Fact Sheet/Guide
Building designers have been returning to the centuries-old practice of lighting indoor spaces using natural daylight. Natural light improves occupant morale and reduces electricity use. While building energy codes now require basic daylighting controls on lights adjacent to windows, designers can utilize more advanced approaches to fully daylight buildings.
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Fact Sheet/Guide
Buildings require a certain amount of ventilation, or outside air (OA), in order to ensure good indoor air quality. Typically the required amount of ventilation is calculated using the building’s maximum occupancy. More
Report/Case Study
We conducted an in-depth study of 100 high energy consumption homes in Minnesota. The goal was to help conservation program managers better understand the factors contributing to high usage, quantify the energy savings potential associated with common conservation measures, and identify program strategies that could be used to effectively target those opportunities.
This study was funded by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources.
(Also known as the high energy user study.)
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Report/Case Study
Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) systems have developed into a promising emerging technology. While popular in some places in the world, these systems are quite new to the upper Midwest. The systems are an innovative version of a simple split system air conditioner that utilizes variable speed compressors, multiple zone refrigerant distribution, heat recovery, and low energy fan coils to cool and heat commercial buildings more efficiently than standard split systems and heat pumps. More
Report/Case Study
Task tuning is one form of lighting control that can be used in commercial buildings to save energy. It involves dimming lights in a space so that the average illuminance at the working plane is appropriate for the type of use in that space.
Task tuning has the potential to save energy without decreasing occupant satisfaction because most commercial spaces, for a variety of reasons, are over lit. With more widespread adoption of dimmable ballasts and LED lighting there are more opportunities to apply this relatively simple-to-implement efficiency measure. More