I'm wondering how to go about benchmarking for a European Project where the building type is a sports facility (not one of the Energy Star building types).
IFMA http://www.ifma.org/tools/research/about_euro_bench.cfm have a benchmark report for europe, but there's no mentioning of which building types are included.
Further more, the data seems scant:"More than 100 surveys were returned within a six-month period. A total of 105 surveys were used for analysis; however, very few of the respondents were able to provide all of the data requested. Not many of the surveys returned provide FTE allocation therefore this could not be covered in this report. Every effort has been made to ensure accuracy. Staff reviewed all surveys prior to entering data and contacted respondents for aberrant data. Despite this extensive effort, IFMA cannot assume responsibility for errors from research of this nature."
Getting this data may be impossible even when attempted here, due to the privacy factor. How does benchmarking against your own facility work? How would I get the "Project Building's annual weather-normalized Source Energy Use Intensity (from Portfolio Manager)" if a) project is not in the USA and b) is not of any standard building type supported by EnergyStar?
Jenny Carney
Vice PresidentWSP
LEEDuser Expert
657 thumbs up
March 2, 2010 - 1:40 pm
Jean, my understanding is that you would still use the USGBC's Case 2 calculator in this case (The calculators are available on the USGBC's website at http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=2054), and the IFMA data may not even come into play unless you are eligible for and decide to pursue Case 2, Option 2c.
I agree that it's a good idea to investigate Case 2, Option 2b (comparison to historic data) first, once you verify that you are eligible for this approach. Anyone can freely sign up for an Energy Star account and use it to generate weather normalized source energy use data, reagardless of your building type or location in the world. You just create an account, add a project, enter the building location (many international cities are listed, but not all) and other details, provide the energy consumption data, and then you can have Energy Star output the weather normalized source EUI.
Hope this helps.
Jean Marais
b.i.g. Bechtold DesignBuilder Expert832 thumbs up
March 3, 2010 - 3:02 am
I think you are right. Having looked into it a bit more, my only fear is running into a space type definition that doesn't exist, but then I'm bound to use the closest matching one. An example pops to mind straight away. The hall space with the ball court in the middle and the spectator stands around the perimeter in a sports arena. A "Performance" space type comes close...