Monitoring building energy performance: An informal review and characterization of research in progress

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) have had a longstanding interest in the actual performance of energy conservation features in whole buildings. BNL, as part of its work for DOE, has concentrated on detailed understanding of the full-scale performance of innovative components and subsystems interacting within whole buildings over extended time periods. This work has resulted in the publication of several case study reports on the actual energy performance of a variety of innovative residential buildings. To help the federal government and others keep abreast of developments in the field of whole building energy performance monitoring, DOE asked BNL to undertake a limited review of work under way throughout the United States, and to assemble the results of the review in a manner that would provide a resource to policymakers, researchers and others interested in whole building performance monitoring.