Baseline Virtual Energy Rate

Nick Morgan

PE, LEED AP, CxA

CMW, Inc.

LEEDuser Basic Member

11 thumbs up

July 15, 2011

I am in the process of submitting the LEED templates (2009 NC) for EAp2/EAc1. The building in question has been modeled using Energy Pro and has calculated a baseline virtual energy rate for natural gas at $28.3098/therm. The proposed virtual rate is $9.4581/therm....much lower. When a difference > 10% occurs, LEED requires a narrative to explain why. Bottom line, I have no idea why the virtual rate is so high for the baseline. The building is largely powered from electricity with water heater and some kitchen equipment being served by gas. Any ideas?

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Christopher Schaffner

CEO & Founder

The Green Engineer

LEEDuser Expert

630 thumbs up

Thu, 09/08/2011 - 15:11

Not sure what your doing, but it is wrong. Typically, natural gas prices are in the +/- $1/therm range. You're off by at least a factor of 10. I'm guessing you've set up some sort of rate structure that includes a connection fee or similar regardless of usage, and your gas consumption is so low that the connection fee dominates. My advice would be to redo the rate structure to get rid of the connection fee, or provide a detailed explanation to LEED.