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ConSol Studies
2008 T-24 Summary
The 2008 California Building Energy Efficiency Standards (Title 24, Part 6) were formally adopted by the California Energy Commission (CEC) on April 23rd, 2008 and are set to go into effect on January 1, 2010. An analysis performed for CBIA found that the proposed 2008 Standards are approximately 20% more stringent than the 2005 Standards for Low-Rise Residential New Construction. The new Standards also include new credits and requirements that will have significant impacts on the building industry including: mandatory indoor air quality requirements per ASHRAE 62.2; new electronic submittal requirements for compliance documentation; and a variety of new and revised third-party HERS credits. This analysis summarized the major changes in the new Standards, evaluated the new cost-effectiveness of various measures and estimated the cost of compliance with the new Standards over the 2005 Standards.
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Retrofit Model
ConSol presents a sustainable home retrofit model. Communities across the country are struggling with the repercussions of the housing market collapse. Local jurisdictions are facing new environmental requirements from state and federal governments with rapidly dwindling resources. A logical way for jurisdictions to meet their regulatory obligations and improve the lifestyle of their constituents is to adopt an energy efficiency program that can leverage funds from a variety of sources to address multiple, related energy objectives, using newly created local green jobs. A well designed program can create a self-sustaining model to implement energy efficiency and conservation while improving the economic and environmental health of all its constituents for years to come.
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Carbon Footprint of Single-Family Residential New Construction
The carbon emissions from a new home built to 1990’s code was 10.9 metric tons of CO2e per house per year. The carbon emissions from a new home built to 2006’s code was 8.2 metric tons of CO2e per house per year. New residential construction accounts for only 0.12% of California’s building energy usage each year. To reduce GHG emissions in the entire residential marketplace, we must also look at retrofit. The existing building sector is so large that it is critical to investigate the opportunities for it as well as new construction.
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Meeting AB 32 - Cost-Effective Green House Gas Reductions in the Residential Sector
There are approximately 13,270,000 dwelling units in California. Residential new construction typically adds 150,000 new units to the stock each year, which represents just 0.12% (about one-tenth of 1 percent) of the carbon emissions in California. New residential dwelling units built to the 2005 Title 24 energy code are already 25% below the 1990 GHG emissions target levels set by AB 32. Given production levels and the energy efficiency of new homes, the only way to reduce GHG emissions in the entire residential marketplace to required levels is to develop programs to retrofit existing homes to lower the GHG emissions caused by them.
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Achieving 30% and 50% over ASHRAE 90.1-2004 in a Low-Rise Office Building
A new study for the National Association of Industrial & Office Properties, the commercial real estate development association, documents technical analysis aimed at understanding the practical and economical impacts of constructing a defined low-rise office building at levels 30% and 50% above the ASHRAE 90.1-2004 Energy Standard, the benchmark often cited in legislation and other calls for mandatory reductions. The results that targeted a ten-year utility savings’ payback period may surprise you.
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