I'm modeling a building where hot water is provided by a district heating system. The district heating system is a cogeneration system (CHP). The produced electric energy is sold to the national network directly. Therefore the building uses the hot water that is produced by CHP, but it doesn't use the electricity that is produced by CHP. During summer the hot water is used for the production of chilled water through an absorption chiller.
I'm considering Appendix G of “Treatment of District or Campus Thermal Energy in LEED”. It states that the electricity shall be allocated to the considered building through an equation. Since in our case the building doesn't use the electricity that is produced by CHP, I'm wondering whether that approach makes sense. If it doesn't make sense, I would like to consider an “allocation factor” and multiply the fuel input by that allocation factor, as it is defined by equation 2 of “Treatment of Scandinavian District Energy Systems in LEED v1 2012”: http://www.usgbc.org/resources/treatment-scandinavian-district-energy-sy...
Would it be possible? Consider that the building is located in Italy and the Italian technical standards provide values relative to the “alternative production efficiency for heat production” and the “alternative production efficiency for electricity production”. Shall I apply all the Scandinivian document (calculation of PEF and CO2e, of the performance factor...)?
Do you see better alternatives?
Regards
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Santiago Velez
ASHRAE BEMP HBDP - LEED GA, Building Performance ConsultantZonda
20 thumbs up
August 25, 2016 - 4:25 pm
Hey Francesco,
I don't have any experience on LEED certification with CHP plant. I do have some with DES.
That said, some thoughts:
a) Is this CHP plant (1) part of your buildings systems or (2) an off site plant that supplies hot water to various buildings?
- If it is (1) I don't see why you would bother with DES Guidance. I would try to model the CHP plant and subtract the money made from selling that energy to the total building energy costs.
- If it is (2) then I think following of “Treatment of District or Campus Thermal Energy in LEED V2 and LEED 2009 – Design & Construction" is a good idea. IMO allocating generated energy to the building does makes sense even if your building it not using it.
b) I have no experience with the LEED Scandinavian DES approach, but it looks like it builds on DES Guidance Option 2. If your project meet the criteria discuses at "overview" I don't see why you wouldn't be able to apply this guidance.
c) What ever approach you decide to follow, I would try and find a CIR with a similar scenario or submit a new one specific to your project.
Francesco Passerini
engineer90 thumbs up
August 26, 2016 - 5:20 am
Thank you, Santiago. It is an off site plant that supplies hot water to various buildings.
Francesco Passerini
engineer90 thumbs up
August 26, 2016 - 5:23 pm
As for “Treatment of District or Campus Thermal Energy in LEED V2 and LEED 2009 – Design & Construction", Santiago thinks that allocating generated electric energy to the building makes sense even if the building it not using it. I'm not sure, but probably he's right, because it is a way to consider the fact that the fuel is used both for the heat production and for the electricity production.
I see a problem in the application of ANNEX D of “Treatment of District or Campus Thermal Energy in LEED V2 and LEED 2009 – Design & Construction": I don't know whether I'll be able to find monitored annual data (Total CHP electricity generated and Total CHP fuel input) or to simulate the annual electricity generation (as for the CHP I know the parameters relative to nominal conditions, but I don't have curves and I don't know how the production is controlled in every part of the year).
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5861 thumbs up
September 12, 2016 - 10:25 am
All European projects are eligible to use the Scandinavian DES.