Summary

This report documents the design and economic feasibility analysis of an energy information system (EIS) in the Aspen Art Museum. Three versions of this EIS, each of varyinglevels of energy performance monitoring capability were proposed and compared. This is the product of a year-long study of the Aspen Art Museum, and a semester long study of Energy Information Systems. It was decided that the energy model developed during the fall semester would not be continued because any energy modeling would only be as accurate as the original model constructed during the fall semester, which produced different results than the original designer’s energy model for unknown reasons.

Whether this is a result of limited energy modeling expertise, or inability to receive help because complicated energy modeling software only allows the original creator to truly understand how it was constructed, is irrelevant. The point is that the fundamental issue surrounding any energy model is the lack of ability to verify the results. Even when outputs are as expected, exact reasons for the outputs are ambiguous. And, even an energy model were an exact digital replica of the building, energy models cannot account for the inevitable errors in building operations and controls. Furthermore, the whole-building, monthly utility data recorded for the AAM is not enough to decisively identify energy consumption trends by end use. The goal of the proposed energy information systems is to close the design feedback loop by allowing designers and operators to understand exactly how the building is performing.