FINDINGS FROM A LOW-ENERGY, NEW COMMERCIAL-BUILDINGS RESEARCH AND DEMONSTRATION PROJECT

Energy edge (EE) was a research-oriented demonstration project that be gan in 1985; 28 buildings were constructed to use 30% less electricity than a hypothetical simulated baseline building. Average energy savin gs for 18 buildings evaluated with post-occupancy tuned simulation mod els were less at 17%. Only six met the cost of conserved (CCE) energy of 5.6 [/kWh for the total package of energy-efficiency measures becau se the building characteristics changed from design assumptions. Forty -one percent of the individual energy-efficiency measures met the targ et CCE. The cost effectiveness of the measures would have been greater if the baseline had been common practice rather than the regional bui lding code. The EE small offices use about 30-50% less energy than com parable buildings. Savings also would have been greater if commissioni ng was included within the program. Future projects should consider lo wer-cost ''hands-on'' evaluation techniques with annual check-ups to e nsure persistence of savings.