US to take leaf out of European energy book
The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is being closely scrutinised by the US industry as it attempts to get its own politicians to legislate on energy issues.
American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) president Gordon Holness told a meeting in London that the directive "can teach us a lot in the US". He added that "we need to take a leaf out of the European book".
Mr Holness (left), who delivered the annual ASHRAE presidential lecture at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said the UK's success with building energy certificates (EPCs and DECs) was also giving US counterparts food for thought. ASHRAE is currently developing an energy labelling scheme, but it is only being applied voluntarily at the moment.
"We are having no problem getting building owners to apply our label to those buildings they are proud of...we are looking at what you are doing with EPCs and DECs and working to get our own politicians involved," said Mr Holness.
He said the US was not focused on carbon reduction, but it did have a growing interest in reducing energy. However, energy costs still remain a relatively low priority for business leaders in the US, according to Mr Holness.
"Occupation costs of buildings still account for around 92 per cent of the total lifecycle costs...energy is around six per cent," said Mr Holness. He added that most buildings are not performing as intended and ASHRAE is working hard to improve commissioning and retro-commissioning efforts.
He also congratulated the UK on its ability to deploy natural ventilation and said the US had "a fixation" with air conditioning that made improvements in energy consumption difficult.
"We need to change the mindset and allow temperatures to float within a comfort range," he told the IMechE meeting. "We should not be doing any heating or cooling between 68 and 78 deg F."
ASHRAE's Building EQ labeling scheme is still in a pilot phase and has been heavily influenced by the European EPC and DEC system, but has not yet been supported by legislation. The Society is trying to persuade large US building firms to back the scheme as a way of ensuring building owners have better information about energy consumption patterns. It is hoped that the link between EQ and the European system will create a global standard for building energy performance that can be adopted worldwide.
"To fly, it needs to be mandated by legislation or US building codes," said Mr Holness. "It will cost money so, in the end, it cannot be totally voluntary."