Our project is a Graduate University located in Saudi Arabia dedicated to the research of alternative fuels and renewable energy. The entire campus will be New Construction and will consist of research labs, lab support areas, administration buildings, a library, a commons building, food service, an auditorium, conference rooms, lecture halls, offices and public areas. The Campus will also contain a Greenhouse structure. Since the ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2004 does not apply to buildings or portions of buildings that use energy primarily for commercial of industrial processes, our project team is proposing that the energy use in the greenhouse would most likely be considered process related load for the Performance Rating Method. Energy use in the greenhouse will not be used for occupant comfort. Please confirm that this approach is acceptable.
The applicant is requesting clarification regarding whether energy used in a greenhouse that is part of a campus application should be considered process load using the ASHRAE 90.1 Performance Rating Method. Any of the energy end-uses in the greenhouse that are deemed necessary for the comfort of occupants (e.g. ambient lighting, spot cooling, etc.) should be reported as regulated end-uses. Space conditioning equipment and lighting used primarily to support plant growth functions should be reported as Process energy in the EAc1 template Tables 1.8.1 and 1.8.2. Please be sure to separately report the process space conditioning energy from other process equipment energy. Treatment of Envelope: If the primary function of the building envelope for the greenhouse is to achieve the solar and thermal conditions required for plant growth, the envelope may be excluded from the prescriptive requirements of ASHRAE 90.1; and the envelope should be modeled identically in the Baseline and Proposed Case. [Note: this does not extend to other building types, such as manufacturing facilities, or others, where the envelope is not directly tied to meeting the process functions]. Treatment of Lighting: Lighting should be modeled using the Space-by-Space or Building Area Method, and should apply any applicable exceptions provided for in Chapter 9. For example, Section 9.2.2.3 specifies "lighting for plant growth or maintenance" as unregulated lighting, which should not be included in the interior lighting power allowance (this lighting must have a separate control device (Section 9.4.1.4(e)). This lighting still should be included in the energy model as process lighting, and should be modeled identically in the Baseline and Proposed Case. Treatment of Space Conditioning: If the space conditioning / humidity control systems are primarily designed for maintaining the conditions required for plant growth, and are not used to maintain occupant comfort, the space conditioning system type and controls should be modeled identically in the Baseline and Proposed Case. Mandatory equipment efficiencies from Tables 6.8.1A-J, and any other mandatory measures from Chapter 6 with their applicable exceptions do apply to the Greenhouse space conditioning systems. The baseline case process air conditioning system should be modeled as meeting the minimum equipment efficiencies from Chapter 6. The proposed case should be modeled with as-designed equipment efficiencies. An informed determination can only be provided during LEED certification review if the requirements ASHRAE 90.1 Section G2.5 guidance are satisfied (i.e., provide theoretical and empirical information verifying accuracy). Applicable Internationally; Saudi Arabia.