The plant in the Northwest building will be sized for the cooling load of the new building and will be equipped with high efficiency electric chillers (approximately 5,000 tons) that do not contain CFC\'s. The chilled water distribution system will be cross connected with the campus-wide system that is fed from an existing plant that uses HFC (5,000 tons), HCFC (2,000 tons) and CFC (6,000 tons) chillers. The University plans to replace 3,500 tons of CFC based chillers with 4,000 ton s of non-CFC based chillers at the existing plant before 2007. The plants will be operated in parallel to serve the campus peak load, which will be approximately 15,000 tons when the Northwest plant comes on line in 2007. The design intent is to operate the older, less efficient remaining CFC based chiller in a lag position. Does the Northwest building\'s project meet Prerequisite EA-3?
The project states that some of the CFC chillers in their existing central plant will be eliminated in the next 3 years and the remaining chillers will serve in a lag position only. Remaining CFC chillers will account for about 16% of the total peak load of the plant. An EAp3 CIR Ruling dated 4/5/2002, states that continued use of CFC based chillers for peak loads only is not an acceptable strategy for achieving this prerequisite. Additionally, EAp3 CIR Ruling dated 12/1/2003, allows phase out plans for CFC-based equipment over 5-7 years if the equipment accounts for less than 5% of the overall plant load. The strategy described in this CIR is not sufficient to achieve this prerequisite. In order for this prerequisite to be achieved, the project must show that equipment serving at least 95% of the overall plant load is CFC-free, and that the remaining 5% will be phased out within 5-7 years. See the EAp3 CIR Ruling dated 12/1/2003 for an explanation of the required documentation associated with this strategy. Applicable internationally.