Building Efficiency:
Loyola University Commercial Building Partnership

The Department of Energy's Commercial Building Partnerships (CBP) initiative brings together building owners and operators (Partners) with teams of national laboratory and private-sector technical experts to explore energy-saving ideas and strategies in retrofit and new construction projects. The projects serve as test beds and training centers for innovative building-related research and demonstrate how energy use can be dramatically reduced in commercial buildings.

Argonne is supporting this program in partnership with Loyola University. Other participants in the project are Solomon Cordwell Buenz and the Illinois Institute of Technology.

The program's core concepts include:

1. New Construction as an Inspiration for Energy Efficiency in Existing Buildings. The project involves two academic buildings - one is planned new construction designed to be nearly 50% more energy efficient than code, and the second is a 100+ year old “sister” building. The project team is evaluating the application to energy retrofits of the innovative energy efficiency measures adopted for the new construction. The evaluation includes building monitoring, measurement, energy modeling and cost/benefit analysis. The retrofit strategies are being evaluated at the individual building level and at the scale of the entire campus system.
2. Education and Information Dissemination. Public information dissemination and education will help students become involved in building performance and increase their awareness of how building energy use patterns link to energy systems controls and operations. The project team will design and implement an education program focusing on occupant awareness and response that will demonstrably improve the energy profile of both new and existing academic buildings.
3. Post Occupancy Surveying.  Post occupancy surveying will document the awareness and effectiveness as perceived by the users of innovative energy reduction technologies.

Argonne's support of Commercial Building Partnerships will expand the reach of the program and ultimately help in the success of the program. In addition, Argonne will strengthen and enable the expansion of the Midwest presence of the Commercial Building Partnership program.

This project is being funded by U.S. Department of Energy's Building Technologies Program.

February 2011