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NC-2009 EAc4:Enhanced Refrigerant Management

District Cooling

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Mark Daub
Drees&Sommer
LEEDuser Basic Member
4 thumbs up

We have a MR V3.0 project that uses district cooling. First I thought this was great, as no refrigerants are used in the building. Now the district energy guidelines say, that we have to provide all the data, even for the upstream equipment, and show that it meets the credits requirements. Problem is, that the district cooling provider is in no way obliged to lay open his books and give the client somewhat sensitive data about his cooling production. So it is very hard, if not impossible, to get the necessary data for this credit. I really had to laugh when I read that for Enhanced Commissioning, the upstream equipment has to be commissioned...really? We have absolutely no claim to get access to the production plant. The district cooling contract just says you buy cold water and give back slightly warmer water in return. Or am I misinterpreting things?

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Melissa Kelly
Sustainability Specialist
Gensler
LEEDuser Basic Member
66 thumbs up

Fri, 04/17/2015 - 15:41

Hi Mark, Unfortunately it's true, and I feel your pain! Having a good relationship with a third-party district plant manager can be tricky, but the benefit is that you have a better chance at improving the performance for your own building through including the upstream equipment in the credits listed in the District Energy System Guidelines. For this credit in particular, it's a question of meeting the credit intent--is keeping the refrigerant use for your building outside in a district plant really the same as not having any refrigerants? If you haven't already, I would recommend posting in the Enhanced Commissioning credit forum for advice on commissioning upstream equipment, as lots of people have shared their experiences with district systems there as well.

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