ASHRAE Tells Congress To Resume Work On Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey

Recently, LightNOW reported that the Department of Energy botched the 2007 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey, and then postponed work on the 2011 CBECS due to budget cuts. Our take is that you cannot set policy if you cannot measure, and you cannot maximize your building’s savings without benchmarks. The data this survey yields is an incredibly valuable snapshot of commercial building energy use, including adoption rates for energy-efficient lighting strategies. The latest data is from 2003, and is severely outdated.

ASHRAE responded by calling on Congress to let DOE do its job. On July 13, Representatives Judy Biggert (R-IL) and Russ Carnahan (D-MO), co-chairs of the High-Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus expressed their support on the House floor.

Carnahan read from the ASHRAE letter on the House floor, saying if work on the 2011 CBECS data does not resume, “the government and industry will be forced to rely on data that is nearly a decade old, resulting in potential missed opportunities to increase building efficiency.”

“Many members of the High Performance Building Coalition have come to us to express their concern about an updated CBECS since the latest data is nearly a decade old,” Biggert said while addressing the House. “Substantial investments in the commercial building sector have been made since the last CBECS was published in 2003. The updated data is not only valuable to building owners looking to make improvements, but also necessary to inform the Annual Energy Outlook that we, in Congress, rely on.”

Thank you, ASHRAE!

Craig DiLouie

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