Energy

According to the Department of Energy, buildings account for:

  • 65% of total U.S. electricity consumption
  • 36% of total U.S. primary energy use
  • 30% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions
  • 12% of potable water in the U.S.

Since 1992, we have been at work:

  • reducing buildings’ energy needs
  • designing renewable energy systems
  • increasing the quality and safety of the interior environment
  • weaning buildings from fossil fuels
  • reducing building water usage
  • making smarter buildings

salvation army hqSalvation Army HQ

Take a 200,000 SF Territorial Headquarters facility built in 1970, and apply today’s energy costs. You get opportunities for energy savings. Weber Consultants was commissioned to study where the energy goes and how to use it more effectively. Recommended alternatives cut the annual $325,000 energy bill by almost 50%

Johnson FoundationThe Johnson Foundation

Since 1998, the Johnson Foundation, with the help of Weber Consultants, has renovated the Wingspread Conference Center to dramatically decrease energy and water consumption. A new 16 KW photovoltaic system went online in Spring of 2007. A 2006 energy conservation study pinpointed lighting, controls, and boilers for recommended upgrades.

Energy ModelingEnergy Modeling

The US Department of Energy’s current DOE 2.1 computer program is a powerful estimating tool that can model an enormous amount of building data to determine the most economical mechanical and lighting systems from a number of alternatives.

The mathematical model to the left was used to determine the best retrofits for an existing three building complex. It estimated the buildings’ actual energy consumption to within 3%.

LEEDTM requires the use of energy models to verify energy consumption.