Future AIM Development Plans

The first version of the AIM Report includes many important features. However, many more feature additions are planned for the coming months and years. Some of the upcoming features are described below.

Internationalization

Providing full international compatibility for AIM is the highest priority item on the list of upcoming features. This upgrade will include support for metric units within AIM, as well as international currencies, measure cost factors, and weather data. Please note that the LBT is already fully internationalized.

Additional measures

The first version of AIM includes 26 energy efficiency measures (ECMs). These were selected from an initial list of more than 200 measures that can apply to laboratory facilities, and were chosen for their relative importance and feasibility of implementation in the software, with a focus on energy savings and on retrofit measures in existing facilities. Additional sets of measures will be added to the software incrementally; the next set will continue to focus on energy savings in existing lab buildings. Additional future versions will include measures focused on emissions reductions and those applicable to new construction facilities.

Enhanced savings calculations

The energy model underlying the AIM calculations will be upgraded to integrate additional features, including envelope loads, improved supply air temperature control, and a broader range of lab space types. The AIM software will be expanded to include these enhancements.

Emissions calculations

The first version of AIM provides energy savings calculations, including the impact of each measure on the Labs2Zero Energy Score of the building. In future, greenhouse gas emissions calculations will also be included.

New construction facilities

The current version of AIM applies only to retrofit projects for existing lab buildings. A future version of AIM will accommodate new construction facilities and measures. This aspect of the Labs2Zero program is known as Design2Zero.

Embodied carbon calculations

Eventually, we intend to include embodied carbon impact calculations in the AIM Report's measures. While information on embodied carbon impacts is currently limited, this is a growth field and we plan to add these calculations when the needed data becomes available.