Project Description:
The project is approximately 3.0 lack Sft which is G+10 floors and going for LEED CI rating. The 9 floors in the project is office space and remaining one floor is dedicated to labs / data centre. For Equipment efficiency credit – prescriptive approach, the project is meeting the advance building code for COP and IPLV of chillers. The project is going for Air-cooled chillers (7 nos) for labs/ data center and water-cooled centri for other floors i.e. office space. Below are the queries related to the same:
1. Due to the constant temperature in labs and data centre, is it recommended to opt for VFD’s in order to meet the requirement for equipment efficiency points? The temp maintained will be around 18 to 20 deg C
2. For Data centre space the project is also going for IRC(In-Row coolers). Does LEED have any specific reference to verify and check the parameters for IRC system w.r.t LEED for CI? Can In-Row Coolers be considered as PAC unit to meet the LEED CI requirements in Advanced Building Code?
3. Is "Zoning Control" applicable for:
a) data center floors
b) labs/ data center without windows(or windows without vision)
c)un-occupied areas in the floor?
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5909 thumbs up
February 11, 2015 - 6:34 pm
1. The equipment efficiency strategies are prescriptive in nature so you just need to do the minimum requirement. Anything beyond that should be evaluated on its merits in the context of your project. As I recall the 3.10 VSD requirements refer to motors.
2. I don't think these systems are covered. If a system is not covered I do not think you can use the prescriptive approach.
3. These guidelines were clearly not written to cover a data center of lab space.
Off the top of my head it appears like you would need to follow the performance path.