If recent years have been any indication, we’ve passed an inflection point with regards to climate change, with our actions over the next few decades determining the environmental health of our planet. With ever-increasing extreme climate events, such as wildfires, droughts, hurricanes, and temperature extremes, human contribution to climate change continues to be ever more apparent.
Solving climate change will be a multi-pronged effort, with VDPE and other building engineering firms playing a role in the future of the built environment. Buildings consume nearly 40% of all U.S. energy and roughly 76% of all U.S. electricity. VDPE assists building owners and operators manage their energy usage by performing energy modeling and energy auditing to identify areas of improvement.
For new installations, VDPE performs energy modeling to evaluate proposed building systems’ energy and fuel usage for various options to help owners and operators determine which solutions would work best for their particular needs and budget. Similarly, energy auditing efforts shed light on low-performing systems and equipment which would benefit from an upgrade, with construction costs offset by government-sponsored rebates and incentives, as well as payback from reductions in long-term system operating costs.
With our vision, design approach, and the technical experience to execute, we look forward to a future where engineering and science help us address some of the major existential challenges facing us today. VDPE is optimistic and looks to work towards a cleaner, healthier environment, and a more sustainable future.