Forum discussion

NC-2009 EAc1:Optimize Energy Performance

Central Plant - LEED Group Project - 2 Buildings

Hi, I have a central plant in 1 building that serves an adjacent building. It is part of the same development but because it is only connected by an unheated walkway the project is being submitted as a Group Project. This means I need to report the energy for each of the buildings separately. As it is a central plant I don't see anyway you can do this in the software (VE IES) as you need to run both buildings on to get the load on the plant and therefore performance at any point. The ultimate energy is of the central plant not split per building. The only other option is to use the central plant Option 1 where the proposed and baseline use the same plant efficiency. This doesn't really seem fair as both buildings are served by a new central plant created purely for the buildings which are being submitted under the same LEED certification, are there any exceptions to presenting the results for each building seperately?

0

You rely on LEEDuser. Can we rely on you?

LEEDuser is supported by our premium members, not by advertisers.

Go premium for $15.95  »

Mon, 05/05/2014 - 15:14

I think you can create separate meters within IES VE so that each building's energy use would be separately reported. You should not need an exception.

Mon, 05/05/2014 - 16:51

Hi, I have spoken to IES and they have confirmed that if the buildings are on the same chilled water loop then there is no way of metering down stream in the software. The only energy outputs are for the entire loop/chiller set.

Mon, 05/05/2014 - 17:08

So you can meter everything else? If so I am sure you could figure out a logical way to divide the cooling energy use between the two buildings and report the two building separately. Just explain the situation and how you have addressed it to the reviewer in a narrative.

Mon, 05/05/2014 - 17:12

Thank you, this to me seems a sensible approach. Lighting, equipment, fan and heating energy can all be metered separately. it is the cooling system (chillers, pumps, heat rejection) that would need to be split appropriately (e.g based on cooling coil load)

Add new comment

To post a comment, you need to register for a LEEDuser Basic membership (free) or login to your existing profile.