Best Practice Guide

Food and Beverage Growers and Processors

Introduction

Planning an Energy Program

Funding and Approval

Commissioning

On-the-Farm Energy Use

Lighting

Building Envelope

Office Buildings

Cool Roofs

Central HVAC System

Boilers

Steam

Combined Heat and Power

Compressed Air

Refrigeration

Motors

Demand Response

Distributed Generation

Water Use


Fetzer Vineyard

J Vineyards and Winery

Mission Foods

S. Martinelli and Company

Sara Lee

Vineyard 29


View the Glossary

Building Envelope

Office Buildings

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The building envelope, also referred to as the building shell, consists of all partitions that separate outdoor air and temperature from indoor spaces: windows, doors, walls, roofs, and foundation. The building envelope is critical for minimizing the buildup of humidity and uncomfortable drafts.

To keep conditioned air inside, check and repair any leaks in seals and insulation around building partitions and ductwork in the HVAC system.

To prevent outdoor air and temperature from infiltrating conditioned space, install high efficiency doors and windows, whenever possible. Glazing or films for windows is another option, particularly for buildings in which window replacement is neither cost-effective nor practical. Glazing lowers the emissivity (i.e. radiation) of surfaces and reduces ultraviolet rays responsible for fading fabrics and furnishings.

Cool roofs are an excellent option because installation is cost-effective and non-disruptive to occupants. More information on cool roofs follows.

Shade is the most cost-effective and simplest way to reduce solar radiation. Architectural elements can be added that shade windows and doors - roof overhangs, light shelves, and fins or slats, for example. Trees make great shade, too. Properly placed, trees lower air conditioning costs by shading buildings and by lowering outdoor temperature through evapotranspiration. Trees also provide a significant community benefit by reducing stormwater runoff and trapping air pollutants like carbon dioxide. A study of San Diego County by American Forests, for example, found that the urban forest removes 4.3 million pounds of pollutants from local air each year - a benefit worth $10.8 million annually. These trees sequester about 9,000 tons of greenhouse gases each year, storing a total of 1.2 million tons.


Resources

Flex Your Power Product Guide: Insulation

BuildingEnvelopes.org website portal with state-of-the-art information on energy-efficient buildings.

U.S. Department of Energy, Information on Energy Efficient Windows.

U.S. Department of Energy, Information on Energy Efficient Doors.

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Information on Windows and Daylighting Information.

U.S. Department of Energy, Tomorrow's Energy Today for Cities and Counties: Cooling Our Cities, November 1993. DOE/CH10093-211 DE93010001, from the series Tomorrow's Energy Today for Cities and Counties. Accessed via University of Florida, IFAS Extension website.

American Forests, Information on Urban Forests.