| Location | Online Webinar |
Presenter: Andre Desjarlaisd | Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Friday, February 16, 2024
12:00 PM | (UTC-05:00) Central Time (US & Canada) | 1 hr 30 mins
Description:
Solar-reflective building envelope surfaces, such as cool roofs and walls, save energy, reduce carbon footprint, and lower peak power demand in air-conditioned buildings. They also improve comfort and safety in buildings that are not air conditioned for lack of equipment or power, mitigate the urban heat island (UHI) effect, improve air quality, and slow global warming.
While their energy savings benefits are well understood, the impact of cool surfaces on peak demand requires additional investigation. Electrical grid reliability is a growing concern in the United States. The electrical grid is aging, and increased demand and extreme weather events can strain the grid, resulting in power outages and greater use of peak power plants, which in turn raises electricity costs and emissions.
Cool roofs and walls can be especially helpful in disadvantaged communities with poorly insulated older homes, high utility bills, polluted air, and high vulnerability and exposure to extreme heat.
This presentation will report on an investigation into how retrofitting buildings with cool roofs and walls affects the building’s peak power demand. A series of EnergyPlus whole building simulations using prototypical commercial and residential buildings were performed and variables such as climate, roof and wall solar reflectance, roof and wall thermal resistance, building type, and building vintage studied. Using demand surcharge rates from utilities, the demand reductions were also converted into cost savings benefits for the building owner.
Learning Objectives (AIA credit will be available):
1. Why and how do electric utilities add demand charges and what percent of a typical commercial electric bill is due to demand.
2. How do insulation levels impact use and demand costs.
3. Are cool surfaces only effective in reducing demand charges in cooling dominated climates.
4. Why is peak demand control even more important looking forward.
Presenter Bio:
André Desjarlais is the Program Manager for the Building Envelope and Materials Research Program at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He has been involved in building envelope and materials research for almost 50 years, first as a consultant and, for the last 32 years, at ORNL. Areas of expertise include building envelope and material energy efficiency, moisture control, and durability. Desjarlais has been a Member of ASTM since 1987 and serves on Committees C16 on Thermal Insulation, D08 on Roofing, and E60 on Sustainability. He is the past Chairman of ASTM Committee C16 and was awarded the title of Fellow in 2011. He has been a member of ASHRAE since 1991 and serves on Technical Committees TC 4.4 on Thermal Insulation and Building Systems, TC 1.8 on Mechanical Insulation Systems, and TC 1.12 on Moisture Control in Buildings, and is past Chairman of TC 4.4.
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