Health Co-Benefits of the Built Environment

CoBE Blog

Case Study: Modernizing School Heating with Ground-source Heat Pump

In this real-life use case, Hopkins Academy, a public middle and senior high school in Hadley, MA, is considering upgrading its aging oil-burning heating system to a ground-source heat pump to save energy and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. UndauntedK12, a non-profit organization advising K-12 public schools in the energy transition, applied the Co-Benefits of Read More »

Case Study: Counterfactual Impact of a Lighting Retrofit

In this fictional use case, the owner of a supermarket in Fayetteville, Arkansas, is interested in reducing his building's energy costs. In addition, he is also concerned about the impact of his building's energy use on climate change. In the United States, food sales buildings have the greatest amount of lit floor space of all Read More »

Introduction to CoBE

Why it’s important The Co-Benefits of the Built Environment (CoBE) tool benefits anyone who works with energy and buildings, wants to understand the impact of their energy consumption better, and is interested in reducing that impact. The tool helps building owners, operators, investors, and others quantify health and climate benefits for evidence-based decision-making. CoBE can Read More »

CoBE Tool: How to Use

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjjvvhTaywk&t=42s There are two ways to enter data into the CoBE v.2 tool— directly into the webpage or using the template spreadsheet. The webpage is a clear and convenient format for entering relatively small amounts of data, while the spreadsheet works better for larger amounts of data or data already in spreadsheet format. This walkthrough Read More »

Case Study: Mixed-Use Building Retrofit and BPS Compliance

Our first fictional use case concerns a Boston building owner who manages a four-story commercial building, consisting of apartments, offices, a bank, and a grocery store. This building owner is interested in retrofitting her building, particularly in HVAC and boiler technology upgrades. She would like to evaluate the reduction in energy use and emissions that Read More »