10 Current State of Buildings To better understand opportunities for introducing efficiencies and viable energy reduction measures, as well as develop a calibrated baseline energy model, the current energy use of (metered) buildings on campus were reviewed. Metered energy use data from the MIT Sustainability Data Pool at the building scale from 2010 were analyzed. Some key findings are summarized: - Labs are estimated to use about 35% of total campus building use - LEED buildings have marginally lower average normalized energy use (see Figure 4). - On average, across buildings which underwent capital improvements, gas and steam consumption significantly decreased, but cooling and electricity use increased. - Several buildings which underwent significant capital improvements and/or energy retrofits show little change in energy use after renovations were complete (for example, Building 9 and Building 2, seen in Figure 5 and 6). o However, for Building 9, in the event of energy retrofits, while total energy use does not change much, peak loads decrease. o Additionally, for Building 2, an increase in electricity use after renovations could be due to higher occupancy rates after upgrades occur. - Tang Hall (Building W84), which underwent a thermal control upgrade in 2021, exhibits a clear decrease in heating loads. - Buildings with higher total energy use are not necessarily buildings with the highest energy use intensity (per square foot). This can be an important metric to consider when targeting buildings for retrofits which can achieve the most emission reduction. In addition to understanding current energy use, through conversations with the MIT Facilities teams, we gained insight into current building operations and capital improvement functions across MIT-owned buildings. While this analysis was not comprehensive, some critical findings contributed to our recommendations to expand Facilities teams’ capacity to enable campus retrofits at scale. In particular, shifting capital investments from reactionary to anticipatory (or preventative) through more frequent data collection and analysis is seen as an important factor that will enable improved operations and more efficient retrofit diffusion across campus buildings. This is discussed further in recommendations.
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