As greater quantities of variable renewable energy are integrated into the electric grid the hour to hour variation in emissions is only increasing. This is at odds with how building designers have traditionally treated all kilowatt hours as equal from an emissions standpoint. Now not only how much electricity a building consumes, but when that building consumes electricity is increasingly important. This presentation provides an overview of different time-varying grid emissions factors available to designers to assess building performance and how they should be employed to influence building design and operation.

View a .pdf of the presentation slides here.

Learning Objectives​: 

-Participants will gain an understanding of electric grid dynamics including different metrics for assessing emissions performance and how they might affect building design and operation.
-Participants will understand the difference between marginal and average emissions
-Participants will leave with the knowledge to apply carbon-aware design strategies to their design process.
-Participants will learn about the carbon emissions datasets and other resources available to assist in low- and zero-carbon design.

Presenter:

Henry Richardson, Principal Analyst at WattTime

As a Principal Analyst at WattTime, Henry Richardson helps WattTime’s partners and collaborators understand how they can affect the electric grid and achieve the greatest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, whether through location-based renewables siting or automated load management. Henry specializes in building performance, including emissions-focused load shifting, energy storage integration, and methods for assessing overall building emissions.