ASHRAE: Report Provides Roadmap for Energy Policy in Obama Administration
December 19, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
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As the federal government prepares for the presidential transition in January, it will face challenges in dealing with complex issues and new directives from the Obama administration and the new Congress, especially concerning energy issues.
A report from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) provides a potential roadmap for addressing the nation's dependence on foreign energy sources and its greenhouse gas emissions while growing the economy.
"Buildings are often overlooked as an opportunity to reduce energy consumption and offer an excellent opportunity to achieve national energy goals," said ASHRAE President Bill Harrison.
Buildings are responsible for 40% of U.S. energy consumption - more than transportation and industry - and represent 38% of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, according to ASHRAE.
U.S. citizens spend approximately 90% of their time indoors - many of them in schools and office buildings. The U.S. construction industry employs an estimated 10 million people including manufacturing, and with increased focus on improving energy efficiency within buildings, that number can be expected to rise, ASHRAE said.
The report provides recommendations on shaping energy policy. Some of the suggested provisions include:
- Energy policy and climate change. Require annual measurements of building energy use, and provide funding and direction for data collection and analysis regarding energy use in buildings. ASHRAE recently launched an effort to develop a domestic building energy labeling program that will provide owners, operators and occupants information on their buildings' energy consumption.
- Federal incentives. The report offers ideas for government incentives for energy-related activities (particularly commissioning, recommissioning and retrocommissioning), education and training for operations and maintenance personnel, depreciation schedules and long-term tax deductions.
- Research and development (R&D). ASHRAE recommends increased R&D efforts in the built environment, particularly for on- and off-site renewable energy, net-zero-energy building technologies and increased governmental support for private-sector R&D.
- Federal agency activities. ASHRAE recommends providing financial and technical resources to federal agencies to meet new energy requirements and promote the use of tools such as building information modeling and integrated design for federal construction projects.
- Education. The report stresses the importance of supporting educational programs focused on student competence in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields and providing funding for green-collar job training programs.
For more information about the report, go to the ASHRAE web site.
Source: American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Inc. (ASHRAE).