Hi,
It is of my best understanding that the UPSs are included as "eligible equipment" for both EAp2 and EAc1.4 as stated on the LEED for Commercial Interiors v2009 Reference Guide since they fall under the Office Equipment Category - Uninterruptible Power Supplies.
Our project's conditions demand several UPSs of 160KW and connected to a 480V rated output voltage. There are no UPSs certified ENERGY STAR in the market, based on the following link:
http://www.energystar.gov/productfinder/product/certified-uninterruptibl...
We are analyzing different alternatives to find other UPS equiment that meet the requirement (reducing the Wattage on the equipment, thus adding the amount of units needed to satisfy the project's demands), but we were wondering if there is scope for a solution such as an excemption to the UPS certified equipment for the aforementioned conditions to meet the requirements of the EAp2 and EAc1.4
Thank you in advance for your help.
Carla.
JOHN BURNETT
FAC-LEEDership19 thumbs up
November 20, 2014 - 2:00 am
Hi Carla,
Our view is that UPS' are not included under this credit. Unless this has been superseeded the LEED-CI ACP Supplementary Guide (LEED Ref_IDC_ACP_0.pdf) there is a table which lists the Energy Star categories, excluding UPS systems.
Logically EAc1.4 seeks to reduce internal heat gains from user equipment. Your 160 kW UPS is likely to be 95%+ efficient, meaning less than 5% or 8 kW is heat load when the UPS is operating at full load.
If LEED wants to include UPS systems it would need to be based on power conversion loss 8kW not on power throughput 160 kW, else W/ft2 would be several multiples of the typical office power figures(see CI Guide p179).
Carla Lopez
Director of Valuation & AdvisoryCBRE
1 thumbs up
November 20, 2014 - 3:51 pm
Hi John,
Thank you for your rapid response. We have found this LEED Interpretation (10044) at usgbg.org Data Base:
Ruling
Equipment that is not classified by Energy Star does not need to be included in the calculation; however, equipment that is classified by Energy Star, but an Energy Star certified version was not chosen, should be included in the calculation as non-Energy Star. Applicable internationally.
Since UPSs are considered under the "Office Equipment" category of ENERGY STAR products and based on previous LEED CI projects we have worked with, UPS were accepted as ENERGY STAR eligible equipment.
In addition, I just checked that Marcus Sheffer posted this answer to a related question on this very same web page:
"UPS falls under office equipment within Energy Star and the Reference Guide and Rating System documents clearly state that all Energy Star eligible equipment is included within EAp2 and EAc1.4."
We have already found equipment with the Watts and Volts that we need that meet the ENERGY STAR criteria, but I just want to make sure I need to include it on the list. Ours is a very large project and the reviewer may notice that a UPS is included and may ask for its addition on the template of this credit.
Thank you in advance for your help!
JOHN BURNETT
FAC-LEEDership19 thumbs up
November 20, 2014 - 9:16 pm
Good you find the solution.
Whilst USGBC/GBCI rules on any interpretations, we find it illogical to include the UPS nameplate power rating in the counting towards EAp2/EAc1.4 compliance.
A large UPS complying with Energy Star 'swamps' all other equipment in the project so you probably get most of the points!
For illustration, a 160 kW UPS supplying 150 kW of Energy Star listed equipment, but which is not complying with ES, fulfills the 50% requirement, yet only accounts for less than 5% of the total equipment load. If the UPS is excluded, or only the rated losses are included, then it is necessary that the connected equipment complies to meet at least 80 kW of total load. QED?
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5868 thumbs up
November 21, 2014 - 9:40 am
I agree John. The rated power for a UPS includes all of the stuff attached to it. I am not sure on how to break out just the power used by the UPS. Anyone have any thoughts?
JOHN BURNETT
FAC-LEEDership19 thumbs up
November 23, 2014 - 8:56 pm
Hi Marcus. Looking at Energy Star's 'UPS Key Product Criteria' it could be the 'average loading-adjusted efficiency' (which is based on 25 to 100% load profiles), which accounts for UPS performance at part load, but is dependent on the type of UPS. If 95% efficient then 5% of the power rating is included in the calculation.
We feel it is for USGBC/GBCI to rule on this so that projects do not either exclude the UPS from the calculation or achieve compliance based on the nameplate rating.
Garrett Ferguson
Senior Sustainability ManagerJLL
10 thumbs up
September 13, 2016 - 2:02 pm
I sent an inquiry to LEED Coach on this subject, as I still hadn't heard anything definitive from anyone on here or anywhere else. Their response was "UPS equipment can significantly affect the ENERGY STAR calculation. The rated power of the equipment and appliances, defined as the maximum draw at any time, must be used in the calculation. Please note that there is an alternative calculation methodology based on average annual consumption is allowed as described in LEED Interpretation 10400. However, the calculation must use either the rated power or the average annual consumption for all items."
So long story short, yes, it should be included.
Danna Richey
Energy Analyst and Sustainability ConsultantNewcomb & Boyd
2 thumbs up
November 8, 2018 - 2:55 pm
LEED Interpretation 10400 was updated on January 5, 2018, and provides guidance to determine the UPS "rated power" for LEED calculations purposes.