The OAA recently launched the new TEUI 2.0 which calculates the Total Energy Use Intensity (TEUI) and Thermal Energy Demand Intensity (TEDI) of a project. Intended for Part 3 buildings, it offers intuitive drop-down menus for classification, area, compliance standards, and tiered code options. Its results can be used to promote a building’s energy performance on websites, or even as a sidebar on our drawings.

TEUI 2.0, and its complementary counterpart, the TEUI Calculator, are ways to understand the performance of what architects design using standard, internationally recognized objective metrics. They can target energy performance of current projects, and ultimately align all designs, with the climate goal of zero carbon by 2050.

Three Reasons a Practice Should Use TEUI 2.0
1. It’s a Design Tool
Focusing on Part 3 buildings, the TEUI 2.0 can be an effective design tool at any project phase, where information available to architects is known (such as thermal conductivity values, along with areas of the building envelope and fenestration), but the energy performance is not. The tool can highlight:

• the differences (by percentages and pass/fail) between reference standards in the National Building Code of Canada (NBC), Ontario Building Code (OBC), and Passive House Planning Package (PHPP); and
• the effect of occupancy types, location (i.e. climate region), increased levels of insulation, or modified window wall ratios against a baseline TEUI value and/or TEDI reference value.

When values are known, or derived from a building energy performance model, the TEUI 2.0 forms can be submitted (as a voluntary convenience) alongside building code documentation forms (such as the OBC Matrix, SB12 EEDS, and SB10 Building Information form), together with the client’s permit application.

Practices can also use the results in conversations with clients, subconsultants (such as engineers), and other stakeholders when targeting the performance of a building’s design, based on data from completed buildings.

2. It’s a Benchmarking Tool
The TEUI 2.0 captures the objective building energy usage data and carbon emissions, of completed buildings in members’ portfolios, by providing a snapshot of the given building (which can be saved as an XLS or PDF file by the practitioner). Additionally, benchmarking an existing building’s performance, before renovation is undertaken, can provide a TEUI rating to compare the before and after scenarios. This is highly important when considering energy and deep energy retrofits.

3. You can use it for your submission to the OAA Design Excellence Awards
The OAA requires submission of TEUI data for inclusion in the OAA Design Excellence Awards. The TEUI Calculator or TEUI 2.0 calculation results allow the OAA adjudicators a method to objectively review building energy and carbon metrics. The TEUI calculators can also be used when an energy model has not been completed (for projects such as residences), as the submission data is collected from actual, rather than modelled, building performance.