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NC-v4 EAp2:Minimum energy performance

Minimum Energy Performance - Manufacturing Facility & Process Loads

Hi,

We are evaluating the feasibility of meeting Minimum Energy Performance requirements for a New Construction under LEED v4 or v4.1.

According to the March 2024 update, we are required to demonstrate 8% improvement upon the baseline (we can use CS thresholds as process loads are > 50% of total energy).

Our expected process loads will be approx. 90% of total energy usage in the building, which makes that 8% target unrealistic if we model process loads equally in the proposed and baseline model.

We are exploring the use of Exceptional Calculation Methods to demonstrate better proposed process loads compared to the baseline, but I could find little guidance on this. My understanding is that the design team is expected to demonstrate what 'standard practice' would be and how the proposed processes are better than this.

Has anyone managed to demonstrate this in a satisfactory way and would you be able to share any tips.

Best,

Lorenzo

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Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow
7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
4454 thumbs up

Mon, 12/01/2025 - 22:47

We have done so in the past. The last one we worked on showed a 35% reduction that was almost all process load savings. There is not a lot of guidance because each manufacturing process is different. You will need to have some detailed conversations with the folks who are designing the manufacturing process. They often have some great ideas about what they are doing relative to the norm for a project like that because they know what the norm is. There are some simple measures like boiler efficiency you can find baselines for in 90.1. Look to what qualifies for utility rebates in your area. The challenging part is generally not finding the strategies that save energy, it is in justifying the appropriate baseline. This is where it falls to the design team to justify those baselines. 

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