Hub August 2024 Newsletter

Building Energy Resource Hub August 2024 Newsletter

Bookmark Required! Two Building Decarb Resources for You

Retrofit Playbook for Large Buildings
 

The Retrofit Playbook for Large Buildings offers a living library of case studies, technical resources, and best practices to support high quality, low carbon retrofits for your building. By utilizing the solutions and strategic planning tools presented here, building owners and their teams can develop decarbonization roadmaps that create asset value, reduce emissions, and enhance the resilience of your properties. Start planning now and explore the educational resources to inform your decarbonization journey.

Affordable Housing Decarb Hub

Enterprise's Affordable Housing Decarb Hub focuses on affordable housing but provides a variety of resources for multifamily buildings to create equitable climate solutions and ultimately improve the health, sustainability, and resilience of our communities. Resources include: articles, briefs, case studies, charts, databases, how-to guides, reports, tools, webinars, and websites for retrofitting multi-family buildings.

Contractor Corner

New Tool Helps with Selection and Installation of Heat Pump Water Heaters

The Department of Energy (DOE) has released a new web-based tool that offers installers, sales associates, homeowners, and others comprehensive information about electric heat pump water heaters (HPWHs). The HPWH Installation Tool is a “one-stop shop” for potential HPWH purchasers and installers to get guidance quickly and easily for selecting and installing units in existing buildings. In addition to customized recommendations, the tool delivers general information about HPWHs, how they operate, their benefits for both homeowners and installers, and available tax incentives through the Inflation Reduction Act. Check out the tool here. 

Looking to brush up your Building Automation System skills?
 

Check out these free training videos from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab FLEXLAB for a customized training program on using the building control system (Building Automation System - BAS) to achieve the key operational goals of energy efficiency and occupant safety and comfort. Learn more here.
 

Join the Hub Contractor Connection the Fall
 

Interested in meeting up with the Hub and our technical partners this fall? We are hosting a contractor-only reception and series of building tours. Join us! Drop us an email and we'll add you to the invite list.

Partner Resources

ENERGY STAR Action Workbook for Small Business

The ENERGY STAR Action Workbook for Small Business, created by ENERGY STAR, is intended to serve as a resource and planning guide for owners, operators, and employees of small businesses. This 101-page guidebook provides step-by-step guidance on ways to increase energy efficiency in facilities by implementing realistic and cost-effective energy improvement projects. Check out this resource here.

ENERGY STAR Product Finder

This resource, compiled by ENERGY STAR, helps you find all the information you need to start shopping for ENERGY STAR certified products, including product details, rebates, and retailers near you. Products that earn the ENERGY STAR label meet strict energy-efficiency specifications set by the U.S. EPA helping you save energy and money while protecting the environment. Check out this resource here.

GHG Emissions Reduction Audit Scope of Work Template

The GHG Emissions Reduction Audit Tool, published by the U.S. Department of Energy, helps building owners and operators identify achievable emissions reductions through energy efficiency, electrification, low-GWP refrigerants, and onsite renewable energy. It goes beyond typical energy audits by focusing on decarbonization measures, excluding renewable energy credits (RECs) or green power purchasing options. Check out this resource here.

Upcoming Hub Events



$ave Money, $ave Energy Series #2: ComEd's Free Business Programs
September 11 at 12:00 PM CT

Learn about other ComEd initiatives to save money in your commercial buildings, including incentives and other opportunities. Join us for this 30-minute webinar to learn about ComEd incentives for lighting, HVAC, refrigeration, and more. The ComEd team will review other strategies to reduce building operating costs, including benchmarking. The ComEd team will also share how their Energy Efficiency Program can help overcome the unique barriers to energy efficiency projects faced by multi-tenant building managers, providing resources and guidance to ensure that both building owners as well as tenants benefit from investments in energy efficiency.



Finance Fridays: SomerCor Presents Small Biz Products for Energy Projects
September 13 at 11:00 AM CT

Join the Hub and SomerCor to learn how small businesses can leverage Energy Project Financing Opportunities. During this 30-minute webinar you will learn how to use their SBA 504 Loans, SBA 504 Refinancing, SBA Community Advantage Loans, and City of Chicago Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF) and Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF) grant programs to implement your building retrofits.

Finance Fridays: Explore the Equitable Energy Future Grant Program
September 27 at 11:00 AM CT

Join the Hub and Illinois's Department on Commerce and Equal Opportunity for an overview of the Equitable Energy Future Grant Program. As part of the Jobs and Environmental Justice Grant Program, the Equitable Energy Future Grant Program will provide upfront capital supporting the development of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects benefiting businesses, community organizations, and the workforce in historically disadvantaged communities.

Partner Events

Building Operator Certification Training
Hosted by Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
September - December 2024

The Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance Building Operator Certification (BOC) is starting in September for both online and in-person training in Chicago. BOC training is focused on teaching facilities personnel to understand how these systems work together and how to operate a facility efficiently. BOC provides the training to keep building operators up to date on the newest energy technology available and to hear best practices firsthand from experts in the field. Level I training will be offered online and in-person in Chicago and Level II will be offered online.

Energy Efficiency Innovation Hub: Disrupting the Status Quo to Overcome Barriers
Hosted by ENERGY STAR
September 10 at 1:00 PM CT

Join this ENERGY STAR webinar to hear from two partners who are innovating in their respective fields. Link Logistics will discuss their strategy for overcoming the split incentive barrier that every landlord faces. Ventas, Inc., will then discuss how they made an analogy between ENERGY STAR scores and Kingsley Scores (a score used to measure tenant and employee satisfaction by benchmarking performance levels) to develop a goal-setting initiative for ENERGY STAR scores. This analogy clarifies that, like Kingsley Scores, ENERGY STAR scores result from various factors, culminating in a percentile ranking.

HVAC Applications for Commercial, Small Industrial, Schools & Government
Hosted by Focus on Energy
Part 1: September 11 at 9:00 AM CT
Part 2: September 12 at 9:00 AM CT

The goal of this course is to identify applications for HVAC system, the components of the systems, how they operate, how they are controlled, and how they can be optimized for energy efficiency. This course will provide information focused on the Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning, HVAC systems that are typically found in commercial and small industrial applications. Specific systems will include; Air handling systems, constant volume and variable air volume systems, energy recovery units, roof top units, RTUs, heat pumps, and terminal units; VAV & FPB terminal units.

Looking to the Future: Advancing Commercial Building Plug and Process Load Efficiency and Control Webinar
Hosted by US Department of Energy: Better Buildings
September 25 at 1:00 PM CT

Join Better Buildings to hear three presentations that explore key topics shaping the future of plug and process load (PPL) energy efficiency and control in commercial buildings. Learn about recent research on pathways to increase PPL efficiency and control uptake, gain insight about a recent survey conducted regarding automatic receptacle control markings, and stay updated on the latest developments in PPL code regulations. Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights and stay ahead in the industry.

What We're Reading

Building Science Education Solution Center
US Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy
 

This Department of Energy tool has links and resources for almost all energy efficiency questions you have. If they don't have the answer you are looking for, let us know! The Hub will help you find it.