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Black Hills Energy's Commercial New Construction Program
The Commercial New Construction program provides a unique opportunity for team members to participate in an integrated design process that uses building performance modeling to identify and implement cost-effective energy-efficiency strategies that add significant investment value to the project.
The program offers several benefits to the building owner, architects and engineers who participate. The benefits include:
- Free Energy Design Assistance during late schematic design and early design development
- Accurate energy data to aid in energy-efficient building design decisions, so that effective strategies remain an integral part of the project
- Design team compensation based on the square footage of the project, paid after the construction documents are complete
- Customer incentive based on energy savings paid to the building owner after construction is complete
Consultation
The Commercial New Construction program provides free Energy Design Assistance (EDA) provided by The Weidt Group during the late schematic design or early design development phase of a project. EDA is a three meeting process that provides the design team with project specific data based on the energy-efficiency strategies selected. The data provided is intended to help the design team and building owner make energy decisions. The design decisions and strategy selection remain in the hands of the design team throughout the process.
Computer Modeling
The selected energy strategies are bundled together to create virtual buildings. Each virtual building model is run through a computer simulation that estimates the energy use of the building as a whole during a weather-normalized year. The results are compared to the same building as if it were built under the basic code standards. The data provided illustrates which strategies offer the most savings in dollars, kWh and therms and the payback associated with each strategy. The design team and building owner are able to see how the individual strategies interact with each other and estimate of the total energy savings for the building.
Performance Verification
This step is completed in two stages, ensuring that the selected energy efficiency strategies are implemented. First, the design team incorporates the selected strategies into the construction documents and The Weidt Group completes a CD Review Report. The second stage occurs once the building is completed and occupied. The Weidt Group conducts an on-site review. Following the Verification Report, the customer will receive the earned construction incentive based on the verified savings from Black Hills Energy.
Program Service Territory
The Weidt Group provides Energy Design Assistance for the Black Hills Energy CNC program in Colorado and Iowa. A map of counties served by Black Hills Energy in Colorado can be found here. Counties in Iowa served by Black Hills Energy—gas service only—can be seen here. To search by zip code, visit the Black Hills Energy website.
Project Qualification
To see if your project may qualify for the CNC Program, please contact us at info@twgi.com.
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