"Evaluating Building Performance of an Existing Research Laboratory Building: Energy-Efficiency and Indoor Environmental Quality" presents a comprehensive study on energy-efficient (EE) retrofit strategies for improving building performance and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in a higher-education research laboratory building. The case study is an existing 12,932m² (139,200ft²), five-story research laboratory building on the University of Utah campus - selected due to the availability of construction documentation, actual energy consumption data, and the capability for in-situ equipment installation to monitor actual IEQ data in two representative indoor spaces. The study utilized qualitative and quantitative research methods, including archival research, in-situ measurements, simulations and modeling, and comparative analysis between actual and simulated EE and IEQ. While the full extent of this research includes data collection from August 2023 through August 2024, this paper presents results for the available seven months of the study and predominantly focuses on IEQ data collection and analysis. The case study laboratory building is particularly inefficient regarding its energy use and thermally uncomfortable. Its actual source energy use intensity (sEUI) varied from 146-166kWh/m²/yr (463-526kBtu/ft²/yr) during the years of 2020, 2021, and 2022. This very high energy usage is mostly attributed to district hot water. Once normalized, it resulted in an average sEUI of 126kWh/m²/year (398kBtu/ft²/yr), 20% higher than the US national median for laboratories. IEQ data revealed different patterns between the two monitored spaces. Lab 1 recorded elevated indoor temperatures (reaching 29.5°C) between September and November, which then fell below the comfort temperature range (reaching 18.0°C) between November and mid-February. In contrast, Lab 2 recorded relatively stable indoor temperatures. Both spaces recorded higher relative humidity levels (50%-60%) during August and September, and both recorded CO₂ levels above 500ppm during August. The study pinpoints the need for appropriate design retrofit strategies to enhance the building's energy performance and improve IEQ for occupants’ comfort. While a single case, the presented methods are adaptable for laboratory buildings in various settings.

Citation:

Milosevic, S., Adekunle, T., and Aksamija, A., (2024). “Evaluating Building Performance of an Existing Research Laboratory Building: Energy-Efficiency and Indoor Environmental Quality”, Proceedings of the Comfort at the Extremes (CATE) 2024 Conference, Seville, Spain, November 20-24.