Dear all,
My project attempts to achieve LEED CS v4 Credit Demand Response. Our strategy of reducing electricity peak demand is by increasing the chilled water set-point temperature so that it reduces cooling load. This reduced cooling load will be used to claim for the electricity peak demand reduction. Is this strategy sensible for the credit?
What I am also not sure is that the calculation method for the Demand Response (using virtual plant), as my project is connected to DES, is different from the calculation method for Optimized Energy Performance (using purchased chilled water). If not sensible, can you share any idea?
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5867 thumbs up
June 20, 2018 - 9:32 am
That strategy may help and may be sensible. It is hard to say. The DES obviously complicates things considerably. First of all is the facility OK with the interior cooling temperature increasing while occupied? If you increase the chilled water temperature (CHWT) but don't increase the interior temperature set point the energy use for fans, etc. in the building will increase to try and make up for the lower CHWT. Obviously modeling purchased chilled water will not likely capture any demand reduction. Modeling this as a virtual plant would enable you to evaluate the affect on your building but this is not reality either. In reality increasing the CHWT at the plant would have impacts in all the building the plant serves and they all would need to be cooperating and adjusting their interior temperature to see much of an overall effect.
As far as other ideas it is impossible to say without far more detail about the project. In general most facilities that operate during peak load who engage in this are generally large with load that can be shifted so as not to have a significant effect on the comfort levels of the spaces. For example if you had a dozen or so AHU you could shut some down for a short period of time and rotate the shut down around the building. Demand reduction like this tends to be far more involved than just adjusting one set point.