Building Baselines: Andy Winslow
Andy Winslow earned a degree in environmental science and policy from Clark University in Worcester, MA. Drawn to Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership’s (NEEP) blend of technology and policy, he began his career by leading a HeatSmart campaign in Arlington, MA, where he gained expertise in air-source and ground-source heat pumps and public communication. After connecting with NEEP, he secured an internship that led to a full-time role.
Now the Senior Associate of Community Solutions at NEEP, Andy provides technical assistance, support, and software tools to states and communities aiming to reduce carbon emissions from existing buildings. His work focuses on programs like benchmarking, building performance standards for commercial buildings, and holistic retrofit models for residential buildings.
What is Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnership (NEEP)?
NEEP is a regional energy efficiency organization (REEO) and one of six such organizations across the U.S., each responsible for different regions and providing direct support to states and local jurisdictions to help implement energy efficiency-based policies and programs. NEEP specifically focuses on building energy codes, accelerating the adoption of heat pumps, promoting energy efficiency, and doing so equitably. Within NEEP, the Community Solutions team, which handles outreach and collaboration with local jurisdictions—primarily cities and towns—plays a key role. The team has adopted a cohort model to implement its initiatives, grouping towns together to work collectively on policies such as building performance standards, heating electrification, or residential labeling. This collaborative approach enhances peer-to-peer learning, making it a highly effective strategy.
What does building benchmarking mean to you?
Benchmarking makes energy efficiency visible. That’s its greatest value to me. It takes something intangible, like energy usage, and makes it concrete. People don’t usually think about their energy consumption unless there’s a reason to. Once you start benchmarking, you see how much energy you’re using, and that awareness enables you to act on it. There’s a study from 2021 by the EPA that found benchmarked buildings reduced energy usage by 2.4% year over year, simply by monitoring and tracking usage.
What’s your perspective on policy using Energy Use Intensity (EUI) versus carbon as a metric?
A carbon metric is ideal because it aligns with other policies and helps track progress toward climate goals. However, decarbonizing doesn’t always lead to energy reduction. For example, someone might replace a natural gas furnace with electric resistance heaters, which would reduce carbon emissions but not necessarily energy consumption. Some regions are considering a dual metric approach, using both carbon and EUI targets to ensure efficiency while decarbonizing. The challenge is that it complicates the logistics, requiring building owners to manage and comply with multiple metrics.
What if buildings become less efficient but decarbonized?
That’s a real possibility, especially if people feel overwhelmed by the requirements and choose easier but less efficient options. That’s why the dual metric approach is being considered. It ensures that buildings meet both efficiency and carbon goals, even if it adds complexity. A building that decarbonizes but becomes less efficient runs the risk of being more expensive to operate. This cost is often passed on to the tenants and becomes an equity issue.
Can you talk about BEAM and what it is?
BEAM stands for Building Energy Analysis Manager. It is a database and communication platform designed to help jurisdictions implement benchmarking and building performance standards (BPS) programs. Developed with funding from a Small Business Innovation Grant from the Department of Energy, BEAM was created in partnership with ClearlyEnergy and NEEP. ClearlyEnergy owns and created BEAM, which builds on the open-source software SEED (Standardized Energy Efficiency Database). While SEED is excellent for benchmarking, BEAM adds many features necessary for handling the increased complexity of BPS programs. BEAM digitizes the building performance standard policy, making it easier to manage and track compliance. It can track various compliance pathways, such as ENERGY STAR® scores or EUI (Energy Use Intensity), and manage exemptions, building sizes, and other factors that make BPS programs challenging to track. It also provides the administrator with communication tools.
Can you explain the flexibility of BEAM in terms of tracking different metrics like ENERGY STAR scores versus EUI?
In DC, for example, building owners can choose from different compliance pathways, like Energy Star scores or EUI. BEAM tracks these metrics and handles the complexity of exemptions, building sizes, and all the other factors that make building performance standards challenging to manage. Our goal with BEAM is to move people away from using Excel spreadsheets and email, which can become overwhelming and inefficient, and instead provide a flexible, scalable tool for managing these programs. BEAM also includes communication tools like a help desk for building owners and a system for sending mass communications to buildings that are out of compliance.
Can you speak to the cohort model NEEP is using, particularly in the context of Massachusetts municipalities?
ClearlyEnergy received a Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation (RECI) Grant to explore a cohort model for implementing BPS. The idea is to help smaller communities that might be left behind by larger cities and states who have traditionally been the movers and shakers of BPS. NEEP is leading a cohort in Massachusetts with about 12 engaged communities. We’ve held our kickoff and first meeting, working with these jurisdictions to align policies and implement them in a way that makes sense for the community. This includes exploring shared resources, like a shared energy analyst to help administer the program, and circuit riders, a concept borrowed from the energy code implementation world, to help building owners comply.
What risks do you see arising from the added complexity of Building Performance Standards (BPS)?
Benchmarking is a building block for building performance standards. You can’t have BPS without first establishing a benchmarking process. For jurisdictions considering BPS, I recommend starting with benchmarking for a year or two. Benchmarking allows building owners to get used to reporting their data and gives jurisdictions the background they need to set realistic standards. However, BPS are much more complicated because they often involve added costs for building upgrades, which building owners might resist. Successful deployment of BPS requires education and communication about not just energy savings, but also the health benefits and productivity gains associated with more efficient buildings.
Understanding your building stock is crucial. Some cities with older, less efficient buildings will see greater emission reductions than those with newer buildings. Having a few years of benchmarking data helps set feasible standards.
How might the relationship between LEED certifications and building performance standards (BPS) create potential conflicts?
There could be a conflict if LEED-certified buildings don’t meet the requirements of BPS, leading to frustration among building owners whose LEED Platinum buildings fail to comply with performance standards. To avoid conflicting goals, it’s essential for these standards to be consistent. LEED may need to evolve to align better with BPS, possibly becoming more stringent to ensure that certified buildings are not only meeting environmental standards but exceeding them.
In Conclusion
Through his work, Andy has played a key role in projects like BEAM and building performance standards (BPS), helping communities lower carbon emissions and boost energy efficiency. NEEP’s cohort model and tools like BEAM are making it easier for cities and towns, big or small, to navigate the complexities of energy management. As more cities embrace BPS, the need for clear communication, education, and a good grasp of building stock is crucial to ensuring these efforts lead to real environmental benefits.
Thanks for chatting with us, Andy. It’s always a pleasure.
NEEP's Heating Electrification Workshop 2024
Event Date: –
Location: Marriott Syracuse Downtown
100 E Onondaga St
Syracuse, NY 13202
United States
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