I know that the guide for EBOM and District Energy is coming, but we are doing a feasibility study right now and would like some feedback on any thoughts about a central plant in an university setting.
We have a university campus that has a central plant which meters the make up water and has a significant chemical control system. Can individual EBOM projects take advantage of these aspects of the central plant as long as they are documented in the same manner as if they were in the building?
Tristan Roberts
RepresentativeVermont House of Representatives
LEEDuser Expert
11478 thumbs up
January 11, 2011 - 9:34 am
Scott, you may be aware of this, but the DES guide for EBOM came out about two weeks ago and is on the USGBC site. I would check that for the guidance you need.
Scott Bowman
LEED FellowIntegrated Design + Energy Advisors, LLC
LEEDuser Expert
520 thumbs up
January 11, 2011 - 10:04 am
Tristan;
I did see that, and opened it with great excitment, but alas, it only covers EA credits! So this is still an open question. However, as you read that document, I have to believe that applying credits to a DES where appropriate, with documentation of course, should be accepted.
Alexa Stone
ecoPreserve: Building Sustainability134 thumbs up
April 6, 2011 - 1:34 pm
Tristan and Scott,
I tried to answer the answer myself with your comments above BUT.... if we currently utilize our local utilities' DES for purchased chilled water, can we pursue this credit by working with the utility on their chemical management?
Scott Bowman
LEED FellowIntegrated Design + Energy Advisors, LLC
LEEDuser Expert
520 thumbs up
April 6, 2011 - 4:48 pm
At this point we just do not know. The project we have that may pursue this is very long term and no decision has been made, so we may not know for a while.
My opinion, and it is only that, is if your provider can provide documentation that the comply with credit, then that should pass through to anyone that uses that service.
Hopefuly USGBC will clarify at some point, or someone will try it and report it here!
Norma Lehman
PrincipalThe Beck Group
133 thumbs up
March 18, 2014 - 2:48 pm
Any update on using the central plant to achieve compliance for an individual building in a university campus setting?
We are working on an EBOM project located on a college campus and are wondering if we can achieve this credit by documenting the reduction in water consumption at the central plant. We do not have cooling towers at the building level; everything is located at the university's central plant.
Any insight would be very helpful, thank you!
Norma Lehman
PrincipalThe Beck Group
133 thumbs up
March 31, 2014 - 1:31 pm
All, i just received guidance on this from my LEED coach:
Yes, project teams may pursue WEc4.1 and take credit for a building-owned cooling tower on campus that meets the credit requirements, even though it is not within the LEED project boundary. Note that all cooling towers that serve the project building must be accounted for.
Trista Brown
Project DirectorWSP USA
456 thumbs up
April 8, 2014 - 10:59 am
Hi Norma, I recommend checking out the Campus Guidance document for additional info - http://www.usgbc.org/resources/campus-guidance