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Advanced Energy Design Guides

Overview/Purpose

The ASHRAE Advanced Energy Design Guides (AEDG) are a series of publications designed to provide AEDGBook recommendations for achieving energy savings over the minimum code requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-1999. The guides have been developed in collaboration with these partnering organizations: The American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The New Building Institute (NBI) participated only in the development of the Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Office Buildings.

The initial series of guides have an energy savings target of 30% which is the first step in the process toward achieving a net zero energy building - defined as a building that, on an annual basis, draws from outside resources equal or less energy than it provides using on-site renewable energy sources. Each 30^% Guide addresses a specific building type. Additional guides for existing buildings and at 50% energy savings towards a net zero energy building are also planned.

ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-1999, the energy conservation standard published at the turn of the millennium, provides the fixed reference point for all of the 30% Guides in this series. The primary reason for this choice as a reference point is to maintain a consistent baseline and scale for all of the 30^% AEDG series documents.

AEDGTable The recommendations in the 30^% Guides will allow those involved in designing or constructing the various building types to easily achieve advanced levels of energy savings without having to resort to detailed calculations or analyses. All of the energy saving recommendations for each of the eight U.S. climate zones are contained on a single page, thus facilitating the 30^% Guide’s use. Additional recommendations point out other opportunities to incorporate greater energy savings into the design of the building.

Help in implementing the recommendations of the 30^% Guides can be found in an expanded section of tips and approaches in the “How to Implement Recommendations” chapter of the 30^% Guides. To further facilitate its use, the 30^% Guides cross-reference the how-to information with numbered tips and color-coded climate zone maps. Examples of advanced building designs are also provided to illustrate the points made and to demonstrate the flexibility offered in achieving the advanced energy savings provided within the 30^% Guides.

The use of the guides provides a prescriptive path to achieving LEED v2.2 Energy & Atmosphere credits for New Construction and Major Renovation projects. USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System™ provides a roadmap for measuring and documenting success in the design, construction, and operation of high performance green buildings. The LEED for New Construction focus primarily on office buildings, but USGBC is also developing LEED Retail for New Construction and LEED for Schools.

Published/Completed Guides

FREE Download of 30^% Advanced Energy Design Guides
To promote building energy efficiency, ASHRAE and its partners are making the Advanced Energy Design Guides—including the newest, for Small Warehouses and Self-Storage Buildings—available for free download (PDF). The guides offer designers and contractors the tools needed for achieving a 30% energy savings compared to buildings that meet the minimum requirements of Standard 90.1-1999.” Learn more

Six 30^% Guides have been completed:

The ASHRAE 30^% Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Office Buildings — Office buildings up to 20,000 ft² Order the print edition of this Design Guide
The ASHRAE 30^% Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Retail Buildings — Retail spaces up to 20,000 ft²
Order the print edition of this Design Guide
The ASHRAE 30^% Advanced Energy Design Guide for K-12 School Buildings — Elementary, Middle, and High School Buildings
Order the print edition of this Design Guide
The ASHRAE 30^% Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Warehouses and Self-Storage Buildings — Warehouses up to 50,000 ft² and self-storage buildings that use unitary heating and air-conditioning
Order the print edition of this Design Guide
The ASHRAE 30^% Advanced Energy Design Guide for Highway Lodging — Roadside hotels up to 80 rooms and 4 stories.
Order the print edition of this Design Guide
The ASHRAE 30^% Advanced Energy Design Guide for Small Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities — Small Healthcare facilities up to 90,000 ft² including Acute Care, Outpatient Surgical, small Critical Access and Inpatient Community Hospitals.
Order the print edition of this Design Guide

Technical Support Documents
All of the 30% Advanced Energy Design Guides have a corresponding Technical Support Document prepared by the National Lab that did the analysis for the development of that guide. These documents contain additional details about the analysis and development process.
To view AEDG Technical Support Documents

30% AEDG Market Assessment
In 2009, ASHRAE commissioned a market survey of its members to assess the market impact of the 30% Advanced Energy Design Guides. The study focused on the first four published guides and was intended to compare awareness and usage of the AEDGs, to assess the energy savings impacts resulting from using the AEDGs, and to assess potential improvements that would maximize the guides effectiveness. The final report and briefing presentation can be viewed below.
AEDG Market Assessment Final Report
AEDG Market Assessment Briefing Presentation

The ASHRAE Energy Efficiency Guide for Existing Commercial Buildings: The Business Case for Building Owners and Managers — Provides the rational for making economic decisions related to improving and sustaining energy efficiency in existing buildings.
Order this Design Guide

Go to ASHRAE bookstore
Errata and Updates on existing publications

LEED Compliance Path
The Advanced Energy Design Guides provide a prescriptive compliance path for LEED New Construction EA points. The specific points available for use of the AEDGs is described in the LEED documentation and may vary by guide type. More details are available at the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED website.

For information on LEED Rating System

Additional Information

ASHRAE Standard 90.1 provides information to apply the U.S. Climate Zones to international locations in Normative Appendix B – Building Envelope Climate Criteria. That information can be viewed here.

To view ASHRAE 90.1 International Climate Zone Information

DOE has developed a series of benchmark models, and associated EUIs, based on 16 different commercial building types (prototypical standard buildings that comply with Standard 90.1) for both new construction and existing buildings.

To view Energy Use Intensities (EUIs) for benchmark models

Varied information related to the guides has been created since their initial publication. This information includes news releases, ASHRAE Journal articles and Power Point presentations. ASHRAE members have free access to this information. Non-members may purchase and download the Journal articles.

To view ASHRAE news releases
To view ASHRAE Journal articles
To view Power Point presentations

Planned Guides

Several 50^% Advanced Energy Design Guides planned for the 2009-2011 time period. These may include: Small to Medium Office Buildings, Mid-box Retail Buildings, Highway Lodging, Grocery/Supermarket, K-12 School Buildings, and Quick Serve Restaurants. The publication dates for these guides are still to be determined. These guides will offer the tools needed for achieving a 50% energy savings compared to buildings that meet the minimum requirements of Standard 90.1-2004.

Preliminary Technical Support Documents have been completed for a some of these building types as exploratory work to determine the types of equipment and design elements that may be needed to reach the 50% energy savings level as compared to Standard 90.1-2004.

50% AEDG Technical Support Documents

Feedback/Remarks

Feedback on the use of any of the guides is welcomed and encouraged by ASHRAE. Please let us know your thoughts on the guide itself and/or what impact the recommendations had on your building. How important was the guide in your energy savings efforts? What energy savings have you experienced as a result of using the AEDG? ASHRAE is always interested in results that can be used as case studies in future publications. Thank you for your input.

To provide feedback on the Guides
To share impact / energy savings information
Check back soon for a compilation of feedback and other issues of interest from others.

Soliciting Case Studies

AEDGCover ASHRAE is assembling case studies to help show the impact and value of designing buildings using the 30% guide series. The case studies are being collected via the DOE high-performance database. You may provide as much or as little information as you like. The maximum information provided best helps the industry to create lower energy buildings. Thank you for your participation. Once submitted, your case study information will be sent to an editorial board. Submitted case studies will be published on this site.

To provide Case Study information
To view submitted Case Studies
To go to DOE’s database

FAQs

A list of frequently asked questions is provided as a service to ASHRAE members, users of the AEDG publications, and the general public. While every effort has been made to ensure their accuracy and reliability, the answers are advisory and provided for informational purposes only. They are not intended and should not be relied on as an official statement of ASHRAE. If you do not find the answer to your question in this list, please use the feedback form above to contact us with your question.

Frequently Asked Questions