My project has unlimited free waste engine oil available. (Right now the waste oil is being shipped away.) Since this credit is based on COST savings, if we create a heating system that cleans and uses this waste oil (Decreasing oil cost almost 100%) would we qualify for the maximun number of points?
Thanks,
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5907 thumbs up
May 21, 2013 - 9:32 am
The heating source and energy rate must be identical in the baseline and proposed. So your baseline would have used oil as the fuel source and the cost would also be zero.
Also the heating energy use is typically only a fraction of the total energy use and the points are based on the total.
As an aside, used motor oil is certainly not the cleanest burning fuel and would not be a strategy found in a green building project. The highest and best use for used motor oil is probably to ship it off and have it recycled back into motor oil.
Charlene Steinman
Interior DesignerJensen Yorba Lott Architects
May 24, 2013 - 12:47 pm
I've heard some car dealer ships have received LEED credit for this. Do you think they could have earned it under Innovation in Design?
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5907 thumbs up
May 24, 2013 - 1:16 pm
I hope not but stranger things have happened. It is not in the old ID credit catalog.
Lawrence Lile
Chief EngineerLile Engineering, LLC
76 thumbs up
June 13, 2013 - 8:34 am
We have a similar situation where a landfill heaqdquarters can use free landfill gas, instead of buying natural gas for heating. This has an additional benefit of getting rid of a powerful greenhouse gas (methane). But I take it the same restriction applies - the Baseline and Proposed models both must use the same fuel?
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5907 thumbs up
June 14, 2013 - 11:03 am
No, since landfill gas counts as a source of renewable energy. Use natural gas at the local price in your baseline.