Shoot for the “Stars”
2 min read Have you ever purchased an appliance or a product that had an Energy Guide label? Even if you haven’t, I bet you have seen one. The Energy Guide label’s purpose is to provide potential buyers with an estimate of annual energy consumption and a sense of where the product ranks compared to others in terms…
The Importance of QA/QC in LEED Energy Modeling
< 1 min read Project teams submitting energy models for LEED often receive double-digit comments under the Energy & Atmosphere Prerequisite – Minimum Energy Performance. Four years ago, Baumann Consulting implemented a purpose-designed quality control process on all our LEED energy models, which reduced the number of GBCI Preliminary Review comments on EAp2/EAc1 from a team-wide average of 12…
Commissioning the Unconventional
4 min read Last year, a property management client reached out to Baumann Consulting, after the construction phase had been completed on a new addition and renovation of their office building. The end users had been complaining for months about the sewer gas smell, emanating throughout their space. The MEP engineers and plumbing contractors conducted multiple inspections and…
If You Have Not Started Third-Party Energy Benchmarking Data Verification for Your DC Building, You Are Late!
3 min read For privately owned buildings greater than 25,000 square feet in Washington, D.C., 2023 building energy benchmarking data must be third-party verified. Benchmarking data verification is essential to fulfilling Washington, D.C.’s goals of promoting sustainable behaviors and enhancing building energy performance and is a key element of the city’s Building Energy Performance Standard (BEPS). An Approved…
How Cool is that?
3 min read Many of us grew up surrounded by family members who recommend not wearing dark-colored clothes outside in the sweltering sun. Instead, they advised us to wear light-colored clothes. Why? The answer was always that the darker the clothing, the greater the absorption of heat, making you feel hotter. While light-colored clothing reflects most of the…
Cole’s Baumann Consulting Marketing Internship Experience
4 min read Baumann Consulting offers a rich internship experience no matter the position or location. As a Marketing Intern, I was able to collaborate with aspiring experts within the A/E/C industry. As someone who was not well versed in the industry, the Baumann team made an amazing effort to help ease the initial onboarding and helped teach…
Blocking and Tackling Geothermal Installations
3 min read I was in the field recently witnessing flow and pressure drop testing of an installed ground-coupled heat exchanger (aka a geothermal ground loop or GHX). As the contractor was preparing for the work at hand, he commented to me that he had not done any of these tests before. Although this contractor has done a…
Reading the Tea Leaves – BEPS Greenhouse Gas Study
2 min read Last week Washington DC’s Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE) released the “BEPS Greenhouse Gas Study” that was mandated by Title III of the CleanEnergy DC Omnibus Amendment Act of 2018 (CEDC Act and D.C. Official Code § 8–1772.21). This is the same legislation that created DC’s Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS) Program. “The purpose…
Budget-friendly Bubbles: Refrigerant Leak
< 1 min read An air conditioning unit that has lost a part of its refrigerant charge will struggle to perform. A small refrigerant leak will rob your system of its capacity. The time required to reach the desired setpoint will be longer and discharge air temperatures will be off, all these leading to higher utility bills. Locating a…
Kelly Adighije’s 10-Year Baumann Anniversary
3 min read Kelly Adighije joined Baumann Consulting 10 years ago as a Senior Mechanical Engineer for the Washington, D.C. office. Today, Kelly heads the Chicago office where he leads a team of engineers, energy analysts, and sustainability consultants. Prior to joining Baumann, Kelly trained as a chartered mechanical engineer and built his career as a building mechanical…
Introduction to EU-Taxonomy and Its Significance for the Real Estate Industry
5 min read The EU-Taxonomy is part of the “European Green Deal” which aims to achieve climate neutrality in the European Union (EU) by 2050. This would eliminate all net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the EU by 2050. The Green Deal brings together numerous measures in a wide range of areas. In the area of sustainable financing,…
Open Surface Parking and Energy Star Score
< 1 min read The engineered model developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to calculate the Energy Star score adjusts to include parking energy usage since this is one of the most common end-uses in commercial buildings. To obtain an accurate estimation of the building’s energy usage, the model estimates parking energy use and subtracts this from the…
