Advanced Energy Design Guide for K-12 Schools to achieve zero energy

A new publication is intended to help build K-12 schools with advanced levels of energy savings.

Advanced Energy Design Guide for K-12 School Buildings – Achieving Zero Energy, is a joint effort by ASHRAE, AIA, IES, and USGBC, with support and funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). It is the first in a series of guides that is tailored to the design and creation of zero energy buildings.

“The guide builds upon the popular 50% advanced energy design guide series with new and updated recommendations on energy efficiency,” says Paul Torcellini, project committee chair. “Additionally, it provides guidance for on-site renewable energy generation and establishes a set of energy performance goals for achieving zero energy. The goals are provided for all ASHRAE climate zones, in both site and source energy.”

How-to tips provide guidance for specialty areas—building and site planning, envelope, daylighting, electric lighting, plug loads, kitchens and food service, water heating, HVAC, and renewable generation. The document provides guidance on how to connect zero energy and teaching and learning.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration.