Adapting to a New Reality— Strategies for Building Energy Design in a Changing Climate

Authors

  • Daniel L. Briller

Abstract

Building energy design is traditionally performed using retro-
gressive data sets (e.g., the past 30 years of weather data). The implied
presumption has always been that this data will cycle back and forth
around relatively static baseline averages. With increasing evidence that
some level of climate change may be occurring, it is natural for building
owners, developers, designers, and managers to question whether and
to what extent these fundamental climate assumptions may be altered
in future years. Depending on a building’s locality, these could take the
form of increasing or decreasing trends in seasonal average tempera-
tures, daily maximum and minimum temperatures, relative humidity,
barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, cloud cover, and total
precipitation. These assumptions are crucial, because a typical build-
ing must remain habitable for 30-50 years (or longer) and provide its
owner(s) with the maximum possible return on a sizeable capital invest-
ment.

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Author Biography

Daniel L. Briller

Daniel L. (“Dan”) Briller, P.E., LEED AP, is a Senior Project Manager with J.M. Waller Associates, Atlanta, GA, and has over 26 years of experience in sustainability, energy, environmental compliance, and hazardous waste site remediation. He has assisted clients such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Aviation Administration, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in developing solutions to meet the challenges of the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) of 2005, the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007, and Executive Orders 13423 and 13514. These services include: (1) updating engineering specifications to incorporate green building technologies, (2) planning and implementation of pollution prevention programs, and (3) developing strategic plans and compliance tools to facilitate achievement of aggressive federal sustainability goals. He is a member of the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE); the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and is a registered professional engineer in Missouri. He can be contacted at dan.briller@jmwaller.com or danbriller@hotmail.com.

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Published

2023-07-11

How to Cite

Briller, D. L. . (2023). Adapting to a New Reality— Strategies for Building Energy Design in a Changing Climate . Strategic Planning for Energy and the Environment, 32(4), 14–63. Retrieved from https://journals.riverpublishers.com/index.php/SPEE/article/view/19765

Issue

2013: Vol 32 Iss 4 2012-2013

Section

Articles