Energy Performance Evaluation of a Low-Energy Academic Building

The Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies in Oberlin, Ohio, is a 13,600 ft2 (1,263 m2) academic building designed with a long-term goal of operating as a net energy exporter. The building was designed to consume significantly less energy than a typical building.
Features to achieve the energy savings include daylighting, enhanced thermal envelope, ground-source heat pumps, energy recovery ventilators, a dimming lighting system and natural ventilation. The building is equipped with a 60 kW photovoltaic array.
The annual energy performance of this building was monitored and evaluated from March 2001 through February 2003.
Documenting actual energy performance and evaluating design flows and successes led to important lessons that can be applied to the designs of future high-performance educational
and commercial buildings.
During the third year of occupancy, the building consumed 29.8 kBtu/ft2yr (94.0 kWh/m2yr), or 48% less energy than a conventional ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2001 energy code-compliant building. On-site photovoltaic generation met 45% of this energy requirement, for a total
net energy use intensity of 16.4 kBtu/ft2yr (52.1 kWh/m2yr).