Delivering Results
NBI is a results-driven organization working to find strategic points of leverage that will deliver the best outcomes. Below are some highlights of our work.
Core Energy Code
With funding from the Energy Foundation and NBI sponsors, NBI and Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships have been working with local jurisdictions to adopt advanced energy codes based on the Core Performance® protocol. In May 2009, the State of Massachusetts adopted a “stretch” code based on Core Performance, as did several cities in New York. Both New York and New Mexico are currently considering statewide adoption of the Core Energy Code.
IECC Proposal
NBI, the U.S. Department of Energy and the American Institute of Architects are co-proponents for comprehensive changes to the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) for new commercial construction. These changes are significantly based on the NBI-developed Core Performance protocol and could create buildings that are about 25% more energy efficient by the time the model code goes into effect in 2012.
PIER Award
NBI ranked first in California’s latest Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) program funding awards. We are currently implementing the NBI proposal, investigating the what’s working in high performance commercial buildings and developing a feedback loop to the design community and building owners on ways to improve efficiency of current buildings and future projects.
Advanced Buildings®
Advanced Buildings is a suite of NBI technical resources, trainings and information that provides a prescriptive path for design teams wishing to create high performance commercial buildings that stand out for their energy efficiency and healthy environments. Core Performance™ is Advanced Buildings’ step-by-step simplified approach to achieving predictable energy savings in small to medium-sized buildings without the need for modeling. It also provides work-saving tools for professionals already experienced in sustainable design.
Support for the Advanced Buildings program continues to grow. Energy Trust of Oregon and Efficiency New Brunswick recently joined as sponsors offering Core Performance and other Advanced Buildings guidance to their customers. Other sponsors include: Efficiency Maine, National Grid, NSTAR, Cape Light Compact, Western Massachsetts Electric Company, and Efficiency Vermont.
Office of the Future Consortium and the Advanced Energy Office
NBI is the fiscal and program manager for the Office of the Future Consortium, a group of utilities working to improve the efficiency of office space retrofits. These utilities are working together to develop a nationwide incentive program called the Advanced Energy Office that currently promotes high efficiency lighting, controls, plug loads control devices and low-cost HVAC review.
50% Better Efficiency and Beyond
Getting to 50 is an NBI information campaign to help designers, architects, owners and contractors achieve truly high-performance buildings. The effort offers practical guidance for design teams ready to consider performance improvements that will make their buildings 50 percent more efficient than standard practice.
LEED Building Performance Study
In 2008, NBI released an influential and widely-cited study on the energy performance of LEED buildings. The study showed that while LEED buildings were performing better than average buildings in energy use, a wide “scatter” of performance existed among LEED buildings existed, with some performing much better than anticipated and some much worse.