| Abstrakt: |
The Jack Evans Police Headquarters in Dallas, Texas, used 7,631 MWh of electricity and 14,000 therms of gas in 2004. For this 33,000 m2 (360,000 ft2) building, this is 240 kWh/m2 (76 kBtu/ft2). This is a low energy use building given that it operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-round. The peak electricity demand in July 2004 was 1283 kW, this is only 39 W/m2 (3.6 W/ft2). The City of Dallas required a simple payback of 10 years, and the average payback for all green building measures was 9 years. With electricity costs doubling in the past three years, cost savings from just the efficient lighting design have gone from $80,000/yr to over $150,000/yr. The city also benefited from the addition of energy recovery to the air handlers, which cut 200 tons off the chiller load and saved over $100,000 in first costs. Low-energy buildings such as this one demonstrate the wisdom behind investing in energy efficiency; with evidence such as this, more are sure to follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
