The University of California at Merced (UC Merced) is the first new UC campus in 40 years. Opened in 2005 with just 1,000 students, the campus is planned for growth of up to 25,000 students over the next few decades. This 21st century campus responded to the pressing environmental concerns of climate change by setting a goal of using 50% less energy than other California state campuses. This ambitious aim served as a foundational aspect of directing the design, construction and operation of all buildings on the Merced campus. The campus pursued LEED1 silver for all buildings in the initial phase of development. Several buildings, including the Classroom and Office Building (COB), have achieved LEED Gold certification and a rare 10 out of 10 Energy and Atmosphere points. As of March 2009, the campus requires all new buildings to meet a LEED Gold standard.

The Classroom and Office Building examined in this case study is one of five buildings in the initial phase of development at UC Merced. Others include a central plant, library, science laboratory building, and student housing. COB is three stories tall, with 103,006 gross square feet, and was completed in January 2006. The building provides multi-disciplinary instructional space and research office space for the Merced campus.

This case study examines the actual post-occupancy performance of COB in relation to design elements and objectives. The measurements cover July 2007 through June 2008. Some initial commissioning tasks were still being completed during this measurement period.

1 US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program

O V E R V I E WSItE DEtaIlS

• Newconstruction• 103,006grosssquarefeet• CompletedJanuary2006• LocatedinMerced,California

actIVIty typE(S)• Universityclassroom• Office

EffIcIEncy MEaSuRES• EfficientHVACdesign• Efficientlighting• EnergyManagementControl

System• Performancemonitoring• Thermalenergystorage

cOVERED MEtRIcS• WholebuildingEUI• Annualelectricityuse• Annualfueluse• Peakelectricdemand• Chilledwaterdemand

cERtIfIcatIOnS• LEEDGold

This case study was prepared by New Buildings Institute in partnership with the California Institute for Energy and the Environment (CIEE). It is part of NBI’s efforts to collect and disseminate information on the actual energy performance of new buildings.

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Mer

cedclassroom and Office Building,

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2Measured Performance Case Study: Classroom & Office Building, UC Merced

K E y O B J E c t I V E SToachievethecampusgoalofusing50%lessenergy,theprojectteamdevelopedenergy-usebenchmarksforthecampusandeachbuildingbasedondata,adjustedforbuildingtypeandclimate,fromeightotherUCandCaliforniaStateUniversitycampuses.2Benchmarkmetricsaddressbothpeakdemandandannualconsumption.

Performancetargetsweresetasapercentageofthebenchmarkmetrics.ThetargetforCOBandotherbuildingsinthefirst600,000grosssquarefeetdevelopedistooperateatorbelow80% of benchmark(a20%reductioninenergyconsumption).Incrementaltargetsforfuturephasesmovedtowardsa50% of benchmarkgoal.UCMerced’senergyperformancetargetsareuniqueinthattheyaccountfortheentirebuildingperformance,notjustselectedsystems,asisthecasewithbuildingcode-basedtargets(suchasCalifornia’sTitle24andtheearlierversionsofLEED).Inadditiontothebenchmark-basedperformancetargets,UCMsetagoalofperformingaminimumof30%betterthanTitle24forallbuildingsinordertoqualifyforLEEDratingsandutilityincentives.

Theprojectteamincorporatedtheenergyperformancetargetsintothedesignspecificationsforeachbuilding.Thisensuredthatthedesignandconstructionteamwouldmakedecisionswithinthisconstraintandreducedtheriskofhavingenergyefficiencymeasurescompromisedthroughvalueengineering.

t E c H n O l O G I E S a n D D E S I G n S t R at E G I E SConsistentwithsoundengineeringpracticeforenergyefficiency,theplanningfocusedfirstontherequiredloadsatthebuilding,andthenaddressedthebestwaysofmeetingthoseloads.ThissectiondescribesthemeasuresimplementedinCOB,followedbythemeasuresincludedinthecentralplantthatsuppliesheatingandcoolingforthecampus.

claSSROOM & OffIcE BuIlDInGAtCOB,theprimaryfeaturescontributingtolowenergyusearehighperformanceHVACandlightingdesignsandanenergymanagementcontrolsystem.

TheHVAC designincorporatesalowpressuredropandavoidssimultaneousheatingandcooling.Thebuildingusesavariableairvolume,dual-fan,dual-ductHVACsystemwithhotandchilled

3Brown,K.2002.“SettingEnhancedPerformanceTargetsforaNewUniversityCampus:Benchmarksvs.EnergyStandardsasaReference?”Proceedings of the 2002 ACEEE Summer Study of Energy Efficiency in Buildings.4:29-40.Washington,D.C.:AmericanCouncilforanEnergy-EfficientEconomy.

fIGuRE 1

the Planning fOCUSed firSt On the reqUired lOadS at the BUilding, and then addreSSed the BeSt wayS Of Meeting thOSe lOadS

3Measured Performance Case Study: Classroom & Office Building, UC Merced

waterprovidedfromthecentralplant.Ifthecoldorhotdeckisactive,theotherisneutral,carryingoutsideorreturnairasappropriatetotempertheactivedeck.Carbondioxidesensorsindenselyoccupiedspacesallowventilationlevelstobegreatlyreducedduringperiodsoflowoccupancy.

LightingatCOBwasdesignedtosurpassTitle24requirementswhilemeetinggenerallyacceptedguidelinesforlightingquality.Thelightingdesignavoidssuperfluouselectriclight.LowpowerdensitysystemsusingT8andT5lamps,compactfluorescentlamps,andhighefficacyfixtureswereusedthroughoutthebuilding.Occupancysensorsarelocatedinofficesandprogrammabledimmingcontrolsareprovidedinthelargeclassroomsandauditorium.

Anenergy management and control system(EMCS)allowsforfullschedulingofmechanicalandlightingsystems.Directdigitalcontrols(DDC)areusedattheplant,systemandzonelevel.FacilityoperatorscanusetheEMCStomonitortemperatures,flows,anddamperpositionstoverifysystemperformanceandidentifyanyequipmentfailures.Thissystemallowsfacilitymanagerstomonitorresultstoensurethatenergysystemsperformasdesignedandthatperformanceismaintainedovertime.Currently,UCMercedalsousestheEMCSdatatoaggregateactualbuildingperformancerelativetotheenergyperformancetargetsonanannualbasis.Theyareworkingtowardsoperationalizingtheperformancebenchmarkingprocessonareal-timebasis.

cEntRal plant Thecoolingneedsforcampusbuildingsaremetbyacentralplantthatusescentrifugalchillersandatwo-milliongallonthermalenergystorage(TES)tankforcooling.Chillersoperateonlyatnightwhenoff-peakpricingislowesttochargethetank.Waterstoredinthetankovernightiscycledthroughthechilledwaterloopthefollowingdaytocoolbuildingswithoutrequiringactivationoftheplant’schillers.Shiftingthecampus’selectricalcoolingloadtooff-peakhourssignificantlyflattensthebuildingelectricdemandprofileandresultsinlargecostsavingsduetodaytimedemandreduction.Hotwaterboilersatthecentralplantprovidedistrictheatingforaportionofcampususe.

ToachieveUCMerced’senergymanagementtargets,thedesignteamdevelopedasophisticatedenergymodelforthecentralplantusinga“mostlikelymaximum”parametertosizethemechanicalsystemstomeetheatingandcoolingneedswithanexplicitmarginofsafetyagreeduponbytheowneranddesignteam.Thisapproachhelpedavoidthetypicalgrossoversizingofequipment,whichoftenoccurswhenusingconventional“ruleofthumb”loadestimationmethods.

E n E R G y E ffI c I E n c y t E c H n O l O G I E S a n D S t R at E G I E S• Lowpressuredropdesignforairsystems

• Variableairvolume,dual-fan,dual-ductHVAC

• NoreheatforHVAC

• CO2sensorstominimizeairflowduringlowoccupancy

• Lowpowerdensitylightingwithoccupancysensors

• Doublepanelow-E,lowsolargainwindows

• Controlstodisablespaceconditioningwhenwindows are open

• Solarshadingonallnon-northfacades

• Directdigitalcontrolsattheplant,systemandzonelevel

• Metersforallenergytypes,includinghot/chilled water

UC Merced

4Measured Performance Case Study: Classroom & Office Building, UC Merced

M E a S u R E M E n t a n D E Va l uat I O n

MEaSuREMEnt MEtHODComparingactualperformancetothecampusandbuildingbenchmark-basedenergyperformancetargetsisintegraltoUCMerced’senergyefficiencystrategy.Hotwaterandchilledwaterfromthecentralplantaresub-meteredateachbuilding,asisdirectelectricityuse.Totalbuildingenergyconsumptionisderivedfrombuildingmeterdataandanallocationofcentralplantenergyusedforprovidingthehotandchilledwaterservice.Wholecampusenergyconsumption,fromthecampusutilityelectricandgasbills,isusedtocrosscheckbuildingenergyusecalculationswithinanenergybalanceframework.Reconciledtotalbuildingenergyuseiscomparedtothecorrespondingbenchmarktargetstoassessbuildingperformance.

Initialdatareviewandcrosscheckingrevealedsomecasesofmissingdata,unreasonablereadings,orimplausibletrendsarisingfromproblemswiththemetersandthedataaccumulationprocess,particularlywithrespecttohotwater.Itwasfoundthatmanyprimarycampusmetersneededcalibration,repairorreinstallationtosupportoperationalandperformancemonitoringneeds.Somedatacorrectionandassumptionswerenecessarytogenerateresultsforthisfirstmeasurementperiod.Themeasuredresultsandmethodsusedwereevaluatedbyanalystsfromeachofthepartnersinthisstudyandfoundtobereasonableandconsistentwithallavailabledata,includingenergybalanceswithmasterutilitymeters.

EnERGy pERfORMancE RESultSOnanas-operatedbasis,COBnotonlyachieved,butsurpasseditstargetperformance(80%ofbenchmark)forallannualenergyconsumptionmetrics.COB’ssourceenergyuse,gasandelectricitycombined,wasonly62%ofthebenchmark,alreadybetterthanthe65%targetforthenextphaseofcampusbuild-out.(Themeasuredusagedeterminingtheseratiosisshowninthetableattheendofthissection.)

Thepeakpowerbenchmarkassumesthatallchillerloadshavebeenshiftedoff-peakandthereforereflectstypicalpeakelectricitydemandfornon-chilleruses,suchaslighting,plugloads,fansetc.Theas-operatedpeakpower,atjust48%ofbenchmark,primarilyshowstheeffectivenessofreducedlighting,fanandplugloadsinthebuilding.

Thepeakchilledwateruseatthebuilding(85%ofbenchmark)reflectstheeffectivenessofdesign,shading,andinsulationtoreducesolargain.

Theanalysismethodusedincludesbothadirectaccountingofactualplantloadassociatedwithservicetothebuildingsanda“bestpractice”plantthatestimatestheas-operatedcaseimprovedwithoptimizedcentralplantefficiencies.The“bestpractice”plantrepresentsareasonableupperlevelofperformancepotential.Thisdualactualand“bestpractice”plantanalysisisolatesbuildingenergyusesothatinitialcentralplantperformanceissuesdonotmisrepresentindividualbuildingperformance.Thetablebelowshowstheas-operatedresultsusedintheabovegraphsaswellastheprojected“bestpractice”plantscenario.

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5Measured Performance Case Study: Classroom & Office Building, UC Merced

taBlE 1: RESultS cOMpaRED tO BEncHMaRK

BENCHMArkS TArgET AS-OpErATED(1)BESTprACTiCE

pLANT(2)

METriC VALuE uNiTS80% Of

BENChMArk VALuE% Of

BENCHMArk VALuE% Of

BENCHMArk

ANNuALSiTEELECTriCiTy(3) 15.1 kWh/gsf 12.1 9.03 60% 8.49 56%

ANNuALSiTEgAS(4) 0.20 therms/gsf 0.16 0.15 75% 0.13 67%

ANNuALSiTEEui 71.1 kBtu/gsf 56.9 45.5 64% 42.2 59%

ANNuALSOurCEEui(5) 159 kBtu/gsf 127 97.8 62% 91.4 58%

pEAkpOwEr 3.65 W/gsf 2.92 1.75 48% n/a

pEAkCHiLLEDwATErATBuiLDiNg

2.03 tons/ 1000gsf 1.62 1.72(6) 85% n/a

(1)Measurementperiod;July2007-June2008(2)BestPracticePlantefficiencyassumptionscomparedtoAs-Operated:

Chiller 0.6kW/tonvs1.0kW/tonas-operated Hotwater 85%boilerefficiencyvs76%as-operated

(3)Includingpro-ratedcentralplantchillerenergyuseanddistributionlosses.Thesefiguresincludeapproximately5%transformation/distributionlossesandexteriorsitelightingnottypicallyapartofmeteredusageforstand-alonebuildings.

(4) Includingpro-ratedcentralplantheatingefficiencyandloopdistributionlosses.(5) SitetoSourceconversionfactorsfromCalArch:2.7forelectricity,1.0fornaturalgas(6) Excludingtworawobservationspikes,oneassociatedwithrecoveryfromachilledwaterplantfailureandonesamplinganomaly

ThetableaboveshowsthatCOBhasexceededthe80%ofbenchmarkenergyperformancetargetwithsomemetrics,almostnearingthe50%ofbenchmarkgoalthatisassignedtofuturephases.Theobservedcentralplantefficiencywaslowerthanexpected,primarilybecauseofsomeidentifiedproblemswithchilleroperation,includinganapparentshortcircuitinthechilledwaterdistributionloop.Additionalcentralplantinefficienciesduringthemeasurementperiodwereduetoplantequipmentdesignedtoservetheneedsofadditionalcampusbuild-out.The“bestpractice”plantefficiencylevelsareconsistentwithinitialdesignexpectationsandshouldbeachievablethroughanumberofmeasuresunderreview.Thus,COBhasthepotentialofperformingevenbetterinthefuture,ascentralplantissuesareaddressed.TheUCMercedteamplanstocontinuemonitoring,comparingactualresultstothe“bestpractice”estimates.Calibration,repair,orreplacementofseveralprimarysubmetersisbeingconsideredtoallowformoredirectmeasurementofresults.

l E S S O n S l E a R n E DUCMerced’senergyperformanceachievementsatCOBcanbecreditedtotheskillsoftheprojectteam,energyefficientdesign,measurementandverification,follow-throughbyfacilitystaff.UCMerced’sboldenergyperformancegoalswereresponsibleforprovidingdirectionfortheprojectteam.IncorporatingenergyperformancetargetsintothedesignspecificationforCOBensuredthatenergyefficiencywaspursuedthrougheachphaseofdevelopmentandasaresult,UCMerced’senergymanagementgoalshaveahighlikelihoodforsuccess.

IntegratingcommissioninginCOB’sdeliveryprocesswasachallengeforUCMerced.Duetotightconstructionschedules,thebuildingcommissioningperformedwasjustenoughtosatisfytheLEEDrequirement,nomore.Duringthefirstfewyearsofoperation,UCMercedfoundseveralHVACandlightingcontrolissuesthatcouldhavebeencaughtpriortooccupancywithamorethoroughcommissioningprocessthatincludedacommissioningoftheEMCSandmonitoringsystems.TheenergymanagementandcontrolsystemusedtomonitorperformanceatCOBwassetupstrictlyasacontrolanddataacquisitionsystem,notanenergyinformationsystem.Asaresult,itdoesnotpresentdatainawaythatiseasytomonitor.Learningfromthisexperience,UCMercedisdevelopingamonitoringsystemspecificationsothatmeteringandenergymanagementandcontrolsystemsforfuturebuildingswillprovidedatainamorereadilyusableformatformonitoringbuildingperformanceonanongoing,real-timebasis.

Basedontheencouragingresultsfromthefirstphaseofconstruction,UCMercedexpectstoachievetheir50%ofbenchmarkperformancetarget.Withconfidencegroundedinthisinitialsuccess,UCMercedisalreadylookingtothefutureandisdevelopingaplantomovebeyondtheircurrentenergyperformancegoalstoachievezeronetenergyby2020throughaggressiveconservationeffortsanddevelopmentofon-siterenewablepower.

ac K n O W l E D G E M E n t STheCaliforniaEnergyCommission(CEC)PIERProgramprovidedsupplementarysupporttothisproject.JessicaGrandersonofLawrenceBerkeleyNationalLaboratoryperformedtheprimarysitedataanalysis.

This report was prepared as a result of work sponsored by the California Energy Commission (Energy Commission) and the University of California (UC). It does not necessarily represent the views of the Energy Commission, UC, their employees, or the State of California. The Energy Commission, the State of California, its employees, and UC make no warranty, express or implied, and assume no legal liability for the information in this report; nor does any party represent that the use of this information will not infringe upon privately owned rights. This report has not been approved or disapproved by the Energy Commission or UC, nor has the Energy Commission or UC passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the information in this report.