Labs2Zero AIM Report: A Customizable, Automated Building Energy Audit Tool

Looking to kick-start the conversation about improving efficiency in your lab building, or in a client’s facilities? I2SL is preparing a tool to help aim your energy-saving initiatives in the right direction. Coming this spring, the Actionable Insights and Measures (AIM) Report is the latest offering from I2SL’s Labs2Zero decarbonization program. The AIM Report is an automated lab energy audit tool that highlights opportunities for lab buildings to reduce their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

Based on facility and utility data entered into the I2SL Lab Benchmarking Tool (LBT), the AIM Report will provide a screening level assessment, roughly equivalent to an ASHRAE Level 1 audit. It will suggest improvement measures specific to your building, along with estimated costs, energy savings, return on investment, next steps to implement the measures, and case studies of the measures in action.

The AIM Report can be used and customized by facilities teams, engineering consultants, utility companies, product manufacturers, and others interested in lab building improvements. The results of the AIM Report can stand alone as a high-level initial scoping assessment for energy-saving opportunities or can be incorporated in energy studies or campus assessment programs.

How Does the AIM Report Work?

The AIM Report performs custom savings calculations for each building. The software platform takes a lab building's data from the LBT, combines it with a series of assumptions that were developed based on I2SL members’ expertise, and uses this information to configure an “energy model” of the facility and its operations. Many of the assumptions can be fine-tuned by the tool user based on available data or to evaluate different retrofit scenarios.

Initial versions of the AIM Report will pull from a library of 26 different lab-specific energy-saving measures; the tool screens the building against each of the measures in the library to identify the most relevant measures for the facility given its building parameters and current operations. The energy model then accesses typical weather data for the building’s location to calculate the estimated energy savings associated with all applicable measures. These are combined with estimated project implementation costs and return on investment to aid in decision-making.

The AIM Report allows the user to assemble a “package” of measures that can be implemented in combination. The tool takes into account interactions between specific measures and presents the incremental savings and costs of each measure added to the package, so users can make informed decisions about energy-saving projects for implementation. The first version of the AIM Report will focus on retrofits for existing facilities in the United States. Later versions will include operational emissions calculations, international compatibility, and a more extensive library of potential measures, including features to incorporate in designs for new construction facilities.

The costs and savings presented in the AIM Report are high-level estimates for potential projects that may be considered for implementation, and they are intended to provide guidance on the financial impacts of potential energy-saving opportunities. Before implementing measures, users should engage qualified personnel, relevant stakeholders, and vendors to provide input.

The AIM Report was created by I2SL and several development partners, including SmithGroup, Buro Happold, and Aircuity. Development was also supported by 30 Labs2Zero sponsor organizations. Additional guidance was provided by several Technical Advisory Councils (TACs) composed of subject matter experts from across the laboratory industry who provided input on the measures to include, savings calculations, building assumptions, installed costs of measures, and case studies.

I2SL is currently piloting the AIM Report with a selected group of building owners who have lab buildings in the LBT. If you are interested in pilot testing the AIM Report on your lab buildings, please contact labs2zero@i2sl.org.