Baseline Commercial Construction Practices in the Pacific Northwest

Shelly Borrelli, David Baylon, and Michael Kennedy, Ecotope, Inc.

Keywords

Abstract

This baseline study was conducted to describe the current building practices and standards in the four states represented by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington). The goal was to provide baseline data which the Alliance could use to develop and evaluate a variety ofinitiatives that focus on transforming the consumer market in new non-residential buildings and to provide a snapshot of compliance with energy code standards in these states.

In general, non-residential buildings were found to be relatively efficient across all four states. Certain efficient components tended to dominate in local markets, while largely absent from others. While energy codes appear to be the dominant influence on construction practices, factors ranging from climate to national HVAC equipment standards appear to have positively impacted particular markets.

The success of non-code factors in increasing the efficiency of specific components in some markets indicate the importance of other factors. While it is outside ofthe scope of this study to identify the market forces responsible, it is clear that persuading a few key decisionmakers to adopt specific energy efficient strategies in any particular market leads rapidly to a wide-spread response from competitors, and ultimately, a complete market transformation.