Is your building ready for the future? Are you struggling to balance emissions reductions, ESG goals, and the demands of aging equipment? The Retrofit Playbook for Large Buildings offers a clear path forward for building owners and engineers to navigate the complex challenge of future-proofing your building.
Learn about how this innovative knowledge-sharing platform can help you create cost-effective, long-term decarbonization strategies for large buildings.
This guide from The Clean Fight and RMI helps building owners and managers understand how high-temperature heat pumps can decarbonize steam and hot-water space heating systems. It outlines key benefits, technology basics, example products, and strategies for effective retrofit integration. High-temperature heat pumps offer a new, less disruptive path to electrification for buildings with steam or hot water distribution.
Summary:
Waste heat isn’t waste—it’s an untapped resource. Recovering energy that would otherwise be rejected from a building can both reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve the economics of decarbonization projects. This applies across a range of uses, including space heating, heating ventilation air, and domestic water. To maximize the impact of decarbonization retrofits, it’s essential to consider energy recovery during the planning process. By identifying and thoughtfully integrating heat recovery solutions early on, project teams can reduce energy demand, improve system efficiency, and enhance the overall cost-effectiveness of building upgrades.
Spreadsheet tools available for download on this page have been developed to make energy recovery analysis in retrofit planning easier and increase awareness for energy recovery in initial project planning and data collection. The tools provided are not comprehensive design tools but can generate inputs for energy and financial analyses used in investment decision making.
While these spreadsheet tools may be used for any building type, they were developed with existing, large commercial and multi-family properties in mind. Recommended users include staff within the building owner’s organization (e.g., facility manager, chief engineer, energy manager) or consultants supporting a building owner to develop a strategic decarbonization plan.
Source and Sink Inventory Tool
Purpose: Identify locations where waste energy can be captured (sources) and where the recovered energy can be applied (sinks) for evaluation during the retrofit planning process.
Phase: This tool is best used during the Pre-Planning phase when examining a building’s current conditions.
Inputs: Targeted existing condition information from the building’s systems.
Outputs: Transparent characterization and documentation of energy recovery and renewable heat sources relevant to the building to support energy analysis in following phases.
Download Source & Sinks Inventory ToolEnergy Recovery Mapping Tool
Purpose: Compare building-specific data for source(s) and sink(s) to estimate potential energy recovery. Default assumptions and data are included to streamline the process. The following common use cases are included in the tool:
Phase: This spreadsheet tool is intended to supplement other engineering and financial analysis tools during the Planning phase. Additionally, it is recommended the team review the spreadsheet tool during the Pre-Planning phase and identify data collection needs. This is critical, because if data isn’t already being collected the metering will need to be initiated and data collected over a range of operating conditions (e.g. throughout the winter).
Inputs: Input requirements are dependent on the use case:
Uses cases 1 & 2: Short-interval (e.g., hourly) data for source(s) and sink(s) relevant to the energy recovery use case(s) to be evaluated. The data is typically collected using data trending through the building automation system. Additional metering (e.g., thermal energy “BTU” meters) may need to be installed. Data collected should also be reviewed for accuracy and completeness and normalized for factors such as outside air temperature. If data cannot be collected from the building explore leveraging an energy model for estimates.
Use case 3: Attributes about the building’s occupancy, domestic hot water usage, and wastewater.
Use case 4: Attributes about the building’s air distribution system.
Outputs: Annual load and recoverable heat per use case. Data collection initiated to support future heat mapping.
Download Energy Recovery Mapping Tool
NYSERDA and Building Energy Exchange, in collaboration with RMI and Ember Strategies, are excited to offer a comprehensive three-part Strategic Decarbonization Planning training series designed to help industry professionals tackle complex retrofit projects with confidence. Tailored for professionals in engineering, real estate, and technology, this training series will equip participants with the tools and knowledge to drive practical, cost-effective low-carbon retrofits in large buildings. Grounded in lessons learned from NYSERDA’s Empire Building Challenge and their innovative retrofit demonstration projects, participants will learn how to:
Don’t miss the chance to attend live training sessions for all three courses at Building Energy Exchange in downtown Manhattan. Read more about our high-impact, solutions driven training series below:
This first course of the series will explore Resource Efficient Decarbonization (RED) as a replicable solutions framework used to develop carbon neutrality roadmaps for large buildings in cold climates. Using real-world examples from Empire Building Challenge retrofit projects, participants will learn how to apply the RED framework to create comprehensive, long-term decarbonization plans for their buildings. Additionally, the training will review a range of technical solutions for decarbonizing buildings, highlighting how prioritization of these technologies can optimize retrofits.
The second course will focus on the finance and asset planning components of strategic decarbonization. Participants will learn how to evaluate and align technical solutions with economic realities and long-term asset strategies to inform decision-making. This course will also provide guidance on crafting compelling business case narratives that build stakeholder support and unlock investment for retrofits. By the end of the training, participants will be equipped to develop persuasive business cases that advance building decarbonization projects.
The third course of the series will be a highly interactive session offering a hands-on introduction to building decarbonization planning – delivered in a dynamic, game-based format. The session begins with a brief review of key concepts from the first two courses, then, participants will break into small groups to create a mock decarbonization plan for a real-world building scenario. Teams will evaluate strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while weighing factors such as costs, trigger events, and other site- specific considerations. Come prepared to collaborate, apply your skills, and dive into the decision- making process behind effective building decarbonization.
A global survey of 14 high-rise multifamily retrofit profiles that achieved deep energy reductions.
This resource is available to aid design teams and building owners in navigating the complexities of rapidly shifting supply chains. It will provide up-to-date information on lead times and pricing for key equipment essential to the design and implementation of low-carbon building and retrofit projects in large commercial buildings. It will be updated semi-annually to reflect changes in the supply chain.
As the world grapples with the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the built environment has become a critical focus area to deliver progress. Buildings are significant contributors to global carbon emissions, and transitioning to more sustainable, low-carbon operations is essential for meeting climate goals. Planning for that transition now, through a thoughtful and rational approach, is key to achieving success over time.
Design charrettes are an important tool project teams can use to support their decarbonization planning work. These collaborative design review workshops bring together diverse stakeholders to develop and refine strategies for reducing carbon emissions from buildings over time.
A design charrette is an intensive, multi-disciplinary workshop aimed at finding and refining solutions to complex problems. The term originated in 19th century Paris and refers to the practice of design students working intensely on their projects until the last minute, when a cart or “charrette” would be wheeled around to collect their final designs. The term has evolved to describe collaborative sessions that bring together developers, designers, domain experts, community members, and an array of other stakeholders to reach mutually beneficial outcomes. In the context of building decarbonization, design charrettes facilitate the rapid development of actionable (and at times substantially more innovative) strategies to reduce emissions from buildings, with alignment among multiple interested parties.
Charrettes are conducted just after a decarbonization concept plan is created and initial decarbonization measures are framed. A successful charrette requires being prepared to discuss the existing conditions of the building in detail, various decarbonization measures and approaches considered, and an understanding of the social and market conditions influencing the building owner’s decision making. The charrette process includes:
Design charrettes are a powerful tool for addressing complex decarbonization challenges, especially in the planning and early implementation phase. With collaboration, creativity, and iteration, charrettes enable the development of effective and sustainable strategies to reduce carbon emissions from buildings.
Through the Empire Building Challenge (EBC), NYSERDA is supporting forward-thinking leaders in the real estate and engineering industries, in the quest to find workable and scalable, cost-effective approaches to retrofit tall, complex, and hard-to-decarbonize buildings in New York. Partners and projects funded through the flagship $50 million demonstration program are working to reach a zero-emissions future. The groundbreaking work of these leaders is presented in this Playbook, which showcases a novel, compelling framework that can unlock opportunities for decarbonizing most buildings in a cost-effective manner, over time. We call the framework Resource Efficient Decarbonization.
To date, NYSERDA has partnered with 27 commercial and multifamily real estate owners who have committed to eliminate carbon emissions from some of New York State’s tallest and most iconic buildings. These partners have pledged to decarbonize over 128 million square feet of space, and more than 3,500 units of affordable housing. The scale of these partner commitments and the early success of EBC demonstration projects sends a clear signal that New York’s real estate industry is ready to accelerate investment in the buildings of the future.
Beyond these commitments, EBC partners collectively control and manage over 400 million square feet of real estate in New York. This amounts to over 20% of commercial office space in New York City, and more than 200,000 housing units throughout the State, representing a potential for impact much greater than the sum of its parts. The lessons learned during the planning, design, and implementation of EBC projects pave the way for the most viable solutions to gain traction and scale throughout the State, reinforcing progress toward the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act’s goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 85% by 2050.
Understand the real-world implications and successes of the Empire Building Challenge through this in-depth article, “How to get New York City’s biggest buildings to zero carbon,” by Canary Media. This piece highlights the practical steps and measures being taken to reduce carbon footprints across New York’s architectural landscape, showcasing the challenge as a beacon for carbon-neutral aspirations worldwide.
Insights from Empire Building Challenge
The discovery phase is intended to provide an initial understanding of the building’s existing conditions, current challenges, and potential opportunities. The data and insights gathered during this phase will be used to create the building’s calibrated energy model. Key activities in this workstream include:
This workstream is critical because it grounds the project team in the reality of the building’s current performance. It also helps build a jointly owned process for uncovering early energy or carbon reduction opportunities that can increase trust and enthusiasm to identify more complex measures as the project progresses.
At the end of this phase, the team should have a clear understanding of the building energy systems, its historical energy and carbon profile, the potential impact of local laws or other building requirements, opportunities for additional metering, and preliminary energy and carbon reduction opportunities.
This workstream provides vital information on current challenges, near and longer-term carbon reduction opportunities, and the accuracy of the energy model. It also creates early wins that build momentum and trust. Getting the most out of this work requires trust-based collaboration between multiple stakeholders, including facilities managers, operations staff, the energy modeler, external contractors, and design engineers. Engaging with tenants to get insight into what drives their loads can also add value and inform this process. Data and insights on the building’s existing condition typically arise from four sources:
Each source is important, but it is the integration across these four categories of data that leads to deep operational insights and identification of major areas of opportunity.
Gather Information:
In this phase, project teams should work with the building management and operations teams to collect key information using the sample checklist shown below.
| Collected Information | Why is this information needed? |
| Architectural Drawings: · Floor Plans · Elevation Drawings · Vertical Floor Dimensions · Tenant Fit-out Drawings · Façade Cut/Detail Sheets · Window Cut/Detail Sheets | Architectural drawings will be used to build the energy model geometry and assign performance characteristics to exterior wall assemblies. |
| Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing Drawings: · Mechanical Schedules · Mechanical Riser Diagrams · M-Drawings (Schedules) of Retrofit/Upgraded Equipment or a Description of Changes · Electrical Schedules · Electrical Riser Diagrams · Lighting Schedules and Detail Sheets · Plumbing Schedules · Plumbing Riser Diagrams | MEP drawings will be used to build the energy-consuming systems in the energy model. These documents will also inform opportunities for equipment replacements based on end of useful life and can be referenced when evaluating equipment locations and available space. |
| Utility Data: · Minimum 12 months of data for all incoming utilities including electricity, natural gas, district steam, fuel oil · Data from tenant electrical sub-meters (if available) · Data from central plant BTU meters (if available) | Building utility bills showing annual energy consumption and tariffs are required to create an initial energy model. Utility bills allow the energy modeler to calibrate the total energy consumption and the breakdown by fuel type, which is important to track as different fuel sources have different greenhouse gas emissions and associated energy costs. |
| BMS Operational Information: · Fan run hours · Damper and valve positions · Air and water flow rates · Air handling unit supply air set points · Space temperature set points · Air, water and space temperatures · Chiller/cooling tower/boiler entering and leaving water temperatures · Pump flows during peak and off-peak times · Fan and pump electrical consumption and demand data from VFDs Relevant BMS parameters include: · Meter data · Equipment hours of operation · Temperature setpoints · Data trends · Fault detection · System mode (manual versus override) | Historical data from the BMS can help align modeled energy use breakdowns with actual operation. Collating and reviewing this data can provide insights into building operations. Sometimes building operation differs from the document design, standards, and even the facilities team’s own understanding as system modifications are made incrementally over the years. Live data can be used to verify system schedules, turndown, and setpoints and drive even more accurate modeling of building operations. Building management systems provide insight into how the building is performing in real-time. |
| Operator Interviews | Information gathered from building operators can provide deep operation insights, serve to develop trust, and identify areas of opportunity for improvement. |
| Existing Capital Plans | It is also important to gather data on the “business as usual” (BAU) plan for future capital and operational expenditures. Doing so allows the team to compare ECMs against already planned expenditures and to begin to understand the sequence and timing of ECMs within the context of already-planned building upgrades. |
| Lease Turnover Schedules | Having insight into lease turnover schedules can help define opportunities for engaging tenants in the low carbon retrofit process and identifying proper phasing of decarbonization solutions in tenant spaces. |
Survey the Building:
Understanding a building’s existing conditions requires time on-site. Design drawings, operator interviews, and utility data all provide valuable insight, but do not capture the nuances of how the building runs day-in and day-out. Project teams should plan to conduct an initial site walkthrough to confirm high-level information about the building equipment, systems, and operations strategies shortly after project kickoff. As the study unfolds, additional site visits to verify information, gain additional clarity on certain conditions, or evaluate the feasibility of implementing ECMs will be necessary. The more time the project team spends in the building, the easier it will be to capture the building’s existing conditions in the building energy model and to develop ECMs that are feasible. When completing the building walkthrough, the project team should evaluate the following:
Deploy Additional Metering (if required):
Collecting documentation and surveying the building will highlight gaps in data or information needed to build a calibrated energy model. To fill these gaps, the project team may elect to deploy additional metering to capture the missing information. Metering ultimately reduces speculation and provides real-time insight into the building’s operations. Project teams should execute the following steps when developing a metering strategy:
Observe and Test Systems:
Building system assessments and functional tests are great ways to capture operating parameters, evaluate performance, and identify issues that can be resolved with retro-commissioning. Project teams should conduct some or all the following building tests to further inform the study:
| Test/Assessment | Goals | Reference/Procedure |
| Building envelope performance and infiltration | Understand the conduction losses/gains through the envelope. This will inform potential envelope opportunities and the baseline energy model. | Refer to ASTM E1186 – 17 for standard practices for air leakage site detection in building envelopes and air barrier systems. |
| Tenant electric load disaggregation, i.e. plug loads, lighting, IT | Identify high consumption loads within tenant spaces to target critical loads and opportunities. | Select one or two tenants and install submeters on their floor (can be temporary), separating out loads by lighting, IT, plug loads. Analyze consumption and data trends to develop energy conservation measures. |
| Setpoints and setbacks in all spaces (tenant areas, common area, IT rooms, MEP) during winter and summer seasons | Determine the most energy efficient setpoint/setback while maintaining a comfortable space. Evaluate what is possible within each space. Evaluate the ability of the system to recover from the setback without causing excessive utility demand. | Test potential setpoint and setback temperatures within each space type to determine the optimal energy efficient condition. |
| Airside controls | Verify that airside controls are configured to optimize energy and indoor air quality. Identify easy-to-implement and inexpensive controls ECMs. | Test procedures will vary based upon the type of airside equipment in use; however, the following assessments are applicable to many airside configurations and can act as a starting point: Step 1: Verify that static pressure setpoint controls are correct per the sequence of operations or current facility requirements. Step 2: Verify that supply air temperature resets are programmed and operating within the correct range. Step 3: Verify that terminal box minimum and maximum setpoint are appropriately set per the latest balancing report. Step 5: Confirm if outdoor airflow stations are installed, and if so, verify that the appropriate amount of outside air is being delivered per the design documents or current facility requirements. Step 6: Verify if a demand control ventilation (DCV) program is in place. If so, confirm that outside airflows are reduced as occupancy is reduced. Step 7: Verify that turndown controls are appropriately reducing equipment temperatures or flows in low load conditions. |
| Waterside controls | Verify that waterside controls are configured to optimize energy and are load-dependent. Identify easy-to-implement and inexpensive controls ECMs. | Test procedures will vary based upon the type of waterside equipment in use; however, the following assessments are applicable to many waterside configurations and can act as a starting point: Step 1: Verify that static pressure setpoint controls are correct per the sequence of operations or current facility requirements. Step 2: Verify that supply or return temperature resets are programmed and operating within the correct range. Step 3: Confirm if an economizer mode is available, and if so, verify that the system appropriately enables this mode in certain weather conditions. Step 4: Verify that turndown controls are appropriately reducing equipment temperatures or flows in low load conditions. |
| BMS anomalies and faults | Identify discrepancies in what the BMS is outputting on the front-end versus the actual observed conditions. Identify easy-to-implement and inexpensive controls ECMs. | For each tested system, compare the BMS outputs to the actual measured data or observed condition. Identify the root cause of the discrepancy and resolve. |
Investigation and discovery are an iterative process:
—
Information from all avenues including reviewing design drawings, walking the building, talking to the facilities team, and performing building tests will be required to create a full picture of the building’s existing condition. Consistent feedback is the key to success.
Organization should be a top priority:
—
The amount of information collected on the building will be significant. To ease the burden of developing an energy model for the building, information should be verified and organized so that it can be easily referenced throughout the project.
Business operations are as important as facility operations:
Energy studies tend to focus only on the architectural and MEP operations within the building. Project teams spend a lot of time understanding how equipment and systems operate and perform, but often don’t spend enough time considering the building’s existing lease turnover schedules, existing capital plans, or hold strategy. These business considerations are critical to understanding the types of decarbonization strategies that building ownership are likely to invest in.
Building the business-as-usual (BAU) base case occurs between the Discovery and Energy Modeling phases and includes an analysis of the building’s utility data to gain insight into how the building uses energy at a high level and how that consumption translates to carbon emissions. From this analysis, the project team will be able to evaluate the building’s exposure to mandates such as Local Law 97.
Building the BAU base case requires obtaining one full year of utility data, at a minimum.
Utility Analysis (Baseline Condition):
As the project team learns the building, one full year of utility data (at a minimum) will be collected. The project team should visualize this data monthly to further develop its understanding of how and when the building uses energy. The following list of questions can be used to guide the analysis:
Based on the results of this activity, the project team will begin to form hypotheses about how building systems interact, which end uses are the most energy intensive, and where deeper energy and carbon reduction strategies may be pursued.
Building Performance Standard Impact Analysis:
Depending on the jurisdiction in which the deep energy retrofit study is taking place, it may be beneficial for the project team to evaluate the building’s current performance against mandates or building performance standards (BPS) that are in effect. In New York City, for example, Local Law 97 is a BPS that many building owners are focused on. Other jurisdictions may have energy use intensity (EUI) targets or other metrics for performance. The outcome of the impact analysis may help to inform the overall decarbonization approach for the building. Project teams should execute the following steps to conduct a BPS impact analysis:
During the energy retrofit process, the team will discover simple ways to reduce energy consumption that can be implemented almost immediately. With real-time data, the BMS allows the team to analyze how effective the changes to the system are.
Deliverables for this task include the following:
Visualize the data:
—
Data visualizations can bring insights to light and help project teams explain these insights to non-technical audiences. Making complex energy analysis accessible to all members of the project team, including those without technical backgrounds, will lead to a more engaging and actionable process for all.
BPS impact assessments can alter the deep energy retrofit approach:
—
Mandates and building performance standards are often successful in getting building owners to think more critically about existing building energy and carbon performance; however, the anticipated impact of a BPS can alter how the project team approaches a deep retrofit project. For example, if an Owner discovers that their building is not subject to non-compliance penalties until 2030 or 2035, they may elect to wait on larger retrofit projects than they would have if penalties were imminent in 2024. It’s important that project teams review BPS exposure with the Owner before settling on a particular decarbonization strategy or timeline.
Consider the grid:
—
When evaluating a building’s anticipated performance over time in the BAU base case, the project team must take grid decarbonization into account. The overall outlook for the building can change drastically with and without grid decarbonization. Both scenarios must be explored and discussed with the building owner and management team.
Based on the work completed during the “Learn the Building” and “Build the BAU Base Case” tasks, the project team should already have a sense of the ECMs that are a good fit for the building. The project team should review the outcomes of the work done up to this point and develop a list of preliminary strategies so the team can level set on an approach as the project enters the Energy & Carbon Modeling phase.
• Develop a Tiered List of ECMs:
Through the document collection and building system assessments, the project team likely identified low or no-cost operational items that can be implemented immediately. These simple items should be grouped and presented as Tier 1 measures. Deeper measures that require more upfront capital and/or have a longer lead time should be separated out into Tier 2 items. Tiers can be based upon cost or timeframe for implementation. Categorizing measures in this way will support building owner decision-making.
• Conduct a Qualitative Assessment of ECMs:
Once the measures are appropriately categorized into tiers, the project team should generate a qualitative assessment of each measure, based on metrics that are important to the building management team. For example, one building team may identify disruption to tenants as their primary go/no-go metric when deciding which strategies deserve deeper analysis. Metrics will vary from project to project.
• Present and Solicit Feedback:
Present the tiered list of ECMs, along with the qualitative assessment, and solicit feedback from the building management team. Eliminate ideas that don’t meet the team’s decarbonization approach and welcome new items that the building team may want to pursue that were not originally considered. This process will bolster team engagement and ensure that time spent in the energy model is dedicated to measures that will be considered seriously by the building team for implementation.
The output of this task will be a finalized list of energy reduction strategies to study the next phase: the Energy & Carbon Modeling Phase.
Solicit feedback early and often:
—
In any deep energy retrofit study, there will be several opportunities for the building to reduce energy and carbon. Some of these strategies will be reasonable to the building management and ownership teams, and others will not. To avoid going down the wrong road and analyzing a set of solutions that don’t align with the building team’s vision, the project team should present potential strategies early on and gain consensus on the decarbonization approach before analyzing measures in the building energy model.
This website is brought to you in partnership by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, RMI, Building Energy Exchange, and Urban Land Institute.
