ZNE Institutional Retrofit

In an effort to partner with innovators and early adopters of the ZNE concept through the Emerging Technologies Program (ETP), Southern California Edison (SCE) is working with the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), Division of Student Affairs to understand the feasibility of achieving Zero Net Energy (ZNE) at the UCSB Recreational Facility and Aquatics Complex. Though specific goals of SCE and UCSB are somewhat different, the partnership is aligned to achieve Zero Net Energy (ZNE) on the existing UCSB recreational facilities located on campus. Because ZNE is a unique pathway to building design and construction and is still under development, both sides of the partnership were interested in understanding and documenting the various pathways for achieving ZNE. This project was undertaken to create the foundation necessary to proceed with design and implementation of energy efficiency measures (EEMs) and renewable technologies to achieve ZNE. Because of the work of the partnership, the project team has identified over 30 EEMs to help reduce the baseline usage of the Recreational Facility and Aquatics Complex. These EEMs have been evaluated for energy savings, cost payback, and optimized specifically for this facility, enabling the presentation of four example packages of ways in which the facility can achieve ZNE with a reasonable return on investment. Recommended packages were sorted into four categories including: ZNE based on utility-recommended EEMs (i.e., economic-driven), ZNE based on quickest implementation, ZNE based on quickest payback, and an innovation/pool-focused ZNE package. These packages range in paybacks from fewer than 10 years for the economic-driven package to 23 years for the innovation/pool-focused package. It is difficult to quantify energy savings since combining renewable generation will eliminate grid source energy usage altogether; however, the project team did quantify energy savings for the EEM packages. Energy savings ranged from 600,000 kilowatt-hour (kWh) annually for the economic-driven package to 1,600,000 kWh annually for the innovation/pool focused project. Identifying energy savings figures and reducing baseline energy usage were found to be essential for achieving ZNE. These tasks were performed by the project team based on the Measurement and Verification (M&V) plan established at the beginning of the project. Without first lowering the baseline usage, a renewable generation plant to cover the baseline usage was shown to be uneconomical and did not fully address gas usage. Supplemental to establishing energy savings figures, the project team documented the Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) and Basis of Design (BOD), both considered critical in proceeding with any complex retrofit or new construction project. It is expected, should UCSB move forward with some or all of the EEMs, incentives from various programs will be leveraged. Based on the work performed as part of this project, it was determined that ZNE is feasible for the UCSB recreational facility and aquatics complex. However, due to the complexity of some of the measures, it is recommended that UCSB retain a design team prior to proceeding with implementation. Once a design team has been retained, it is highly recommended that they review the OPR, BOD, and anticipated energy savings figures established by this project.