I'm working on a retail (grocery store) project which is pursuing LEED for Retail CI, and my question is, simply put: are we supposed to only model HVAC for EAc1.3 or can we include Refrigeration as well? Our store's refrigeration & HVAC systems are integrated together through a water loop pump and fluid cooler that serve both systems. Although the fluid cooler fan motor and the water loop pump motor have VFDs, the increase in energy consumption due to the motors overshadows the reduction in the cooling & heating savings of the HVAC system. The pumps are sized to handle heat rejection for both the refrigeration & HVAC systems, but the vast majority of the rejection of course comes from the refrigeration system, and we would therefore show little to no energy savings with these high-power motors if our model only illustrates HVAC components and not refrigeration components.
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Dan LeBlanc
Senior Sustainability ManagerYR&G
86 thumbs up
June 22, 2012 - 1:39 pm
Because the credit language asks for HVAC only, my gut reaction is that the reviewers will take issue with the inclusion of process loads. But it can't hurt to try to submit including the refrigeration as part of the HVAC design, especially if you've done the model already, and see if they accept your approach. Let us know what happens.