Hub: New Construction
NBI Unveils New Multifamily Energy Guide
News / October 30, 2017
Published in EC&M: Multifamily buildings offer a largely untapped opportunity for improving energy efficiency, according to a recent report from the New Buildings Institute (NBI). Despite tremendous potential for savings, the organization explains why the multifamily market is hard to...

New Multifamily Guide Offers Solutions that Deliver Up to 25% Energy Savings
Post / October 10, 2017 / Energy Codes
Multifamily buildings pose a conundrum for advancing energy performance. As a building type, they are caught somewhere between commercial buildings and single-family residences – they are often constructed like commercial buildings, yet used as residential buildings. Energy-efficient technologies and design...
National Grid Presents — Office Worker Performance and the Indoor Environment
Webinar / August 31, 2017
Offices pose a unique opportunity for advancing energy efficiency. With relatively consistent activities and energy loads, energy efficiency strategies can be highly targeted for maximum effectiveness. This webinar presents best in class approaches to improving energy efficiency in offices. It…
NBI Completes Study into Energy Performance of Commercial Buildings with Radiant Systems for Cooling and Heating
Post / August 10, 2017
During the renovation of the Edith Green Wendell Wyatt Federal Building, a variable air volume (VAV) system was replaced with a radiant design system. The design team included numerous CBE industry partners, including SERA Architects, Stantec, Interface Engineering, and Charles...
Energy Performance of Commercial Buildings with Radiant Heating and Cooling
Report / August 10, 2017 / HVAC
This report is part of the California Energy Commission (CEC) EPIC project (EPIC-14-009), Optimizing Radiant Systems for Energy Efficiency and Comfort. The main goal of this research was to determine the building characteristics of projects with radiant heating and cooling…
Best Practice Options for LED Lighting in Multifamily Offer Illumination Without Negative Impacts
Post / July 5, 2017 / Lighting
This material has been excerpted from the soon-to-be-released Multifamily Guide offering best practice design for high performance multifamily new construction projects. Stay tuned for more information on the Guide’s release. LED lighting had some of its earliest and broadest successes...
Quantifying the Water-Energy Nexus at the Building Project Scale
Online Tool / June 1, 2017 / Water-Energy Nexus
NBI has laid the groundwork to connect the water-energy nexus at the power plant with the energy consumed at the building level. With the support of existing research and funding from the Edwards Mother Earth Foundation, NBI has created a…
Smartglass International’s retrofit project with SPD-SmartGlass will protect priceless paintings at the University of Edinburgh and increases energy efficiency in buildings
News / September 23, 2016
Research Frontiers licensee Smartglass International addresses the long term savings that commercial organizations can realize when they install SPD-SmartGlass in their buildings. From 2016-2023, it is estimated that $960 billion will be invested to make existing buildings more environmentally friendly....
2018 IECC Code (Base Codes)
Codes & Policy / September 14, 2016
NBI demonstrated its leadership in codes by submitting proposals for the IECC that included a unified chapter for multifamily housing codes and a lighting measure to begin to tackle indoor agricultural energy usage before the industry expands further. FINAL STATUS...
Savings Verification for Performance Contracting
Case Study / December 23, 2015
Washington’s Department of General Administration supervised an energy system retrofit of Spokane’s Westlake State Hospital and then was responsible for verifying the energy savings resulting from the improvements. However, when the hospital’s energy management system experienced a partial loss of…