We are working an a project about a building using purchased hot water and purchased chilled water from DES. It is a Building Stand-Alone Scenario (Option 1) as all upstream equipment belong to the DES and are not included in our project.
We are not sure about the way to calculate the Virtual Energy Rates as it is explained in the section 2.4.2.1:
- To calculate the Virtual Electric Rate when the rate is not flat, do we have to include the demand charges in the annual energy cost? The annual electric cost should be divided by the annual electric consumption provided by the preliminary run of the Baseline?
- To calculate the Virtual Fuel Rate (that we need to obtain the District Hot Water Rate), which Fuel is this about? The connected building does not use fossil fuel. What energy consumption do we have to use then?
Thanks a lot.
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5868 thumbs up
June 21, 2016 - 10:21 am
- Yes a flat rate is just the overall cost/unit of fuel. A not flat rate breaks the rate down into its component parts like you would when modeling an electricity tariff for example. This complex rate then gets applied within your baseline model. The output from that model will provide you with the virtual rate. Basically you are converting your complex rate into a flat rate.
- It is about the fuels listed in the formula. In the case of hot water it is the fuel rate and the electric rate. If the building does not use fossil fuel you can apply the exception and use a flat rate.