Cluster analysis of simulated energy use for LEED certified U.S. office buildings

Abstract

This study uses cluster analysis to examine simulated energy consumption of 134 U.S. LEED NC office buildings to classify buildings into high, medium, and low energy use intensity clusters. The analysis uses energy simulation results from the LEED database, as a comparably large data set of energy end uses from sub-meter data does not yet exist. The difference between the low energy use cluster and other clusters is explained mostly by lower process loads and lower heating energy intensity, and partly by lower intensities of other HVAC related end-uses. Lighting energy use shows the least variation between clusters. The lower heating energy intensity in the low intensity cluster is largely explained by lower roof U-values, lower window-to-wall ratio, and smaller building size. Unregulated process loads are the most significant contributor to total building energy use, accounting for 36%, 33%, and 31% of the energy use in the high, medium, and low intensity clusters, respectively. This analysis provides a quantitative evaluation of the large difference in energy intensities in high-performance office buildings, showing that these buildings are dominated by internal loads, especially unregulated process loads.

Evaluating energy performance in non-domestic buildings: A review

“…Heidarinejad and colleagues study LEED certified buildings to map the variation and uncertainty in three main variables: days of operation, process loads and occupancy rates. Analysing these variables can give a measure of risk for levels of performance gap [74].…”

“…Gao shows K-means clustering to be more effective than EnergyStar in developing comprehensive benchmarks for building performance [154]. Petcharat applies clustering analysis to evaluate energy efficiency potential from lighting upgrades [160], while Heidarinejad applies clustering techniques to simulated energy consumption of LEED certified buildings, to show that unregulated and internal loads are the principal contributor to total energy consumption [74]. Arambula-Lara uses clustering analysis by MLR to evaluate school energy performance and define reference buildings for each cluster [161].…”

LEED, its efficacy in regional context: Finding a relationship between regional measurements and urban temperature

“…Previous literature about post occupancy evaluation investigates the total energy use intensity (EUI) measuring the Energy & Atmosphere credit [10][11][12][13][14][15]18]. Possible issues for these studies, however, can be summarized into two folds.…”

Strengths and Weaknesses of Existing Building Green Retrofits: Case Study of a LEED EBOM Gold Project

“…More details of this program could be found in the reference guide of LEED EBOM [33]. A number of studies have been conducted to verify the impact of LEED certification on building energy and environmental performance [34][35][36]. These studies showed the benefits of an existing building retrofit and green building certification to building owners, tenants and occupants [37].…”