Commercial Building Partnerships Process
Here you will find a description of the key stages in the Commercial Building Partnerships process. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) works directly with companies participating in Commercial Building Partnerships to help them with the process.
The process comprises four stages that take about five years to complete. Following is a brief overview of each stage.
Stage One: Pre-Design Planning
NREL will provide integrated design expertise, benchmark existing building energy use, analyze building portfolios, and determine the best energy efficiency strategies for each operating climate. The objective is to find an energy efficient solution that meets the company's business needs, constraints, and objectives.
Stage Two: Design
NREL and the companies' design teams will develop detailed energy and cost analyses to ensure that the proposed designs meet both the energy savings targets and the cost and other business requirements identified by the companies.
State Three: Performance Verification
During the construction process, NREL and the companies will ensure that the energy efficiency measures are installed and functioning correctly. When the building is operating as designed, NREL will measure its energy consumption to determine how its performance compares with the target energy goals.
Stage Four: Reporting
NREL will prepare case studies, a detailed research report, and a document for each company describing the business case for making energy efficiency improvements to their buildings. The reports will be shared with participating Commercial Building Partners.
