(Apologies for cross-posting)
The DOE-sponsored Virtual Building Triathlon (VBT) practitioner design
competition is now open - details and registration are at
https://virtualbuildingtriathlon.lbl.gov/. The competition involves the
identification and evaluation of integrated deep retrofit measures for a
commercial building located in Cambridge, MA. The goal of the
competition is to promote the use of building simulation and other tools
in the analysis of integrated energy efficiency retrofit measures. A
similar competition for students currently enrolled in US colleges and
universities was announced earlier. The competitions are organized by
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory for the Tech to Market team in the
Building Technologies Office of the US Department of Energy, in
conjunction with the International Building Performance Simulation
Association (IBPSA-USA).
Key dates:
- 1/3/2017: Competition submissions due
- 1/17/2017: Selection of finalists
- 1/28/2017: Finalist presentations, judging and awards in conjunction
with the IBPSA-USA meeting in Las Vegas, NV, which is co-located with
the ASHRAE Winter Meeting.
A medium-sized, public commercial building (the City of Cambridge
Citywide Senior Center) has been selected based on the availability of
detailed as-built drawings, detailed energy consumption data, and
synergy with the interests of the building owner.
The first stage of the triathlon involves generating a detailed
simulation model of the building from the package of plans,
specifications and data obtained on registering for the competition. A
full year of 15 minute electricity consumption and monthly fuel
consumption data, together with the corresponding weather data, is
included in the briefing package. The contestants are expected to use
this data to fine tune / calibrate their model, using a method of their
choice, which could be a calibration method based on formal optimization
(e.g., Oak Ridge National Laboratory?s Autotune) or a
?human-in-the-loop? reconciliation method (e.g., Hydro Qu?bec?s VizBEM
tool); however, contestants should clearly document their chosen method.
Contestants are free to use the simulation tool of their choice.
The second stage of the triathlon will be to identify and analyze
integrated retrofit measures along with their respective integrated
energy consumption and energy demand impacts. Contestants should then
select and document a set of the identified measures, based on energy
savings, peak demand reduction and carbon emissions, including a
scenario in which the carbon emissions associated with electricity
generation are reduced by a factor of two by renewables.
The third stage will focus on the production of cohesive and thorough
retrofit reporting and presentation materials, with the objective of
efficiently conveying the information needed by decision making building
owners and managers.
Three finalists will be selected based on written submissions. The final
award selections will be based on a combination of the written
submission and oral presentation by each finalist, including responses
to questions from the judges. Assistance with expenses incurred for
travel and overnight accommodation in Las Vegas will be made available.
The winners will each receive a plaque and their achievements will be
recognized by DOE and on relevant social media.
The competition will be open to individuals or teams of up to five
people, all of whom must be employed by architectural and engineering
firms in the US. Each member of the team must register with a current
email address at an architectural or engineering firm based in the US.
For those outside the US, there will be a simulation-oriented design
competition as part of the Building Simulation 2017
August - details will be released in the next months. There will be a
competition for students and it is anticipated that there will also be a
competition for practitioners.
Contestants should send clarification questions to vbt-questions at lbl.gov
competition website and/or e-mailed to all registered contestants
(without revealing the identity of the questioner).
--
Philip Haves
Staff Scientist / Mechanical Engineer
Building Technology and Urban Systems Division
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
One Cyclotron Road, MS 90R3145
Berkeley, CA 94720-8134
(510) 486 6512 (office)
(510) 486 4089 (fax)
