COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

A. GETTING STARTED WITH BPA CERTIFICATE

The Autodesk Building Performance Analysis Certificate (BPAC) has been developed to help
anyone in architecture, engineering, or construction management learn the basic building science
knowledge and Autodesk software tools needed to design high performance buildings.

1A1/2: Course Outline

The BPA Certificate program is essentially an online certificate. It’s meant to be a learning
experience, not a testing experience. It’s designed with 7 core courses, as follows:

1. Introduction to the BPA Certificate [You are here!]

2. Energy Literacy & Building Loads
3. Climate & Weather Analysis
4. Solar Measurements & Strategies
5. Wind & Airflow Strategies
6. Daylight Strategies & Analysis
7. Whole Building Energy Analysis with Revit

Each course is a mixture of content, quizzes, and software exercises. The content backbone of the
course is the Autodesk Sustainability Workshop and Autodesk BPA Help. We’ve tried to make the
topics and exercises come to life, and be grounded in application, by using case studies and
examples all along the way.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

With each course there is a syllabus of sorts that will detail what is covered in each section. Below is
the syllabus for this introduction course, as well as an explanation of each component.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

1A2/2: Course Navigation

 Accessing Content & Quizzes

When you login, you should see what you’re registered for (i.e. Building Performance Analysis
Certificate), and your progress on each course (i.e. Energy Literacy and Building Loads).

NOTE: If you’re doing the BPA Certificate as part of a class at school or work, and you have a
local instructor who’s overseeing your involvement, you should see an indication of that in
the title of the course (i.e. the instructor or institution’s name). If not, DO NOT proceed. Make
sure to go back and register with the unique key that your instructor should have given you.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

When you click on a course, you’ll see something like this …

1) Click on the big green arrow to start the course from the beginning.
2) Click on any of the links in the outline to jump to a specific unit (i.e. Temperature) or quiz (i.e.
Temperature & Humidity Quiz).
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

When you get into the content of a course, your screen will look like this…

1) The content to read or watch is in the main viewing pane. (In this case, it’s an introduction
page with a visual syllabus for that course).
2) You can always see the units and quizzes in the course on the right side-bar, and can navigate
the course from here.
3) As you click through the units and quizzes, can see your progress on the course on the right
sidebar.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

You can also use the forward and back arrows at the bottom of the main viewing pane to progress
through the course.

1) Much of the content for the courses come from external websites, like the Sustainability
Workshop. The courses are a curated playlist of content that uses case studies, quizzes, and
software exercises to turn it into an online course.
2) The forward and back arrows under the main content pane help you navigate the playlist.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

You need to pass all of the quizzes to pass the courses. The passing score for quizzes is 80%.
You can retake the quizzes as many times as you like by selecting the Redo Test button at the top of
the quiz. The system will save your best score.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

 How to Check Your Scores

There are several ways to check your progress throughout the online courses.

A green check by a quiz means

that it has been passed. A red X by
a quiz means that the quiz was not
passed. There’s also an
exclamation mark that can
appear. This usually means that
you left a quiz unfinished.

An easy way to check your overall progress is on the Home screen. Here you can see if you’ve
finished a course (a green check), and how much work you’ve done for others.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

If you specifically want to know your score for a specific course or quiz, select the Reports icon from
the Home screen in the right hand Tools box.

Expand the two course Names by selecting the “+” sign. Now you’ll see your score for each lesson
you completed. You can Export this information as an Excel file or PDF in the upper right corner.

If you select the Information icon to the right of the score, you’ll see your scores for each quiz in
that course.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

 How to Provide Feedback & Contact Us

Feedback Forms

We are constantly working to improve our online courses, and the best way to do that is through
your feedback. You’ll see at the end of each lesson there are Feedback forms. If you have concerns
about a specific course or have suggestions on how we can make it better, feel free to give us your
thoughts here.

For the BPA Certificate, the final lesson of the course (Final BPAC Feedback) is a place where you
can give us feedback on your overall experience in the course. This last part will only become
unlocked once you complete the previous seven courses. This last part also must be completed in
order for you to receive your certificate. The final feedback form here is where you can sign up to
join the Autodesk Student Expert Program.

For the individual courses, there is also a Final Feedback form. Through this form you will find out
how to receive CEU credit for the course you completed.

Contact Us

Throughout the courses, we welcome you to reach out with any questions or concerns you have.
Our helpline is available Monday through Friday from 9 to 5 Pacific Time and we are dedicated to
providing prompt responses.

Before emailing us, please include your name and login ID. Also, include screenshots that show us
what the problem is. By including these, we can better understand your problem and help you solve
it faster.

Reach out to bpac@autodesk.com.

 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

B. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS AND BUILDINGS

In this first section, we’ll provide a high-level understanding of the issues involved in sustainable,
high-performance building design. Before you can start learning how to do Building Performance
Analysis, it might be helpful to learn what it is, and why it’s important. Also, how does BPA relate to
BIM, an approach to design you might already be familiar with?

Keep these guiding questions in mind as you move through this unit.
 How does BPA compare to BIM?
 What measurable impact do buildings have on the environment?
 How do decisions that designers make influence the environment?

1B1/3: BPA and BIM

“This page will explain what building performance analysis is and how it fits in with BIM. It also
starts to explain the benefits of building performance analysis.”

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is an approach to design that uses intelligent 3D computer
models to create, modify, share, and coordinate information throughout the design process. Many
AEC firms are using BIM to drive a more efficient design process.

In addition to driving a more efficient overall design process, BIM is powerful for sustainable design
because it can help you iteratively test, analyze, and improve your design. This is called Building
Performance Analysis (BPA). When used well, using BIM for building performance analysis can help
you design sustainably.

Building Information Models can

be used to design, optimize, and
visualize a building. This is a visual
rendering, but this model might
also be used for construction and
performance analysis.
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 Models are approximations of reality

All models are approximations of reality. Understanding how to make your building model
approximate physical reality can help you create a higher performing building.
Statistician George E.P. Box is quoted as saying: “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” The
same goes for building information models – and the key is to make your models as useful as
possible. For example, a model is useful if it is able to predict future observations, help control
future events, or explain past observations.

 The "i" in BIM drives analysis

At the core of BIM is the information that’s stored in the model. All of this data is stored and
referenced in a back-end database that's an integral part of the model.

BIM uses a
central
model that
can be
extended for
multiple
purposes,
including
performance
analysis.

This information includes the geometry of the project (shapes, layout), the physical properties of
the materials (wall constructions, thermal properties, visual properties), the type of the spaces in
the building, and schedules of operations of each part of the building. Other inputs that can be part
of the model include the location of the building and weather files, which contain detailed
information on such environmental characteristics as temperature, the sun’s path and wind
patterns.

Using this information, analysis engines can run simulations on things like HVAC sizing, energy use,
water use, shading, and lighting levels. You can then make better design decisions by analyzing and
documenting the expected performance of your design.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

The infographic below explains how BIM and BPA are related, and what types of analyses can be
considered building performance analysis. Whole Building Energy Analysis takes into account the
interdependencies of the building as a whole system, so it is a particularly useful way to "keep
score" as you work to reduce building energy use. Other performance studies like daylighting and
solar radiation can help you improve aspects of the design. These studies are most effective when
done in conjunction with energy analysis.

By using mathematical models of real-world phenomena, BPA and BIM can help designers predict
the performance and cost of a building project during the design process.

The linkage of BIM to BPA tools can enable analysis to happen more quickly, more often and more
smoothly during the design process. Without the direct link to a building information model, energy
analysis can involve time consuming manual takeoffs of geometry from 2D plans.

One of the exciting promises of BIM is that it provides users with the ability to analyze building
performance earlier in the design process, when design changes can be easier, less expensive, and
more impactful.

 Parametric make modeling easier

Creating design geometry is often done parametrically in BIM, which means that the related
elements in the design are defined by linked parameters defining the interaction between the two
(for instance, you can build constraints between elements, lock dimensions, and align elements).
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

Also, relationships exist between the building elements: a window knows that it is a hole in the
parent wall, and a roof knows that it is attached to the top of the walls. This is in contrast to simpler
2D CAD models in which two parallel lines might know that they were two parallel lines, but do not
know that they are a wall and hence can’t "know" their connections, mass, visible reflectance, or
thermal characteristics.

With BIM you can build one model and view that model in many different ways (floor plans,
elevations, schedules), because the model parts know where they are located in relation to one
another and how they look in section. A change in the definition of an object will propagate that
change throughout every view of that object in the model.

 Model Types and the Design Team

Different models are used by different people at different times. Architects tend to be more visual
(preferring to draw and sculpt) and their models look like the building will look. Engineers are more
analytical (preferring to calculate and analyze) and their models might look like a simplified building
– or not a building at all (but just a table of numbers). All of these different kinds of models can be
used for integrated sustainable building design.

Examples of different “flavors” of BIM are:

 An architect might author a model that describes the building geometry model.
 An architect or engineer might create an energy model from the building geometry. (EAM =
Energy Analytical Model)
 An MEP engineer might create a discipline design model that fully describes piping and HVAC
ductwork, for example.
 The entire team might collate their models into an aggregated design model to coordinate
different elements of the projects coming together in 3D.
 Manufacturers and contractors can use a fabrication model to make customized assemblies for a
building.
 Facilities or energy engineers can use an existing conditions model to coordinate maintenance
and retrofits.

As you iterate and move through the phases of design, your building information models will
evolve. As your design progresses and you acquire more information, you’ll work at different scales
and level of detail. Along the way, you should always be asking yourself what kinds of models will
be most insightful and what level of detail is the most appropriate.

1B2/3: Environmental Issues and Building Design

“There are many reasons to use building performance analysis for a project. Let's start by
understanding more about the environmental issues that make this work so important...”

According to the scientific community, climate change is happening and its effects will have severe
consequences for our society and environment. Reducing energy use in buildings is one of the most
important ways to reduce humans’ overall environmental impact.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

Ice core records from Antarctica show that changes in carbon dioxide concentrations (blue) track
closely with changes in temperature (red). Carbon dioxide levels are now higher than at any time
during the past 650,000 years. (CREDIT: Marian Koshland Science Museum, source)

Nearly unanimous scientific consensus has established that climate change is occurring as a result
of human activity. Mathematical models of global climate change have linked a human-driven
increase in GHGs to an increase in global temperatures (especially in the past 250 years, since the
industrial revolution). The primary source of this increase in GHGs has been attributed to the
emissions generated by the use of fossil fuel-based energy.

Climate change has been linked to observable disturbances such as the loss of mountain glaciers
and ice cover on the Earth’s polar regions, changes in the timing of the spring bud-break, and an
increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as cold waves, heat waves,
large storms, hurricanes and tornadoes, floods, and droughts.

Climate scientists have theorized that human civilization is in danger of crossing a threshold or
“tipping point” that could lead to more radical changes in the global climate, and that could
accelerate the onset of either a new “hotter and wetter” age similar to the Earth’s environment
before the appearance of human beings, or a new ice age. (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, IPCC Fourth Assessment Report [AR4]).

Scientific estimates place the window of opportunity for reversing this trend in the very near
term—according to some, as briefly as over the next ten years. After that, the global climate may
change irreversibly, and humans will just have to adapt.
In many arenas of implementing real practical change, architects, engineers, and builders are
amongst the few with the skills and resources that provide real, practical, cost-effective, and
inspiring solutions for buildings.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

 Environmental Impacts of Buildings

Quick stats

 Buildings account for 40% of energy use worldwide (WBCSD).

 Energy used during its lifetime causes as much as 90% of environmental impacts from
buildings (Journal of Green Building).
 Building operations consume more than 2/3 of all electricity (BuildingScience.com)
 Residential and commercial buildings consume 40% of the primary energy and 71% of the
total electricity in the United States. (ASHRAE)

Buildings account for 40% of worldwide energy use — which is much more than transportation.
Furthermore, over the next 25 years, CO2 emissions from buildings are projected to grow faster
than any other sector (in the USA), with emissions from commercial buildings projected to grow the
fastest—1.8% a year through 2030 (USGBC).

Often, energy use in the form of electricity drives the largest environmental impacts. Where that
electricity comes from determines what those impacts are. In the United States for example, where
buildings account for more than 70% of electricity use, most of the electricity is generated by coal-
fired electrical power plants (USGBC). Generating one megawatt hour (MWh) of electricity in the US
produces approximately 250 – 900 kg of CO2 depending on the mix of coal, nuclear, hydro and
other sources of fuel (US EPA). As a reference, the average US household consumes approximately
11 MWh of electricity per year (US EIA).

These exact impacts can be quantified by lifecycle assessment (LCA), the most thorough way to
determine the environmental impacts of a design. There is no perfect way to measure
environmental impact. LCAs can measure greenhouse gas (units = CO2e = CO2 equivalent) to
measure global warming potential, or might measure other things like human health, water, and
land-use impacts. You may hear the word “embodied energy” or “embodied carbon” – this refers to
the energy or greenhouse gas emissions caused throughout an object’s lifecycle. Alternatively,
sometimes an overall normalized score is used to combine many kinds of impacts into a single
number (i.e. Eco-Indicator 99). A good primer on LCA is here.

A 2012 LCA study found that “Specifically within commercial buildings, the use and operation phase
of the material and building life cycle is so dominant that the impacts of construction,
demolition/disposal, and transportation are nearly irrelevant for most traditionally constructed
buildings.” (Journal of Green Building)
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Total life cycle impacts by life cycle phase for a prefabricated commercial building with average
California energy use, the building as built (30% of power supplied by photovoltaics), and net
zero energy (100% of power supplied by photovoltaics), in units of EcoIndicator99 points.

“Lifetime energy use energy dominates traditional and even energy-efficient building life cycles,
by far. In such cases, other environmental concerns are nearly always trumped by energy
performance. Once a building meets all energy needs by clean power generation (whether it be
on-site PV panels, PV grid power, or other equally clean renewable not analyzed in this study),
then building materials and manufacturing becomes the dominant life cycle impact phase.”
(Journal of Green Building)

Since 1920, the overall trend in building energy use for commercial buildings is higher energy
intensity per square foot (BuildingScience.com). It is important to reverse this trend.

In the coming decades rapid development will continue in the developing countries, while many
buildings in the developed world will need to be renovated and retrofit. We need to make sure that
the engineers and architects working on these buildings are equipped to make design choices that
use energy effectively.

Files:
ASHRAE: Understanding Zero Energy Buildings (PDF)

1B3/3: Environmental Impacts and Buildings Quiz

 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

C. DESIGN GOALS FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE BUILDING

In this section we'll take a closer look at design goals for both occupant comfort and resource use.
We’ll also talk about Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB), a really important design goal to keep in
mind because it forces you to make smart energy choices. Net Zero is still very ambitious for most
design projects, and there is a wider range of things you need to consider (like occupants and
resources). Also, one goal that is always important is cost. There will be financial implications and
trade-offs to every design decision made.

This section will get you thinking about…

 What goals are important to building design?
 What variables do you need to consider when making design decisions?
 How is performance goals balanced with other goals?

1C1/5: Occupant Comfort

“High performance buildings aren’t only about energy. They also need to perform well for
occupants. Here’s a basic primer on how to think about human comfort from a few different lenses.”

Buildings are designed for people, and those people are trying to accomplish a task – whether it’s
raising a family, running an office, or manufacturing a product. The building needs to keep people
comfortable, efficient, healthy, and safe as they set about their task.

Green design seeks to create buildings that keep people comfortable while minimizing negative
environmental impacts.

 Thermal Comfort

Maintaining a person’s thermal

comfort means ensuring that they
don’t feel too hot or too cold. This
means keeping the temperature,
humidity, airflow and radiant
sources within acceptable range.

Why it’s important

Creating comfortable conditions is one of the biggest uses of energy in buildings and it is also
critical to the happiness and productivity of its users. Often factors such as airflow and radiant
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

temperature are overlooked in a design, leading to higher energy use and occupancy
dissatisfaction.

Metrics

To keep people comfortable you need to provide the right mixture of temperature, humidity,
radiant temperature and air speed. The right level of these variables depends on what activity is
occurring, how active the people are, and what they are wearing. Everyone has slightly different
criteria for comfort, so comfort is often measured by the percentage of occupants who report
they’re satisfied with the conditions.

Design Strategies

Some ways to keep people comfortable are to use the sun’s heat to warm them, use the wind or
ceiling fans to move air when it’s too warm, and keeping surrounding surfaces the correct
temperature with good insulation. HVAC equipment like boilers, fans, and heat exchangers can
temper the air temperature and humidity, but surface temperatures and moving air have to be
considered too.

Learn more about human thermal comfort and passive design strategies to help.

 Visual Comfort

Maintaining visual comfort means

ensuring that people have enough
light for their activities, the light
has the right quality and balance,
and people have good views.

Why it’s important

Good lighting helps create a happy and productive environment. Natural light does this much
better than electric lighting. Having good views and sight-lines gives people a sense of control of
their environment and provides a sense of well-being.

Metrics

Good lighting is well-distributed, is not too dim or too strong, and uses minimal energy. Lighting is
often measured either by the amount of light falling on a surface (illuminance) or the amount of
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

light reflecting off of a surface (luminance). These are objective measures, but how people
experience this light is often subjective (i.e. are they comfortable?, do they experience glare?).
Good visual comfort also generally means that as much of this light is natural light as possible.
Humans are hard-wired to like the sun’s light and it saves energy.

Design Strategies

Daylighting design strategies like high or clerestory windows, light shelves, and well-placed skylights
can help distribute sunlight inside a space. When you do need to use artificial lights, you can reduce
energy use by using efficient fluorescents or LEDs, with daylighting dimming controls, effective
fixtures, and good lighting design. Good controls can automatically balance natural and artificial
lighting. Most lights should have occupancy sensors.

Learn more about natural and artificial lighting and how to measure it.

 Air Quality

In addition to air that’s the right

temperature and humidity for
thermal comfort, it’s important
that air is clean, fresh, and
circulated effectively in the space.

Why it’s important

If air is too stale or is polluted, it can make people uncomfortable, unproductive, unhappy, and sick.
Fresh air helps people be alert, productive, healthy, and happy.

Metrics

Fresh air requires a certain percentage of outside air circulating into spaces. Clean air requires
pollutant and pathogen levels to be below certain thresholds.

Design Strategies

Air can be kept fresh with high ventilation rates, either using natural ventilation such as operable
windows and skylights, or active systems such as HVAC fans and ducts. Clean air can be achieved by
filtering air, by flushing spaces with fresh outside air, and by not contaminating the air with
impurities from the building, such as volatile organic compounds from paints or materials.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

Learn more about Indoor Air Quality.

 Acoustic Comfort

Acoustic comfort means having

the right level and quality of noise
to use the space as intended.

Why it’s important

People are more productive and happy when they’re not distracted by noises from outside or from
surrounding spaces and occupants. Acoustic comfort is especially important for schools and office
buildings.

Metrics

How humans perceive sounds and loudness is a subjective measure. However, you can create a
comfortable environment by controlling objective measures like decibel level (sound pressure),
reverberation time, and the sound reflection and damping properties of materials.

Design Strategies

Creating barriers and sound breaks between sources of noise is important. You can optimize room
shape and size to reduce echoes and reverberation. And you can use acoustic tiles on ceilings and
walls to dampen the sound.

Learn more about Acoustic Comfort.

1C2/5: Resource Use & Buildings

“Now that you know a bit more about how to design buildings that people will actually like – here’s
a similar rundown for how to use resources efficiently and well.”

Buildings use energy, materials, water, and land to create the right environment for its occupants.
All of these things cost money – and all of them have an environmental impact.
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 Material Use

Using more sustainable materials,

using less material, and using
materials in the right
constructions can improve the
environmental impacts of building
construction, lifetime, and end-of-
life.

Why it’s important

Materials have their own environmental impacts from extraction and production, and they also
hugely affect the thermal, visual, and acoustic performance of the building. The choice of materials
and building products also drives costs on projects.

Materials are also important because they create the physical space that your building occupants
experience. Toxics or volatile organic compounds can negatively affect health. On the other hand,
the right choice of materials can have positive emotional and human health implications.

Metrics

Embodied energy or embodied carbon can be used as a measure of the environmental impact of a
material’s extraction, processing, manufacture, and distribution.

However, over the life of a building and depending on the application, other factors like thermal
and structural properties can be much more important. For example, better thermal properties of
the materials used in a building's envelope can improve the energy use (as measured by Energy Use
Intensity, for example).

The lifecycle of the material is another important factor. Is it recyclable or biodegradeable? Is it

made from recycled material or rapidly renewable materials?

Design Strategies

Material selection is full of trade-off decisions, and effective strategies vary widely based on your
goals and situation. It’s often a good strategy to re-use existing materials, source materials locally,
and use recycled/recyclable materials.

Learn more about green building materials, the environmental impacts of materials, and life-cycle
assessment.
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 Energy Systems

Energy systems produce, use,

convert, and store energy for the
building. In high performance
buildings these systems need to
be both efficient and effective.

Why it’s important

Systems for thermal and visual comfort all use energy in some form.

Energy production and use is the primary driver of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.
Energy use in buildings is also one of the biggest costs throughout the lifetime of a building.

Metrics

Being energy effective means choosing the right technologies and design strategies for your
building systems. This can be measured by looking at the kilowatt hours per year, per unit area
(Energy Use Intensity or EUI).

Being energy efficient means getting the most out of the systems and technologies that you’ve
chosen to use. This can be measured by the coefficient of performance of the equipment.

Design Strategies

Energy system design should be looked at as a whole system. Depending on your location, needs,
and the available sources of energy, you may choose to get your energy from on-site photovoltaic
and wind, grid electricity, or natural gas. If you can’t get good clean energy on your site, you may be
able to purchase offsets.
Generally, the architect’s work defines the energy “demand” (their design places requirements and
constraints on how the building works) and engineers define how to “supply” this energy.

Learn more about HVAC design and clean energy generation.

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 Water Use

Water is used inside a building for

drinking, cleaning, and sanitation.
It is used outside of a building for
landscaping, and wastewater and
runoff needs to be managed for a
sustainable building site.

Why it’s important

Water is fundamental to human health and survival, and also plays a vital role in keeping
ecosystems in balance. Shortages in fresh-water in some areas make water conservation even more
important.

Metrics

Water is measured in terms of both quantity and quality. The flowrate of fixtures like faucets and
the storage capacity of tanks and cisterns are different ways to measure quantity.

Water quality can be measured in a variety of ways, and you need different qualities for different
uses. Whether the water is potable or not dictates how it can be used. Indicators like pH, dissolved
organics, suspended solids, and turbidity help measure quality.

Design Strategies

Being effective with water is all about using the right kind of water for the right uses, re-using water
as much as you can, and economizing use with high-efficiency fixtures as much as possible.

Capturing rainwater can be a great source of water. Also, plumbing systems that separate potable
water, greywater, and blackwater can help get the most out of every drop. You can also purify the
water on-site with living machines or advanced septic systems.

Learn more about water resources in buildings.

1C3/5: Green Building Cost

“Considering your occupants and resources are important, but cost can also be a limiting factor.
Sustainable design can often be seen as “too expensive,” but by understanding the Return on
Investment, you can make smart, cost effective design decisions.”
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Featured Video Overlay:

Sustainability requires a systems-based approach to design iteration. It is important to accurately

account for the financial impacts of a design proposal. Also, understanding how systems thinking
can be applied to cost can develop a better idea of how investment costs can be offset with
Lifecycle Cost Analysis.

It is highly important not to omit the details of costs from the sustainable design conversation.
Costs, translated at times as monetary economies, are the vehicle for supporting the execution of
building projects. Everything has a financial value, and projects can only be realized when there is
investment buy-in from stakeholders. Conducting building performance analysis is a valuable tool
for filtering what design decisions can yield a more valuable economic return. Furthermore some
building owners have very strict construction budgets, public elementary schools for example, that
can cause the building design to remain within a firm financial budget that has been established in
the pre-design phase of the project.

 Costs Defined

Most often costs are associated with monetary expenses. However, there are a plethora of other
qualities we can associate ”cost” with, such as environmental impact costs, resource use costs,
human health costs, and time costs. When analyzing environmental impact costs the process is
referred to as a Lifecycle Analysis, or Assessment (LCA).

Isolating the analysis of monetary expenses is called a Lifecycle Cost Analysis (LCCA). In basic terms,
LCCA classifies monetary costs into three categories. These are investment or initial costs,
operation or ongoing costs, and return or residual costs. Initial costs include how much something
costs to put into operation For example, the expense of purchasing a hot water solar panel and
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

installing it on a building roof. The operation cost could be commissioning the water tank the solar
panel is supplying heat to, and the return is the energy production that provides a positive
monetary return because it reduces the amount of energy that must be supplied and paid for.
While producing energy on site is great and reduces costs, the “math” to determine the Return on
Investment (ROI) for such sustainable design features is not as straightforward as the costs required
to purchase and install a product. Energy efficient technologies, and designs that reduce energy
demands, are considered intelligent choices when considering investment and operation costs
alone. But to truly get the full picture of a design project that decreases energy demands, a full
LCCA should be considered.

Full Lifecycle Cost Analysis

When buildings are not performing as efficiently as they could be, the ROI might be immediate, but
not sustainable long term. It could go something like this…

 A building costs “A” to be built and can be sold or rented for “B”
 The difference between “B” and “A” is the ROI
 As a result, much of the ROI is based on real estate projections, which can change dramatically

In this scenario “A,” the investment cost, also dictates fifty percent of the equation, emphasizing
the importance of the initial cost. For this reason the cost to erect a building has traditionally been
the primary deciding factor in whether or not to build a particular design. For this reason,
sustainable buildings may be more expensive to build, but it’s the ROI that is key.

Historically, only the initial and sale prices of a building were considered in LCCA. However, in order
to consider the benefits of sustainable design, the capacity a design has to return energy must be
considered in the calculation. Additionally, since the capacity of technologies to create energy is
based on environmental conditions and equipment, the ROI is also much more predictable. The
solar rays from the sun will not be altered by the real estate market, for example. All of this
requires a new way of considering the financial cost of a building. Because there are capabilities to
receive financial returns at a time period away from the initial construction of a building, “A,” LCCA
must consider “C,” a variable that accounts for recurring return.

Design decisions must weigh initial cost against time period of pay back when proposing concepts
to a building owner. Below is a LCCA that was conducted for a proposed photovoltaic glass panel
roof in an ASHRAE student design competition.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

The LCCA begins with investment cost, then charts money saved every year from energy production.

Here is another LCCA chart that uses traditional glazing that does not produce any energy.

If maintenance was accounted for in this analysis, the cost would actually be a net gain each year.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

As can be observed, the PV glass pays for its self around year eighteen. In the year following the
glass starts being completely profitable. Whether or not eighteen years is too long of an investment
pay back is for the building owner to decide. But at least the designer related the proposed design
to financial incentives and had an awareness of how economics fit into the sustainable goals of
reducing energy consumption.

If the building owner was only presented with the initial cost around $350,000 they might not be
interested in this PV glass concept. This could cause the owner to potentially opt for the traditional
glazing that could have as much as a thirty five percent reduced investment cost, but have no real
capability to pay for itself. Sustainable design is not only good for the planet, but it also has sound
economic rational.

 Leveraging Cost in BPA

Building performance analysis makes LCCA more accessible to the design process. Through the
combination of BPA methods, and BIM technologies, data is readily available for analysis. This data
at any point in time can be run through LCCA of comparing investment, operation, and return.
Time is also a cost that can be monetized with BPA techniques. Many BPA methods are targeted
towards occupant satisfaction. When people are comfortable in their working environment, they
tend to be more productive. The more someone accomplishes in an established period of time the
more financially valuable they become. Additionally when buildings are designed to be green, less
people experience a condition called sick building syndrome, which results in completely
unproductive days of not working at all. It is important to consider all methods of financial payback
when presenting designs that were arrived at with the use of BPA methods.

Video: Autodesk Sustainability Workshop: Whole Systems Design

1C4/5: Net Zero Energy Buildings

“What should we be shooting for when designing high performance buildings? Net zero energy is
the gold standard, but we also need to consider the previous pages; occupant comfort, resources
use, and cost.”

An increasingly popular goal for green building is achieving Net Zero Energy - when your building is
energy efficient and generates enough energy on-site to equal its annual energy needs.
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

Net zero energy buildings are highly energy-efficient and will use, over the course of a year,
renewable technology to produce as much energy as they consume from the grid.

This image of a photovoltaic array on the roof of the Lewis Center at Oberlin College in Oberlin,
Ohio is courtesy of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (ASHRAE)

For high performance building design, it’s most useful to measure and compare designs using
absolute energy and resource metrics. These comparisons are objective, universally applicable, and
apples-to-apples.

When your design is guided by expected energy use and emissions, the true performance of the
building is not filtered through any building code or green building rating system. While exceeding
codes and pursuing rating systems like LEED is certainly helpful, it can sometimes obscure priorities.
Because those priorities often boil down to energy effectiveness (see Environmental Impacts of
Buildings), striving for Net Zero Energy is a very good design goal.

 Definitions for Net Zero Energy Buildings

Net Zero Energy Buildings are highly energy-efficient buildings will use, over the course of a year,
renewable technology to produce as much energy as they consume from the grid. There are several
definitions of “Net Zero” buildings – based on where you place the boundaries for the energy
balance. Here’s a summary of the main definitions from NREL.

Net Zero Site Energy: A site NZEB produces at least as much renewable energy as it uses in a year,
when accounted for at the site.

Net Zero Source Energy: A source NZEB produces (or purchases) at least as much renewable energy
as it uses in a year, when accounted for at the source. Source energy refers to the primary energy
used to extract, process, generate, and deliver the energy to the site. To calculate a building’s total
source energy, imported and exported energy is multiplied by the appropriate site-to-source
 COURSE 1: INTRODUCTION TO THE BPA CERTIFICATE

conversion multipliers based on the utility’s source energy type.

Net Zero Energy Costs: In a cost NZEB, the amount of money the utility pays the building owner for
the renewable energy the building exports to the grid is at least equal to the amount the owner pays
the utility for the energy services and energy used over the year.

Net Zero Emissions: A net zero emissions building produces (or purchases) enough emissions-free
renewable energy to offset emissions from all energy used in the building annually. Carbon, nitrogen
oxides, and sulfur oxides are common emissions that ZEBs offset. To calculate a building’s total
emissions, imported and exported energy is multiplied by the appropriate emission multipliers based
on the utility’s emissions and on-site generation emissions (if there are any).
NREL

 Designing Net Zero Energy Buildings

The key to designing net zero energy buildings is first reducing energy demand as much as possible,
and then choosing good energy sources. Here’s a simple “order of operations”...

1. Reduce energy loads

2. Optimize design for passive strategies
3. Optimize design of active systems
4. Recover energy
5. Generate energy on-site
6. Buy energy/carbon offsets

Other sections of this website dive into more specifics of how to do this.

1C5/5: Design Goals for High Performance Building Quiz