Electrification Needs - MEP Equipment

I'm doing a campus energy master plan for a small liberal arts college that has ambitions to be carbon neutral by 2050.  Many of their residence halls use thru-wall PTACs and baseboard heat, which are being switched over to PTHPs.  In doing my research, I ran across this report from NYSERDA, "High-Performance Packaged Terminal Heat Pump Market and Development Research Report - October 2018".  One of the primary objectives of the report is to get high-efficiency PTHPs that function at low ambient temperatures. Without completely recapping the report, here are a few tidbits:

• Condensate defrost disposal is a primary concern with the current equipment stock
• Many existing PTACs are non-standard sizes, so doing retrofits is going to be challenging just on the issue of fitting into existing wall penetrations
• The shift to electric resistance heat all-too-frequently occurs at relatively high temperatures (40F), especially at recovery from setback.  This overuse of electric resistance heat drives the effective annual COP down below 2, even if the "rated" COP is 3 or higher.
• At 0°F outdoor temperature, heat pump capacity appears to be 55% less than what it is at the 47°F test standard temperature - this could well lead to units being very oversized when operating at moderate temperatures.  COPs also drop off at roughly the same rate (a 3.4 COP at 47F might be as low as 1.5 at 0°F)
• Only a couple of PTHP manufacturers (LG and GE) do reverse-cycle defrost.
• PTHPs are essentially unable to do energy recovery on integrated ventilation make-up air.  The NYSERDA report goes so far as to say "It is recommended that high-efficiency cold-weather PTHPs do not have integrated make-up air."

Many of these issues are not as problematic for split-system air-source HPs, but there is still a significant market segment that is geared to PTHPs.

Thanks Jeff. My big item would be light-to-medium commercial sized (~50-200kWh) Battery Energy Storage Systems.  Getting these UL certified to back up life-safety emergency loads such as egress lighting and fire alarm is another must.  There are a few providers for systems in this range now but not many and none are certified to replace a generator for life-safety loads.  This will be necessary to eliminate fossil fuel gensets but would also have many other benefits with regard to renewable energy, demand reduction and resiliency. Another item on my wish list which is unrelated to electrification is a larger CO2 scrubbing unit.  A 5,000 cfm HLR unit would be great. Thanks

Maybe also VRF that can generate domestic hot water, so in summer the waste heat goes to the VRF becomes heating for domestic hot water for residential.  They do this in Europe, but not here.

Jeff- Good start so far. We need more heat pump options with HFO and CO2 refrigerants. The majority of CO2 HWHP manufacturers only supply the Japanese market. A significant portion of Whole Life Carbon for ASHPs and VRF is linked to refrigerant leakage. Attached is a white paper that our UK office wrote on this topic.    

Thanks Jeff, I think we should also be specific about the cold climate Air to Water Heat Pumps: in particular, we need unit capacities greater than 4,000,000 BTU, so they can be used as a one-to-one replacement for boilers.  These would likely consist of multiple compressor modules packaged together.

Here's the "LP50" letter than a bunch of architecture firm sustainability leaders wrote as part of a public exchange with architectural and interiors product manufacturers. Not exactly parallel with what we're trying to do here, but maybe useful as an example anyway?

All, see below for an update to the letter with edits based on your comments.  I have also included an up-front intro describing the purpose of letter.   What we need from you:  1. comments to the letter. 2. quantity of engineers (rough #) in your firms Thanks Chris and Jeff     Target manufacturers: Aermec, Multistack, Trane, Carrier In support of international carbon reduction goals, many states and jurisdictions are embarking on legislation directed at the building sector.  Mandating a reduction in carbon emissions attributed to buildings is driving toward a solution of building electrification.  We, as representatives of ____ engineering firms, consisting of ___ engineers practicing in the US market, recognize the need for suitable equipment solutions to address this growing need.  Heat pumps, in various configurations and at various sizes, will be a critical component of these future solutions.  As such, we request that you address this growing need through research and development of the products listed below.  Please join us in the effort to support international climate goals and improve our industry together. Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning:

• Heat Pump Solutions:
  • All units tested and certified to operate as low as 0°F ambient with no derating.
  • Increased compressor efficiency in heating mode at cold ambient temperatures (focus on equipment operation for both cooling and heating across OA temperature ranges)
  • Development of products utilizing alternative refrigerants (i.e. HFO and CO2) which have a lower GHG impact as compared to traditional refrigerants.
  • VRF systems 
    • Advancements required in heating capacities
    • Additional standard unit sizes and configurations
    • Customizable units
    • Units to generate domestic hot water
  • Air to Water Heat Pumps
    • Simultaneous cooling/heating machines
      • Produce chilled water and hot water simultaneously
    • Target water supply temperatures from 100°F to 140°F.
    • Development of a full product line of heat pumps sizes including large size machines– to match water cooled chiller and gas fired boiler product sizes
  • Air to Air residential heat pumps (including PTAC replacements)  JEFF:  DO WE NEED THIS ITEM?  IS THIS MARKET UNDERSERVED?

Domestic / Service Hot Water:

• Water-to-Water Domestic Heaters (ASME rated, capable of using condenser water loop to heat preheat domestic hot water via heat exchanger Domestic/Potable equipment with double wall HX in place)
• Air to Water Heat Pump heaters with a focus on elevated instantaneous capacity (requiring less HW storage)

Battery / Energy Storage:

• Development of small to medium sized (~50-200kWh) Battery Energy Storage Systems
• UL listed to support life safety loads

For all equipment, provide US relevant certifications and testing.  Including but not limited to:

• NFPA 70
• ASHRAE 15
• ASME
• UL 465

Hi Chris and Jeff, BR+A has about 400 engineers. Can we move air to water heat pumps closer to the top of the list?  If we had heat pumps the size of air-cooled chillers (hundreds of tons) that work at O^oF, we could all skip off to the electrification bank. If you list VRF equipment, you should add Mitsubishi, Daikin, LG, and other VRF manufacturers to the "target manufacturers". Also, I think batteries should be eliminated from this letter.  They are developing them like hot-cakes and it seems like a somewhat separate topic. Regards,
Jacob  

While I think the HVAC equipment is far more important for the electrification effort I disagree that manufacturers are addressing the need for better battery products.  Lots are being developed but there are very few options in the mid-sized range.  Even more crucially is the lack of UL924 listing so that they can be used for egress lighting and other life-safety applications.  I'm not aware of a single Li-Ion stationary storage product that has invested in this.  This is a major barrier to cost effective microgrids since a redundant back-up source is needed for those loads.  That means more diesel and NG generators.  Again, far lower carbon impact than fossil fuel boilers but definitely a part of the equation.

We are about 200 engineers (out of 400 total staff). Kim E Shinn, PE, LEED Fellow, BEMP Principal | Sustainability Wizard | PEAK Institute kim.shinn@tlc-eng.com TLC ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS 12 Cadillac Dr., Ste 150 Brentwood, TN 37027 Cell: 615.394.4297 www.tlc-engineers.com Healthcare Design Magazine Editorial Advisory Board Member Nashville Living Future Collaborative Co-Facilitator [cid:GW2019_sig_logo-01_0fec4ef7-231b-4921-b9a5-23b65d407eca.jpg] [cid:TLCtriangle_48_9b0b2127-1fd8-4dd1-8210-7b9e72ba4dda.png] [cid:LinkedIn_d77bd78f-26ef-4f20-a83e-d6bea9af9afa.png] [cid:Facebook_8e703d49-6367-43ed-b9af-b0d3399f9ce5.png] [cid:Twitter_009986bf-8b3b-4a60-972d-6224dff1b1bb.png]

Also, CMTA is about 350 people (~120 PE / 20 EIT). Thanks

Hi Electrification Team, Trane reached out to me and would like to support this effort.  At the end of our regularly scheduled MEP SDL conference call on Oct 8th, can we extend the call by 30 minutes (from 3:00 to 3:30) to invite the following Trane representatives to join the conversation?  If that is not kosher, please let me know. Ron Cosby, rcosby@trane.com  Director of Thermal Systems and Technology Tim Eimermann, Tim.Eimermann@trane.com  Chillers Product Manager Matt Omernik, Matthew.omernik@trane.com  Chiller Technology Portfolio Leader, Engineering Erica Gallant, Erica.gallant@trane.com  Thermal Systems Product Engineer   Regards, Jacob

I have no problem with inviting Trane to join for part of the call. I would just want us to be careful that whatever rolls out isn’t seen as somehow tied to Trane, in a way that would make it tougher for other manufacturers to jump on board. This has to be customer driven for them, and entirely non-aligned when it comes to manufacturers, if it is to have maximum impact. Nadav

I agree that we should wait on engaging specific vendors until all have an opportunity to engage.

Sounds good, I will hold them at bay.

Jeff, I've made a few edits in the attached, including adding in the UC System's Carbon Neutrality Initiative as one of the drivers.  Affiliated Engineers (AEI) is a 700 person firm.

Ok, here's a cleaned-up letter with edits based on our call this week. Jeff and Chris have signed off on this, so it's ready to circulate for signatures! (We can still make minor edits if someone sees something that needs correcting.) Please check with whomever you need to at your firm and get permission on sign on. And feel free to run it by colleagues at other firms. We'll organize a tracking document for that outreach next week. And we have a meet-up planned during Greenbuild--two, actually: one during the Show-and-Tell on Tuesday evening, and one on Wednesday morning at 11:15 at the BuildingGreen booth #1709. Lets see how many signatories we can get before Greenbuild so we have an impressive letter to show people when we ask them to join us. I added a request for EPDs, per the embodied carbon discussion on the call, and a note at the end about how manufacturers can communicate with the group about their progress. We agreed that we’ll want to include logos for the firms that have signed on, so we’ve set up a Google album where those logos can be deposited. If anyone has trouble using the album, you can email your logo to RoseAnn directly: roseann@buildinggreen.com Also, please send RoseAnn a note with the name of the person (or people) and correct company name to be listed on the letter. Great work pulling this together! Nadav

Hello! Here is the tracking document we’ll be using for outreach. Please put your name in the appropriate column for anyone you are willing to contact. You may then use this sheet to track the date you contact them and any response you get as well.  This is also a great chance to offer another invitation to these prospects to join the MEP Peer Network. This is a particularly exciting moment, being the first significant initiative that this group is moving forward. This collaborative letter came directly out of the 2019 MEP Summit, which is pretty amazing!  As firms are signing the letter, please ask them to add their logos to this Google album. Be sure to add a comment on the image which indicates the name of the individual(s) and company so we can see how to they should be listed. If anyone has trouble with this, you can send names and logos directly to me at roseann@buildinggreen.com. (The most recent edition of the letter is above in Nadav's 10.11.19 post) Best, RoseAnn

Hey, the Google Album with logos to go onto the letter is starting to look impressive! I see SmithGroup, AKF, BranchPattern, CMTA, JB&B, Vanderweil, TLC. How are the rest of you doing? And--there are no sign-ups on the tracking document yet; has anyone done outreach about this to other firms? Let us know, so we know who is already being approached about this. Thanks! Nadav

Wow--great to have Morrissey, SOM, DLR added to the Google Album. Meanwhile, I promised to provide sample language you can use in outreach to other people and firms--especially those who expressed interest in joining the network but haven't followed through on that yet. Here's that language, and here's the tracking document so you can let everyone know who you've contacted. Also, I'm wondering if we should consider NOT listing individuals as signatories to the letter, and just letting the firm logos play that role. That's how it worked for the architects' letter to manufacturers about product transparency. Any thoughts about that? Meanwhile, this sample language still asks that people send us their names (and don't forget to attach the letter!):   Dear ______ The Sustainable MEP Leaders group is now going great guns, but we miss having you involved! We’re now planning a second summit for Denver in early June 2020 and an all-peer-networks meet-up at Greenbuild. And there is a lot of great interaction happening online. Let me know if you’re want details on how to join the group. But, regardless of whether or not you choose to join, the group also now has a campaign that we need your help with. One of the initiatives coming out of the past Summer’s Summit was to coordinate an outreach to MEP equipment manufacturers, letting them know about the pent-up demand for equipment that can be used to eliminate fossil fuels from buildings. We’re now collecting names and logos from MEP firms to list as signatories to this letter, and would love to have you included. Please take a look at the attached, and, if your firm wants to sign on, just upload your logo to this Google album, and send us a note with any names of individuals who should be listed as signatories (individuals names are not required). Yours, ______    

Thanks Nadav! I circulated the electrification letter internally to our PM's and we don't have any recommended technical feedback - though there is a typo (missing Y) in the second instance of the word 'Battery". 

Nadav-  Elementa Engineering and Integral Group logos can be added to the letter. I forward logo's to Roseann. Also, there should be some additional text added to the sustainable refrigerants bullet point concerning, decommissioning best practices, providing/listing refrigerant alternatives for their existing equipment, and documentation on the carbon footprint of refrigerants. Quality standards for refrigerant subcontract trades may also be an item to add here.  

BR+A has agreed to sign on.  I uploaded our logo to the album.  On the letter, please list Jacob Knowles, Director of Sustainable Design, BR+A Consulting Engineers.  Thanks!

LPA will also sign on and I have uploaded our logo to the Google album.  Erik

Hi MEP leaders! I hope you can join for the call tomorrow at 2pm eastern. Here's the agenda and Zoom link. Our main focus will be on plug load rationalization, but we also need to finalize the electrification letter so we can print out copies to show around at Greenbuild next week. I took a stab at editing it to include the additional info that was requested on low GWP refrigerants (and fixed a couple of typos). See attached. All the logos we have so far are now in there--we'll make them look before before finalizing. Yours, Nadav

Ok, here's the letter as we've laid it out for sharing at Greenbuild. Please feel free to share this with other firms and see if we can recruit more signatories. We'll also have printed copies available at our booth to show people. Jeff Rios will be presenting about this at the Green Gurus Show-and-Tell on Tuesday evening. We have over 150 people signed up for the Show and Tell! We'll also have a meet-up at the booth on Wednesday morning at 11:15 to talk about this and the S MEP network in generally with anyone who's interested. Thanks to Jeff and Pete for agreeing to host that! If you won't be in Atlanta, you can still help with outreach on the letter--here's our tracking document for coordinating that effort. Yours, Nadav

It was great seeing some of you in Atlanta! I think that our letter generated some buzz--I got questions about it from Sarah Zaleski at DOE, who passed it along to Jenna Tatum at the Building Electrification Initiative:

Sarah Zaleski U.S Department of Energy 202.287.1892 (O) 202.302.0551 (M) Sarah.Zaleski@ee.doe.gov Jenna Tatum, Director, Building Electrification Initiative Innovation Network for Communities 619-962-8082 | jenna@in4c.net www.BEIcities.org  

I've replied to Jenna and cc'd Jeff and Chris. I also got a request to see the letter from Luke Dorna at UTC Building Solutions Group--he's really interested in seeing what we're looking for. I told him he had to wait until it was finalized and shared in mid-December. (luke.dorna@utc.com) So let's see how many more signatories we can get and plan on finalizing and distributing it after our Dec. 10 call! What did others encounter in terms of interest? Nadav

The letter is interested by AHR - the largest HVAC expo in the world with 72,000 attendees.  We will be presenting in the coming expo February 2020

Hello MEP Leaders! Thank you for your efforts pulling the Electrification Letter together, it’s looking impressive!  The deadline to have more firms added is January 1st, 2020. At that time we’ll finalize the letter to be distributed to manufacturers with all signatories’ logos included. In a final push to gather additional support from firms, you are welcome to use the following. Feel free to use this line if helpful when you are sharing: “We need to eliminate toxic fossil fuels from our buildings. This joint letter to HVAC equipment manufacturers asks them to address the gaps in the equipment that’s currently available.” Here’s a link to an information and instruction page you can send other MEP colleagues to have their firm sign on as a signatory for the Electrification Letter. We created this page in response to a request that was made on yesterday’s Sustainable MEP Leaders call.  Best, RoseAnn

    Hello everyone, I know we have gone through the letter a few times and I have missed couple of calls. I would like however to propose some changes at the beginning of the letter as per attached document. I have tracked changes for your comment. I think it clarifies a bit our objective and works towards a better future. Let me know your thoughts. SSZ  

Hi Sergio, I like your suggested edits, but we did agree on the call this week that we would not consider further changes to the letter at this point. There are already 22 firms that have formally signed on (check out the Google Photos Album for the current collection of logos), and making changes would necessitate going back for approvals for many of them. I think that we can make use of your framing language in our outreach efforts, though--so it's not a wasted effort! If others disagree and feel that these changes are important enough to change our decision, please speak up. Otherwise, we'll stick with what have for this phase of the effort. Nadav

Agreed on all points with Nadav. Patrick Murphy, PE, LEED AP BD+C Director of Sustainable Design R.G. Vanderweil Engineers, LLP T 703.647.6643 | C 607.621.8047 www.vanderweil.com [Instagram] [Vimeo] [LinkedIn] In the spirit of the season, our offices will be closed from Wednesday, December 25th through Wednesday, January 1st.

Hi folks, Here's the final letter, with 24 signatories! Great work. If we're all set with this after our call next week, we'll create a version for distribution with a release date and without the DRAFT watermark. Talk to you next week! Nadav

It's live! Here's the short BuildingGreen article, with a link to the final, published letter. Feel free to share the article or just the letter with your contacts at the manufacturing companies, and to post about this on your social media feeds (if you're into that kind of thing). Any good hashtag suggestions? These links will work for anyone: Article: https://www.buildinggreen.com/newsbrief/engineers-post-electrification-equipment-wish-list Letter: https://www.buildinggreen.com/sites/default/files/Sustainable-MEP-Electrification-Letter_2020-01-14.pdf Also, here's the shared folder where we can collect documentation on equipment or initiatives. And, in the folder, is a tracking list for contacts with manufacturers. Great work, everyone, pulling this together!

Hi team, Word is starting to get out about the letter. Below is a response from Brad Miller at UL--anyone want to follow up with him directly? We also heard from a small energy consulting firm in Vancouver (HIH Energy) that just wants to be informed about feedback we get from manufacturers.

On Jan 21, 2020, at 11:45 AM, Miller, Brad <Brad.Miller@ul.com> wrote: Roseann:
 
I had an opportunity to review the January 14, 2020 letter from the Sustainable MEP Leaders Group to MEP Manufacturers and I wanted to reach out to you to see how UL may be able to get involved?  I am based out of California and am experiencing first-hand the impacts of design and construction to decarbonizing and electrifying new construction projects.
 
UL is mentioned three times in the letter and we have our Appliance/HVAC group for verification to UL and third party standards but we also have our Environment Sustainability group that can provide support or develop Product Category Rules (PCRs) and EPDs for the equipment manufacturers.
 
How can UL get involved in this initiative towards HVAC systems with lesser environmental impacts?  UL is actively helping the industry with cold climate electric heat pump research and is a member of many standards bodies and trade organization but I am sure how involved you’re your organization BuildingGreen, Inc..
 
My cell phone number is 949.330.3898 if you have a moment to talk.
 
Thank You
 
Please note that my email has changed from bmiller@healthybuildings.com to brad.miller@ul.com.
 
Brad Miller LEED BD+C, AP O+M, GGP, Fitwel Ambassador
Senior Account Executive
---------------------------------------------------
Environment and Sustainability
UL
25381 Commercentre Drive, Suite 150
Lake Forest, CA 92630
M: 949.330.0239
T:   949.450.1111
W: UL.com
 

Team, Also see below from Oak Ridge National Lab after they saw our letter.  Rebecca Delaney from our team visited their office and presented the letter as part of this electrification future. ____________________________ Both me and Dr. Shen are interested in collaborating with you. I attended Rebecca’s excellent presentation on electrification last week at ORNL. I am wondering whether we could collaborate on this area, such as development and demonstration of:

• advanced cold climate heat pump
• large-scale heat pump systems that utilize various available renewable resources (e.g., geothermal., sewage water, mine water, industry waster energy) in a region
• dual-source heat pump integrated with thermal energy storage for shifting electric demands and mitigating the duck-effect resulting from growing renewable power
• a hybrid residential geothermal heat pump system that utilizes passive radiative sky cooling and solar thermal as supplemental heat sink/source for reducing cost of geothermal heat pump

  Could you please let us know your thinking about the above potential collaboration topics?   Thanks,   Xiaobing

UL headquartered in Chicagoland, their representatives regularly join Chicago Council High Rise Committee, that some of the MEP leaders are members on. We can connect with them from that front too, and maybe invite them to the next MEP meeting, if so desired. Best, LL

Luke, This is a great connection and is in agreement with our goals of the letter. I would be happy to collaborate with you and the folks at Oak Ridge. Chris

Chris, Of course.  We need to find a way to engage these scientists.  They are mostly PhDs funded by DOE or manufacturers.  If we can find a manufacturers that can fund these developments... Best, LL

I am a loose acquaintance with Brad Miller and we work in the same general area in Southern California. I would be happy to meet with him (on behalf of the Sustainable MEP Leaders Group) if that makes sense for our group and for UL. Erik Erik Ring PE , LEED Fellow Director of Engineering Principal Mechanical Engineering D: 949.701.4198 O: 949.261.1001 [LPA Design Studios]

Here's another response. I know nothing about Highmark, but from their website they seem like they're well aligned and could be a good ally. Anyone know about them? Interested in connecting with them (NYC-based)?

From: Andrew Dixon <adixon@highmark.co> Subject: Follow-up to contacting MEP equipment manufacturers Date: January 28, 2020 at 4:48:43 PM CST To: RoseAnn Grimes <roseann@buildinggreen.com> Hello RoseAnn, I work with HIGHMARK and we specialize in building-efficiency technologies to support sustainability, electrification and decarbonization. We work directly with MEP equipment manufacturers in New York City. We understand you reached out to these manufacturers recently, and we’d like to learn more about your organization since we’re aligned with your efforts. Can we set up a quick phone call? Thanks in advance, Andrew Dixon

1460 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
tel (212) 920-4878 | cel (617) 543-3344

http://www.highmark.co

Hello All, Here is another, exciting, response regarding the MEP Electrification Letter! ***************************************** Subject: Sustainable MEP Leaders in Australia -- echoing your letter Date: February 13, 2020 at 12:03 AM EST G'day RoseAnn, I’ve just come across the Sustainable MEP Leaders’ open letter to US MEP equipment manufacturers charging them with delivering the equipment we need to make zero carbon buildings.  Bravo!  This is exactly the kind of leadership we need in the building industry, delivered with the kind of clarity and directness not seen often enough. Here in Australia, many of us in the Mech Eng and sustainable design industry have signed up to the Engineers Declare movement.  Now we are figuring out what to do next.  I’ve been showing your letter to a similar cohort of ambitious engineers here, and inspired by it, we are drafting a version of this letter to our Australian MEP industry.  Our letter is intentionally similar to yours, as we think keeping the request list in sync with yours is not only practical (we have similar needs) but more powerful, as the equipment manufacturers will get a consistent message internationally.   Assuming that you and the Sustainable MEP Leaders endorse our similar action, we would like to include a statement that we are working in collaboration with you all.  We also will include a reference to your letter, to make it clear to the Australian equipment manufacturers that they need to keep up with global market forces.  Please let us know if this statement of international alignment is ok with your group. Regardless, we will keep you in the loop by sending a copy of our industry letter to you once complete. Thanks RoseAnn
pds
--
Paul Stoller, LEED Fellow
Director  Atelier Ten
Environmental Design Consultants
Level 14, 338 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000
T  +61 2 9262 4500 x 101
M +61 448 506 942
paul.stoller@atelierten.com