We are working on a Manufacturing Building project in India. Direct evaporative cooling units (ECU) are used for cooling in certain spaces like office areas and a manufacturing area in the building. As per the review comments, per the definitions within ASHRAE 90.1-2010 evaporative units are not considered mechanical cooling, these spaces are considered unconditioned and must be modeled identically in both the Proposed and Baseline buildings. And we are asked to Update the Baseline models so that the evaporative units are modeled identically to the Proposed, in accordance with Appendix G requirements. But in reality, the ECUs are chosen instead of the Conventional AC system as they provide comfort equally and are more energy-efficient than conventional AC systems. Modeling the same system in both base & design will not give any advantage of energy savings. Can someone guide on this?
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Cam Fitzgerald
3 thumbs up
June 10, 2020 - 7:37 am
Hi Sonali,
It is unclear what definition is referred to in the review comment. The definition of Conditioned Space - Cooled Space is: “an enclosed space within a building that is cooled by a cooling system whose sensible output capacity exceeds 5 Btu/h·ft2 of floor area.” The definition of system does not require mechanical compression for cooling. If the proposed cooling systems have sufficient sensible cooling capacity the space is considered conditioned, and savings for evaporative cooling can be claimed. Since this would be in defiance of the review comment, it is recommended that you request further clarification from your reviewer. Your request should include: justification for classifying this space a “conditioned”, what space conditions are reflected in the Baseline and Proposed models, and how the proposed systems will maintain these conditions throughout the year. It may also be helpful to research more recent versions of 90.1 and ASHRAE clarifications for additional modeling guidance. Hope this helps!
Cam
sonali rajwade
June 15, 2020 - 8:17 am
Hi Cam,
Thanks for your inputs. We have requested for a clarification from our reviewer regarding the same.
Sonali.