I have came across a paper which says even if the white spaces(data halls) in a data centre building constitute the majority area of the project, the system selection for white spaces can be system 3 or 4 (As per the exception in ASHRAE 90.1 2010 - G3.1.1) and the supporting offices and mechanical rooms can be system 8.
(Refer Page 2, Column 2, Paragraph 1 of the above link)
So what should be the ideal approach, should I be selecting system 8 for baseline as per appendix G ? or can I go with system 4 for white spaces as per this paper? Is there any LEED or ASHRAE judgement for this matter? In my case, around 70%-80% of the building area are white spaces.
Any help on this would be appreciated, thank you.
Tyler Thumma
7GroupLEEDuser Expert
67 thumbs up
August 11, 2022 - 10:41 am
Typically the predominant condition should be used to determine the primary Baseline system type, which in your case is the white spaces, and then secondary systems should be applied to any spaces meeting exceptions to G3.1.1.
Since you are asking about the ideal approach, I would say that the ideal approach would be to apply Addendum cj to 90.1-2010, which more appropriately addresses the Baseline modeling requirements for data centers.