Friday, October 17, 2008
Sponsored by: 
ENERGY USE IN BUILDINGS IN A CARBON CONSTRAINED ECONOMY
Andrew Pape-Salmon PEng
9:00 – 10:15 am
The provincial government has set aggressive energy conservation and greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for the year 2020, necessitating a paradigm shift for the design, construction, retrofit, operation and use of new and existing buildings in BC. The Energy Efficient Building Strategy, new energy codes for buildings, and energy efficiency standards for manufactured building components and equipment will be discussed, along with other short-term government plans. The presentation will explore the technical, economic, public policy and cultural components of three scenarios for reducing the energy and environmental impacts of all buildings on average by 33% below current levels across BC. These scenarios will be described from a technical perspective, highlighting key components of typical building archetypes and energy systems in the coastal and interior regions. A qualitative assessment of the practicality of each scenario and the economic, public policy and market implications will be presented. A discussion with the audience will focus on the merits, barriers and solutions for each approach, along with a sense of the most likely outcomes in the BC marketplace.
1.25 PDH - Informal
CONSERVATION POTENTIAL REVIEW 2007: A BEACON FOR THE FUTURE
Murray Bond PEng, Christine Gustafson PEng
10:45 am – 12:00 pm
The Conservation Potential Review (CPR) 2007 is the most comprehensive study of any worldwide of which we are aware. This presentation will outline the methodologies and results from a sixteen month study, carried out for BC Hydro, which assessed potential energy and peak demand savings over twenty years from existing technologies, emerging technologies, behavioural changes, lifestyle changes, fuel switching, and customer-supplied renewable energies. Also discussed will be how customer groups, First Nations, environmental organizations and other stakeholders were able to participate in and direct parts of the study. The CPR 2007 estimates there is enough economic savings potential in B.C. to flatten out our consumption while ensuring economic prosperity. The conservation measures outlined in the CPR 2007 are estimated to require roughly half of the utility investment when compared to the investment required for new supply.
1.25 PDH - Informal
THE FUTURE IS HERE: ENERGY USE IN BUILDINGS TODAY
Vladimir Mikler PEng, Leslie Peer PEng
1:45 – 3:00 pm
A building’s single greatest environmental impact is its ongoing energy use. The recent wave of sustainable building design initiatives often fail to prioritize the building energy requirements. In this session, we will explore a prioritized design methodology to create energy systems that work with the laws of nature rather than against them. You will learn how passive building design can reduce peak heating and cooling loads, reliance on active mechanical systems, and energy use and operating costs, while maintaining optimal indoor environment. Finally, Vladimir will outline how energy quality is just as important as energy quantity, and how this will impact our transition to renewable energy sources. To maintain internal comfort levels, a building’s mechanical system responds in large part to environmental loads passed through the building envelope. Modifying the building envelope to limit air flow, heat conduction, and solar radiation reduces loads on the mechanical system, reducing both peak demand and total energy consumption. Leslie will describe how building envelope designs provide appropriate protection to buildings, enabling reductions in energy usage, while also providing durable and weathertight enclosures. The technologies discussed have been built in BC on commercial projects, demonstrating that engineers understand and can easily design very efficient buildings: When is our society going to start building them?
1.25 PDH – Informal
DESIGNING BUILDINGS THAT SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE PATTERNS OF LIVING
Ray Cole MAIBC
3:30 – 4:45 pm
Given the pressing time-scale of anticipated significant climate change, it is difficult to imagine that the transformation of the built environment
response to climate change will result from simply tweaking current practice. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is the primary goal of mitigation strategies and “carbon neutrality” has become the most widely cited aspiration and commitment to address climate change. In the context of buildings, the notions of net “zero energy” and “carbon neutral” have, almost overnight, attained equal if not more significance as performance aspirations than LEED® platinum. They have garnered attention by representing demanding targets that offer a clear, unambiguous aspirations rather than having a sound scientific foundation other than it creating no negative effect impact. The current discussion of “zero energy” and “carbon neutral” relate to only building operating energy. This presentation examines the benefits of taking a broader definition of building-related energy and carbon emissions and expanding the boundary of consideration beyond the design of individual buildings. Within this context, it will argue the necessity to shift from designing "sustainable buildings" to designing buildings that can support sustainable patterns of living.
1.25 PDH - Informal
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