is validated and submitted by a
person qualified to collect this information. When a user leaves a non-
required data entry field blank, the tool uses a default value (an
estimate based on the building type, location, and age) to complete the
energy model.
A preliminary data input list for the simple and the advanced use
levels can be found in Appendix C of the Protocol. DOE is collecting
feedback on the data collection process through pilot testing. The full
list will not be finalized until after a pilot period, during which
users can respond to the usefulness of the results and the difficulty
of data collection. The total time required for the simple-level score
is estimated to be 6-8 hours; the total time required for the advanced-
level data collection is estimated to be less than 20 hours. The
simple-level time estimate was tested during the first pilot project in
2012 and will be further tested during the second pilot project in
2013. DOE invites comments from respondents on the preliminary data
classification, data collection time, and method that can be used to
maintain a balance between reasonable cost of data collection and
acceptable accuracy of results.
In addition to seeking input on data required for the simple and
advanced scores, DOE also invites input on methods that can be used to
validate scores in cases where a score is being used for official
purposes (e.g., marketing to lessees, real estate sales).
Considerations might include assessor qualification requirements,
methods for verifying or testing assessor qualifications, as well as
quality assurance requirements and implementation options.
2. Energy Asset Score Report
The energy asset scoring tool produces a report that includes four
sections: A whole-building score, a system evaluation, identified
opportunities for improvement, and a description of building assets.
The primary modeling output of the energy asset scoring tool is the
energy use intensity (EUI), which is used to generate the energy asset
score. No baseline buildings are needed because the calculated EUI is
placed on a fixed scale. Two sets of scores and associated modeled EUIs
are presented on the same energy asset score scale: Current score and
potential score.
System evaluations are provided for building components, including
envelope (roof, wall, window), lighting, heating, cooling, and service
hot water systems. This information can help users identify parts of
the building in need of attention. Two buildings with the same energy
asset score may have different system evaluations. These evaluations
can give users insight into their building's strengths and weaknesses.
Based on the entered building information, the energy asset scoring
tool also identifies potential improvement opportunities in each system
evaluated.
Section 5 of the Protocol provides detailed descriptions of the
score calculations, system evaluations methods, and the generation of a
cost-effective upgrade package. DOE welcomes comments on critical
information to be included in the energy asset score report and the
methodology used to evaluate systems and generate recommendations.
3. Durability of Energy Asset Score
DOE expects that a building's score will remain current for at
least 10 years, as long as the building does not undergo significant
infrastructure changes including replacement of asset-related energy
systems. If DOE makes any significant changes to the scoring
methodology or tool, users will be notified and can receive an updated
energy asset score report based on the latest version of the scoring
tool.
After establishing 100-point scales for all relevant building
types, DOE expects
[[Page 9044]]
that the scales can remain static for at least 10 years. The overall
efficiency of the U.S. building stock is not expected to change
dramatically enough to warrant scale revisions within 10 years.
Although building equipment will degrade over time, equipment
performance is affected by multiple factors, most of which are related
to operation and maintenance. Given this combination of influences,
equipment degradation is not accounted for in the score and will not
affect the durability of the score.
DOE will incorporate new software releases of EnergyPlus as they
are developed. However, DOE expects that most new features that extend
modeling capability or increase simulation speed will have little
effect on the energy asset score. If a software update of EnergyPlus or
other updates to the scoring tool result in a change of the modeling
results, prior users of the tool will receive an updated score report.
More information about the score durability is described in Section
3.2.4 of the Protocol. DOE welcomes stakeholder comments on the
durability of the energy asset score scale and the period for which a
building should be able to maintain its score.
Submitting Comments to DOE
DOE invites comments on all elements discussed above, as well as
additional issues that respondents deem important. Specifically, DOE
requests comments on (1) Data classification for the simple and
advanced levels of tool use as well as score validation methods; (2)
critical information to be included in the energy asset score report;
and (3) durability of the energy asset scores.
Comments may be submitted in writing via direct mail or email
within on or before March 11, 2013. Please limit comments to no more
than 3 pages per program area, not to exceed a total of 8 pages.
Disclaimer and Important Notes
This is an RFI issued solely for information and program planning
purposes; this RFI does not constitute a formal solicitation for
proposals or abstracts. Your response to this notice will be treated as
information only. DOE will not provide reimbursement for costs incurred
in responding to this RFI. Respondents are advised that DOE is under no
obligation to acknowledge receipt of the information received or
provide feedback to respondents with respect to any information
submitted under this RFI. Responses to this RFI do not bind DOE to any
further actions related to this topic.
Confidential Business Information
According to 10 CFR 1004.11, any person submitting information he
or she believes to be confidential and exempt by law from public
disclosure should submit via email, postal mail, or hand delivery/
courier two well-marked copies: One copy of the document marked
confidential including all the information believed to be confidential,
and one copy of the document marked non-confidential with the
information believed to be confidential deleted. Submit these documents
via email or on a CD, if feasible. DOE will make its own determination
about the confidential status of the information and treat it according
to its determination.
Factors of interest to DOE when evaluating requests to treat
submitted information as confidential include: (1) A description of the
items; (2) whether and why such items are customarily treated as
confidential within the industry; (3) whether the information is
generally known by or available from other sources; (4) whether the
information has previously been made available to others without
obligation concerning its confidentiality; (5) an explanation of the
competitive injury to the submitting person which would result from
public disclosure; (6) when such information might lose its
confidential character due to the passage of time; and (7) why
disclosure of the information would be contrary to the public interest.
It is DOE's policy that all comments may be included in the public
docket, without change and as received, including any personal
information provided in the comments (except information deemed to be
exempt from public disclosure).
Issued in Washington, DC, on February 1, 2013.
Kathleen B. Hogan,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy.
[FR Doc. 2013-02753 Filed 2-6-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6450-01-P