BEAM Plus Existing Buildings

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BEAM PLUS FOR EXISTING BUILDINGS APPENDICES
V ERSION 1.2 8.1 ANNUAL ENERGY USE
Copyright © 2012 BEAM Society Limited. All rights reserved.
A - 2
8.1 ANNUAL ENERGY
USE
8.1.1 ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK
8.1.2
8.1.3
8.1.4 REQUIREMENTS
8.1.5
8.1.6 EXCEPTIONAL CALCULATION METHOD
8.1.1 ASSESSMENT
FRAMEWORK
The assessment framework described in this Appendix embraces all
types of existing buildings and complexes, including commercial, hotel,
school and other types of buildings with or without air-conditioning.
Buildings comprising predominantly air-conditioned premises and those
comprising predominantly non-air-conditioned premises will be assessed
following different procedures, with the former assessed somewhat more
rigorously than the latter. This is because air-conditioning is the dominant
energy end-use in modern buildings in Hong Kong and hence it is crucial
to ensure the air-conditioning installations are energy efficient.
The assessment of the energy performance of a building development
comprises three parts. The first part of the assessment is on the in-use
energy performance, which includes a comparison of the energy use of
the building against a predicted/calculated annual energy use benchmark
that is dependent on the ‘as-built’ characteristics of the building, the
types of premises it houses and the range and operational
characteristics of services systems required to meet the functional needs
of the premises. Where a mix of fuel is used in the same building, e.g. a
hotel, the assessment is based on the incurred CO2 emission due to
energy use.
The assessment will be based, as far as practicable, on metered energy
use in buildings. Variations in the assessment method also exist between
multi-tenanted and single-user buildings, due to the different energy use
metering arrangements involved. Since the energy use data required for
the assessment can be made available from a thorough energy audit,
having an energy audit completed right before the assessment is highly
preferred.
Included in the second part are assessments of relevant features specific
to individual types of buildings, which are based either on component-
performance or feature specific criteria. Also included in this part is
renewable energy use in buildings, such as the use of solar panels for
water heating and photovoltaic panels, fuel cells and wind turbines for
electricity generation. Considering that renewable energy application in
buildings in Hong Kong is still in its infancy and most methods remain
economically non-viable and require a quantum jump in product
efficiency and/or a large drop in price to change the situation, the
relevant credits will be awarded as bonus credits so as to encourage
wider application of renewable energy, without diminishing the scores for
buildings that have not incorporated such measures. The third part
covers provisions that facilitate energy efficient operation and
maintenance.
8.1.2 PERFORMANCE-BASED
APPROACH
Buildings accommodating predominantly air-conditioned premises, such
as malls, offices, hotels and high-rise apartments, are the dominant
electricity consumers in Hong Kong. In order to allow Clients the greatest
flexibility in achieving the energy performance targets for their buildings,
the assessment will be based primarily on the ‘energy budget approach’,
supplemented by a range of basic requirements. The key features of the
assessment framework developed for assessing air-conditioned
buildings are as described below.
The ‘energy budget’ for an assessed building development is the zero-