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DOE OSTI2015

Sault Tribe Building Efficiency Audits of Tribally-Owned Governmental Buildings and Residential Tribal Housing

The Tribe is working to reduce energy consumption and expense in Tribally-owned governmental buildings and low income housing sites. In 2009, the Tribe applied to the U. S. Department of Energy for funding to conduct energy audits of Tribally-owned governmental buildings. Findings from the energy audits would define the extent and types of energy efficiency improvements needed, establish a basis for energy priorities, strategies and action plans, and provide a benchmark for measuring improvements from energy efficiency implementations. In 2010, the DOE awarded a grant in the amount of $95,238 to the Tribe to fund the energy audits of nine governmental buildings and to pay for travel expenses associated with attendance and participation at the DOE annual program reviews. In 2011, the Tribe applied for and was awarded a DOE grant in the amount of $75,509 to conduct energy audits of the remaining 30 Tribally-owned governmental buildings. Repeating mobilization steps performed during the first DOE energy audits grant, the Tribe initiated the second round of governmental building energy audits by completing energy auditor procurement. The selected energy auditor successfully passed DOE debarment and Sault Tribe background clearances. The energy audits contract was awarded to U. P. Engineers and Architects, Inc. of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. The Tribe continued mobilizing for the energy audits by providing the energy auditor with one year of electric, gas and water utility invoice copies per building, as well as supplemental building information, such as operating hours. The Tribe also contacted building occupants to coordinate scheduling for the on-site energy audit inspections and arranged for facilities management personnel to guide the energy auditor through the buildings and answer questions regarding building systems.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2015

Audits Made Simple

A company just got notified there is a big external audit coming in 3 months. Getting ready for an audit can be challenging, scary, and full of surprises. This Gold Paper describes a typical audit from notification of the intent to audit through disposition of the final report including Best Practices, Opportunities for Improvement (OFI), and issues that must be fixed. Good preparation can improve the chances of success. Ensuring the auditors understand the environment and requirements is paramount to success. It helps the auditors understand that the enterprise really does think that security is important. Understanding and following a structured process ensures a smooth audit process. Ensuring follow-up on OFIs and issues in a structured fashion will also make the next audit easier. It is important to keep in mind that the auditors will use the previous report as a starting point. Now the only worry is the actual audit and subsequent report and how well the company has done. “Virtualization, mobilization, and cloud technology have created new points of entry into business, leaving them vulnerable to covert cyber-attacks,” states a report by Ernst & Young. Executives are struggling with the potential for a data breach, and resolving this business risk is high on their agenda. While most audit committee members are financially solid, they lack knowledge of technology issues, making understanding of this risk difficult. Success with an audit helps management understand the risk management is accepting, highlight gaps in security, and generate ideas on how to improve. These results are an important aspect of managing the business risk.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

DOE OSTI2016

A National Framework for Energy Audit Ordinances

A handful of U.S. cities have begun to incorporate energy audits into their building energy performance policies. Cities are beginning to recognize an opportunity to use several information tools to bring to real estate markets both motivation to improve efficiency and actionable pointers on how to improve. Care is necessary to combine such tools as operational ratings, energy audits, asset ratings, and building retro-commissioning in an effective policy regime that maximizes market impact. In this paper, the authors focus on energy audits and consider both the needs of the policies' implementers in local governments and the emerging standards and federal tools to improve data collection and practitioner engagement. Over the past two years, we have compared several related data formats such as New York City's existing audit reporting spreadsheet, ASHRAE guidance on building energy auditing, and the DOE Building Energy Asset Score, to identify a possible set of required and optional fields for energy audit reporting programs. Doing so revealed tensions between the ease of data collection and the value of more detailed information, which had implications for the effort and qualifications needed to complete the energy audit. The resulting list of data fields is now feeding back into the regulatory process in several cities currently working on implementing or developing audit policies. Using complementary policies and standardized tools for data transmission, the next generation of policies and programs will be tailored to local building stock and can more effectively target improvement opportunities through each building's life.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2015

Training in Building Audit Technologies

In 2011, the Tribe proposed and was awarded the Training in Building Audit Technologies grant from the DOE in the amount of $55,748 to contract for training programs for infrared cameras, blower door technology applications and building systems. The coursework consisted of; Infrared Camera Training: Level I - Thermal Imaging for Energy Audits; Blower Door Analysis and Building-As-A-System Training, Building Performance Institute (BPI) Building Analyst; Building Envelope Training, Building Performance Institute (BPI) Envelope Professional; and Audit/JobFLEX Tablet Software. Competitive procurement of the training contractor resulted in lower costs, allowing the Tribe to request and receive DOE approval to additionally purchase energy audit equipment and contract for residential energy audits of 25 low-income Tribal Housing units. Sault Tribe personnel received field training to supplement the classroom instruction on proper use of the energy audit equipment. Field experience was provided through the second DOE energy audits grant, allowing Sault Tribe personnel to join the contractor, Building Science Academy, in conducting 25 residential energy audits of low-income Tribal Housing units.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2024

Demonstration and Validation of a Virtual Energy Audit Tool for DoD Buildings

Electricity consumption has been in the spotlight as part of the battle for sustainability resulting in legislative measures to try and reduce the amount of energy used. EISA 432 and the Energy Act of 2020 are two examples that require federal facilities to investigate buildings and find saving opportunities through energy audits. EDIFES solves this problem by providing fully virtual audits. Only five inputs are needed (15-minute interval electricity consumption, location, square footage, number of stories, and building end use) to produce complete energy audits. The virtual audit is automated, making them inexpensive and the small number of inputs allows a large number of buildings to be entered quickly. During this project, EDIFES performed energy audits on hundreds of buildings to ensure proper functionality and workflow. Over 250 DoD buildings received energy audits that then had their results posted to an interactive dashboard with portfolio rankings. Several validation methods were employed. All confirmed that EDIFES's methods worked as expected and with a high degree of accuracy.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2020

Desktop Audits: Overview, Case Studies, Guidance

The Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 requires that federal agencies audit 25% of their 3.1 billion square feet of covered facilities each year. Several newer, advanced options such as monitoring-based commissioning, fault detection and diagnostics, and energy management systems can help support data collection and analysis to be used for EISA compliance. The Federal Energy Management Program's (FEMP’s) Audit Decision Tree, Audit Definitions, and FEMP Guidance can be used by Agencies to determine the best approaches to evaluate their facilities. FEMP continues to develop additional resources to support agencies in meeting EISA compliance. This presentation gives an overview of desktop audits, including case studies and guidance.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2015

Ideas That Work! The Midnight Audit

The midnight audit provides valuable insight toward identifying opportunities to reduce energy consumption—insight that can be easily overlooked during the normal (daytime) energy auditing process. The purpose of the midnight audit is to observe after-hour operation with the mindset of seeking ways to further minimize energy consumption during the unoccupied mode and minimize energy waste by reducing unnecessary operation. The midnight audit should be used to verify that equipment is off when it is supposed to be, or operating in set-back mode when applicable. Even a facility that operates 2 shifts per day, 5 days per week experiences fewer annual hours in occupied mode than it does during unoccupied mode. Minimizing energy loads during unoccupied hours can save significant energy, which is why the midnight audit is an Idea That Works.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2020

Methodology to assess “no-touch” building audit software using simulated utility data

Building audits are conducted in many commercial buildings to identify opportunities to reduce energy costs and improve building operation. Because audits require significant effort by building engineers, they are usually only affordable for larger commercial buildings. “No-touch” building audit tools have thus been developed to identify potential savings based on a simplified analysis of building energy consumption patterns via high-level energy data such as monthly utility bills. This paper presents a comprehensive and standardized methodology to evaluate the accuracy of no-touch audit tools in detecting and diagnosing building energy problems and quantifying potential energy savings. The test suite is based on output data from a well-characterized set of building energy models, and the methodology is illustrated by applying it to a representative no-touch building audit tool. Results show that the tool estimates building energy end uses with reasonable accuracy but is less accurate in identifying probably causes of high energy.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2015

MO-D-213-08: Remote Dosimetric Credentialing for Clinical Trials with the Virtual EPID Standard Phantom Audit (VESPA)

Purpose: Report on implementation of a Virtual EPID Standard Phantom Audit (VESPA) for IMRT to support credentialing of facilities for clinical trials. Data is acquired by local facility staff and transferred electronically. Analysis is performed centrally. Methods: VESPA is based on published methods and a clinically established IMRT QA procedure, here extended to multi-vendor equipment. Facilities, provided with web-based comprehensive instructions and CT datasets, create IMRT treatment plans. They deliver the treatments directly to their EPID without phantom or couch in the beam. They also deliver a set of simple calibration fields. Collected EPID images are uploaded electronically. In the analysis, the dose is projected back into a virtual phantom and 3D gamma analysis is performed. 2D dose planes and linear dose profiles can be analysed when needed for clarification. Results: Pilot facilities covering a range of planning and delivery systems have performed data acquisition and upload successfully. Analysis showed agreement comparable to local experience with the method. Advantages of VESPA are (1) fast turnaround mainly driven by the facility’s capability to provide the requested EPID images, (2) the possibility for facilities performing the audit in parallel, as there is no need to wait for a phantom, (3) simple and efficient credentialing for international facilities, (4) a large set of data points, and (5) a reduced impact on resources and environment as there is no need to transport heavy phantoms or audit staff. Limitations of the current implementation of VESPA for trials credentialing are that it does not provide absolute dosimetry, therefore a Level 1 audit still required, and that it relies on correctly delivered open calibration fields, which are used for system calibration. Conclusion: The implemented EPID based IMRT audit system promises to dramatically improve credentialing efficiency for clinical trials and wider applications. VESPA for VMAT will follow soon.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

Methodology to Assess No Touch Audit Software Using Simulated Building Utility Data

This report describes a methodology developed for assessing the performance of no touch building audit tools and presents results for an available tool. Building audits are conducted in many commercial buildings to reduce building energy costs and improve building operation. Because the audits typically require significant input obtained by building engineers, they are usually only affordable for larger commercial building owners. In an effort to help small building and business owners gain the benefits of an audit at a lower cost, no touch building audit tools have been developed to remotely analyze a building's energy consumption.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2017

Health and Safety Audit Design Manual

The Health and Safety Audit is an electronic audit tool developed by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory to assist in the identification and selection of health and safety measures when a home is being weatherized (i.e., receiving home energy upgrades), especially as part of the US Department of Energy (DOE) Weatherization Assistance Program, or during home energy-efficiency retrofit or remodeling jobs. The audit is specifically applicable to existing single-family homes (including mobile homes), and is generally applicable to individual dwelling units in low-rise multifamily buildings. The health and safety issues covered in the audit are grouped in nine categories: mold and moisture, lead, radon, asbestos, formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), combustion, pest infestation, safety, and ventilation. Development of the audit was supported by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control and the DOE Weatherization Assistance Program.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

DOE OSTI2017

The Functional Resonance Analysis Method for a systemic risk based environmental auditing in a sinter plant: A semi-quantitative approach

Environmental auditing is a main issue for any production plant and assessing environmental performance is crucial to identify risks factors. The complexity of current plants arises from interactions among technological, human and organizational system components, which are often transient and not easily detectable. The auditing thus requires a systemic perspective, rather than focusing on individual behaviors, as emerged in recent research in the safety domain for socio-technical systems. We explore the significance of modeling the interactions of system components in everyday work, by the application of a recent systemic method, i.e. the Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM), in order to define dynamically the system structure. We present also an innovative evolution of traditional FRAM following a semi-quantitative approach based on Monte Carlo simulation. This paper represents the first contribution related to the application of FRAM in the environmental context, moreover considering a consistent evolution based on Monte Carlo simulation. The case study of an environmental risk auditing in a sinter plant validates the research, showing the benefits in terms of identifying potential critical activities, related mitigating actions and comprehensive environmental monitoring indicators. - Highlights: • We discuss the relevance of a systemic risk based environmental audit. • We present FRAM to represent functional interactions of the system. • We develop a semi-quantitative FRAM framework to assess environmental risks. • We apply the semi-quantitative FRAM framework to build a model for a sinter plant.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2016

SU-F-T-485: Independent Remote Audits for TG51 NonCompliant Photon Beams Performed by the IROC Houston QA Center

Purpose: IROC-H conducts external audits for output check verification of photon and electron beams. Many of these beams can meet the geometric requirements of the TG 51 calibration protocol. For those photon beams that are non TG 51 compliant like Elekta GammaKnife, Accuray CyberKnife and TomoTherapy, IROC-H has specific audit tools to monitor the reference calibration. Methods: IROC-H used its TLD and OSLD remote monitoring systems to verify the output of machines with TG 51 non compliant beams. Acrylic OSLD miniphantoms are used for the CyberKnife. Special TLD phantoms are used for TomoTherapy and GammaKnife machines to accommodate the specific geometry of each machine. These remote audit tools are sent to institutions to be irradiated and returned to IROC-H for analysis. Results: The average IROC-H/institution ratios for 480 GammaKnife, 660 CyberKnife and 907 rotational TomoTherapy beams are 1.000±0.021, 1.008±0.019, 0.974±0.023, respectively. In the particular case of TomoTherapy, the overall ratio is 0.977±0.022 for HD units. The standard deviations of all results are consistent with values determined for TG 51 compliant photon beams. These ratios have shown some changes compared to values presented in 2008. The GammaKnife results were corrected by an experimentally determined scatter factor of 1.025 in 2013. The TomoTherapy helical beam results are now from a rotational beam whereas in 2008 the results were from a static beam. The decision to change modality was based on recommendations from the users. Conclusion: External audits of beam outputs is a valuable tool to confirm the calibrations of photon beams regardless of whether the machine is TG 51 or TG 51 non compliant. The difference found for TomoTherapy units is under investigation. This investigation was supported by IROC grant CA180803 awarded by the NCI.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2019

Pascua Yaqui Tribe Energy Audit (Final Report)

The Pascua Yaqui Tribe has the goal of reducing energy use and costs in its government facilities and housing. In a proactive effort to meet the Tribe's needs an energy audit was performed to accomplish the following goals: Develop an energy efficiency implementation strategy. Prepare an energy audit to identify cost-effective energy efficiency opportunities. Plan and conduct a level II energy audit in tribal government buildings and tribal housing. The audit encompassed four tribal government buildings and a group of residential structures. The purpose of this project was to assess the various facilities energy use in order to inform a means to lower annual consumption. An evaluation of each facility's historical energy and major energy-consuming equipment was performed, and energy conservation measures (ECM's) were identified. An average of 4 ECM's where recommended for each facility. If each facility's recommended ECM's are implemented, the average calculated yearly benefits to the government and residential buildings would result in a 48.3% reduction in electrical energy/costs savings and a 14.4% reduction in natural gas energy/costs savings. Recommended projects for implementation include: Interior Lighting Upgrade, Exterior Lighting Upgrade, Solar Pool Covers, Retro-Commissioning, Low Volt Fixtures, Plug Load Management System, Occupancy Sensor Control, and Solar PV for government/casino buildings and appliance, window, HVAC, Weather Stripping, and water heaters replacement in residences.

03 NATURAL GAS↗

DOE OSTI2020

FEMP Facility Evaluation (Audit) Decision Tree

This document is a resource to be used in concert with FEMP Audit Definitions, FEMP Consolidated Facility Management Guidance, and agency best practices and expert judgment—for agencies to use to determine the best approaches to evaluate their facilities. It features a decision tree that provides a framework for agencies to interpret gathered facility data to understand the existing conditions; benchmark the facility against others in the portfolio to determine whether an on-site or remote audit is appropriate for a facility; determine the best remote or on-site audit level of detail to meet agency facility auditing goals, such as meeting Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requirements and developing projects; and improve their energy and water management programs.

auditing↗

DOE OSTI2015

SU-E-T-282: Dose Measurements with An End-To-End Audit Phantom for Stereotactic Radiotherapy

Purpose: Report on dose measurements as part of an end-to-end test for stereotactic radiotherapy, using a new audit tool, which allows audits to be performed efficiently either by an onsite team or as a postal audit. Methods: Film measurements have been performed with a new Stereotactic Cube Phantom. The phantom has been designed to perform Winston Lutz type position verification measurements and dose measurements in one setup. It comprises a plastic cube with a high density ball in its centre (used for MV imaging with film or EPID) and low density markers in the periphery (used for Cone Beam Computed Tomography, CBCT imaging). It also features strategically placed gold markers near the posterior and right surfaces, which can be used to calculate phantom rotations on MV images. Slit-like openings allow insertion of film or other detectors.The phantom was scanned and small field treatment plans were created. The fields do not traverse any inhomogeneities of the phantom on their paths to the measurement location. The phantom was setup at the delivery system using CBCT imaging. The calculated treatment fields were delivered, each with a piece of radiochromic film (EBT3) placed in the anterior film holder of the phantom. MU had been selected in planning to achieve similar exposures on all films. Calibration films were exposed in solid water for dose levels around the expected doses. Films were scanned and analysed following established procedures. Results: Setup of the cube showed excellent suitability for CBCT 3D alignment. MV imaging with EPID allowed for clear identification of all markers. Film based dose measurements showed good agreement for MLC created fields down to 0.5 mm × 0.5 mm. Conclusion: An end-to-end audit phantom for stereotactic radiotherapy has been developed and tested.

60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES↗

DOE OSTI2022

Scaling Building Energy Audits through Machine Learning Methods on Novel Drone Image Data

Building energy audits are time-consuming and labor-intensive. This paper describes a new method using machine learning (ML) techniques on novel data sources (drone images) to improve the identification of building characteristics and retrofit opportunities, and thereby reduce the effort for audits. The new ML method includes: (1) Building footprint extraction using line extraction, polygonization, and polygon-merging, (2) Building envelope extraction using PIX4d modeling software to reconstruct a building 3D model, (3) Visualization tool for viewing images from the 3D model, (4) Window-to-wall ratio (WWR) using state-of-art deep neural network semantic segmentation, (5) Envelope thermal anomaly detection using an unsupervised machine learning clustering algorithm, and (6) Rooftop energy equipment detection based on an object detection algorithm. The testing of this method involved a comparison of additional ML-generated information overlaid on current ‘state-of-practice’ audit and remote assessment baselines using evaluation metrics: labor time and associated cost, marginal benefits of using ML-generated information in workflows for audits and remote assessments, integration potential with existing processes and tools, and replicability/scalability of the method. In two test buildings in California that had comprehensive drawings and meter data available, the ML method effectively generated a building footprint, envelope, rooftop equipment, WWR, and locations of envelope thermal anomalies. Projected target segments of the ML method are sites with minimal drawings and energy data, and underserved sectors such as multistoried housing, disadvantaged communities, and schools for which the ML method can enable identification of building asset characteristics and prioritization of envelope retrofits and decentralized energy equipment retrofits.

Singh, Reshma↗

DOE OSTI2016

Impact of Using Audit Data to Improve the Evidence-Based Use of Single-Fraction Radiation Therapy for Bone Metastases in British Columbia

Purpose: To assess the impact of a population-based intervention to increase the consistency and use of single-fraction radiation therapy (SFRT) for bone metastases. Methods and Materials: In 2012, an audit of radiation therapy prescriptions for bone metastases in British Columbia identified significant interphysician and -center (26%-73%) variation in the use of SFRT. Anonymous physician-level and identifiable regional cancer center SFRT use data were presented to all radiation oncologists, together with published guidelines, meta-analyses, and recommendations from practice leaders. The use of SFRT for bone metastases from 2007 through 2011 was compared with use of SFRT in 2013, to assess the impact of the audit and educational intervention. Multilevel logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between the usage of SFRT and the timing of the radiation while controlling for potentially confounding variables. Physician and center were included as group effects to account for the clustered structure of the data. Results: A total of 16,898 courses of RT were delivered from 2007 through 2011, and 3200 courses were delivered in 2013. The rates of SFRT use in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2013 were 50.5%, 50.9%, 48.3%, 48.5%, 48.0%, and 59.7%, respectively (P<.001). Use of SFRT increased in each of 5 regional centers: A: 26% to 32%; B: 36% to 56%; C: 39% to 57%; D: 49% to 56%; and E: 73% to 85.0%. Use of SFRT was more consistent; 3 of 5 centers used SFRT for 56% to 57% of bone metastases RT courses. The regression analysis showed strong evidence that the usage of SFRT increased after the 2012 intervention (odds ratio 2.27, 95% confidence interval 2.06-2.50, P<.0001). Conclusion: Assessed on a population basis, an audit-based intervention increased utilization of SFRT for bone metastases. The intervention reversed a trend to decreasing SFRT use, reduced costs, and improved patient convenience. This suggests that dissemination of programmatic quality indicators in oncology can lead to increased utilization of evidence-based practice.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗