EA Prerequisite 4 | Fundamental Refrigerant Management

The intent of this prerequisite is to reduce stratospheric ozone depletion. Refrigerants are an
ozone depleting material. This prerequisite requires zero use of CFC-based refrigerants in
HVAC&R systems. If your project is an existing building renovation that has a CFC-based
system already in it, the project must have a comprehensive phase out conversion to remove
the CFC-based refrigerants.

Scope

All full-sized refrigerant containing equipment is required in the scope of this prerequisite.
However, small HVAC&R units, standard refrigerators, and any other equipment that
contains less than 0.5 pound (225 grams) of refrigerant, are exempt from the calculations.

CFCs

New construction projects cannot install new CFC-based refrigeration due to the Montreal
Protocol, which phased out CFCs for industrialized nations in 1995. However, CFCs may
still be used in existing HVAC equipment prior to either 1995 in developed countries or
2010 in developing countries.

The EPA set regulations on using and recycling ozone-depleting compounds as part of the
Clean Air Act. Project teams must adhere to this standard to minimize refrigerant leakage
for systems with existing CFC-containing equipment.

Two Paths

There are two different paths. One is the new building in which you’re just not going to
install CFC based refrigerants. For new buildings, select refrigerants that have short
environmental lifetimes, minimize any leakage, and establish safe removal and disposal of
refrigerants.

The fact of the matter is many of us are dealing with existing buildings which have existing
CFC-based refrigerant systems. Insure proper maintenance on systems to minimize leakage.
Replace or retrofit existing CFC-based equipment before the project’s completion. A post-
occupancy phaseout can occur in special circumstances.

EA Credit 6 | Enhanced Refrigerant Management

The intent of this credit is to reduce ozone depletion and support early compliance with the
Montreal Protocol while minimizing direct contributions to climate change.

118
Reduced Impact

Fundamental Refrigerant management is pretty clean cut—use no CFC-based refrigerants

and have a phaseout plan for existing buildings. This eliminates the most harmful refrigerant.

Enhanced Refrigerant Management takes it a few steps further and requires project teams to
use the least impactful refrigerants to earn points.
▪ Option 1 – No refrigerants or low-impact refrigerants can earn 1 point.
▪ Option 2 – Calculations of refrigerant impact can earn 1 point.

Option 1 | Lowest Impact

Option 1 is to not use refrigerants at all, or naturally occurring or synthetic refrigerants. This
is a simple option, with minimal impacts, but it is rarely done. Most commonly, projects with
natural ventilation can comply with no refrigerants when the building is in a very supportive
climate region. Most natural, or low-impact refrigerants are cost prohibitive because they
require additional energy demand to operate at the same capacity as the more potent
products. To comply with this option, projects may only use refrigerants with 0 ODP and
maximum of 50 GWP.

Option 2 | Calculation

Option 2 is selecting equipment with a combination of low ODP, Ozone Depleting

Potential, and GWP, Global Warming Potential. The table here shows some of the available
refrigerants and their ODP and GWP values. The refrigerant impacts along with the
expected equipment life can be used to calculate the impact of the proposed system design.

Refrigerant ODPr GWPr Application

CFC‐11 1.0 4,680 Chiller
HCFC‐22 0.04 1,780 Air conditioner
HCFC‐123 0.02 76 CFC‐11 replacement
HFC‐134a 0 1,320 HCFC‐22 replacement
HFC‐407c 0 1,700 HCFC‐22 replacement
HFC‐410a 0 1,890 Air Conditioner
Ammonia 0 0 Industrial Cold Storage

Equipment is assumed to have a life of 10 years, a leakage rate of 2% per year, and end-of-
life refrigerant loss of 10%. These values along with the refrigerant charge are plugged into
some formulas to determine the impact. The refrigerant charge is the ratio of the total
refrigerant used, to the cooling capacity measuring in pounds per ton, or kilograms per
kilowatt. To comply with this option, projects must demonstrate a refrigerant impact less than
100.

119
Scope

The combination of all new and existing base building and tenant HVAC&R equipment that
serve the project must comply with the requirements. Even if the owner does not install or
control the equipment, they must ensure that it meets credit requirements. If a tenant installs
their own HVAC unit on the rooftop to cool their own computer closet, and the HVAC unit
doesn’t comply, the project can’t earn this credit. Therefore, future tenants are key members
to coordinate with during the overall design process.

Approach

For the least impact, consider natural ventilation, or even mixed mode when possible. This
way, your project doesn’t rely solely on hazardous refrigerants for comfort.

If you can’t use CFCs, what can you use? There are options, but it’s going to take some
work to do the calculations to make sure your design will serve the building occupants. The
mechanical engineer will select the proper refrigerants and minimize refrigerant impact.

In addition, select fire suppression, direct energy systems, and systems with a long service
life.
▪ Window air-conditioning units and heat pumps have service lives of 10 years
▪ Unitary, split, and packaged air-conditioning units and heat pumps have service
lives of 15 years
▪ Reciprocating compressors and reciprocating chillers have service lives of 20
years
▪ Centrifugal and absorption chillers have service lives of 23 years

Finally, when using the Retail rating system adaptation and installing commercial
refrigeration systems, it is required to test the leakage rate. Projects must demonstrate no
more than 15% emission leakage rate using GreenChill’s best practices guide.

Case Study

One of the world’s largest airports is also one of the greenest. At the heart of Heathrow
Airport’s Terminal 5 (T5) is a virtually HFC-free central ammonia chilling plant.

To make the vast T5 virtually independent from the use of ozone-depleting and high global
warming HCFCs and HFCs, all heating and cooling is done by a dedicated energy center
providing continuous supply of hot and chilled water for heating and air-conditioning,
respectively. All chillers operate with the non-ozone depleting and non-global warming
refrigerant ammonia. This natural substance was selected by the airport authority because it
was recognized as a future proof solution offering excellent efficiency. A thorough risk
analysis and safety review removed every concern regarding the system design and the
120
 installation’s safety and confirmed that ammonia would not pose any greater risk to the
public or the airport staff than any other conventional large chiller solution. In fact, large
ammonia chillers had been already used before in more densely populated applications
without any safety compromises.

UK manufacturer Johnson Controls / Sabroe supplied Heathrow’s central chilling plant with
4 energy efficient chillers, each with a cooling capacity of 6.6 MW, or 1,875 tons. The units,
powered by high-voltage electricity, use twin compressors ensuring a good part load
performance, while the 11 kV motors reduce transformer losses. Safety features include a
minimal refrigerant volume through plate heat exchangers, separate sealed compartments, a
leak detection system, and an electrical switching outside the compartments. As the large-
scale R717 chillers deliver higher efficiencies than smaller local chillers, they reduce energy
consumption by at least 30% and possibly more from the chilled water store benefit. Storing
the chilled water reduces the system capacity and takes advantage of night electricity rates.

EA Credit 4 | Demand Response

The intent of this credit is to increase participation in demand response (DR) technologies
and programs that make energy generation and distribution systems more efficient, increase
grid reliability, and reduce GHG emissions.

The official definition of DR is a change in electricity use by demand-side resources from

their normal consumption patterns in response to supply-side requests. The utility company,
or supply-side, changes the price of electricity or incentivizes payments to induce lower
electricity consumption at times of high wholesale market prices or when system reliability
is jeopardized.

A simplified definition DR is balancing customers' need for electricity with the power
company's output. Participant’s voluntarily enroll in the program and reduce energy during
peak demand.

When you turn on an appliance, you expect immediate results: you don't wait for a light bulb
to come on after you've flipped the switch. That's the power grid at work—always on; always
ready. Electricity is generated at a power plant and transmitted to local substations where
transformers turn it into a usable voltage. Then it's distributed into our homes and businesses
through a network of high voltage transmission lines, aka the grid.

From day to day, electricity consumers use a predictable minimum amount of power, called
the baseload. At the very least, the grid is designed to handle this scheduled energy demand,
in addition to any usage spikes that happen. Demand for electricity is typically highest in the
afternoon and early evening, especially during the summertime when air conditioners run
day and night. When everyone is using their electrical appliances at the same time, it's called
peak usage time.

121
 Until your power is knocked out, you probably don't pay much attention to how often you
turn on a light or the television or what time of day you do it. When you flip on a light
switch, electricity travels in an instant to your home and the bulb glows—that's called
demand. When millions of electricity customers all turn on their air conditioners after work,
it increases the demand load on the grid. Our demand for electricity is growing and the
Energy Information Administration estimates that demand will rise at least 40% by 2030.

The power grid supplies only the electricity we ask for, though, and it's up to us to practice
energy conservation. In broad terms, DR programs give us—residential, commercial, and
industrial consumers—the ability to voluntarily trim our electricity usage at specific times of
the day (such as peak hours) during high electricity prices, or during emergencies (such as
preventing a blackout).

Limited Availability

Case 1 can earn 2 points and is for projects located in an area where the utility company
offers a DR program. DR is still relatively new, so it isn’t available everywhere. Contact
your electricity provider to find out what options are available.

Case 2 can earn 1 point and is for projects located in an area without a DR program
available. This option requires the building to install local infrastructure and contact your
utility about participation in future programs.

Case 1 – Participation

Case 1 requires a project to participate in a DR program. There are several activities that
have to be completed:

▪ Design a system to provide real-time, fully-automated DR based on external

requests by a DR Program Provider. Semiautomated DR may also be used, and
those two types of system will be covered later.
▪ Enroll in a minimum one-year DR contract with a qualified DR program provider
for at least 10% of the estimated peak electricity demand (determined under EA
Prerequisite Minimum Energy Performance). Have an intention for multiyear
renewal.
▪ Develop a plan to achieve the contractual requirements during a DR event.
▪ Include the DR processes in the commissioning plan and perform at least one full
test of the DR plan.

The key point to remember is shedding at least 10% of the building’s estimated peak electric
usage.

122
Case 2 – Advocacy

Case 2 requires designing the building in a manner that enables it to participate in a DR

program when it becomes available.

Projects have to install recording meters, develop a load shedding plan, include the system
in commissioning, and contact utility representatives to discuss future DR programs.
Basically, you are getting the building ready for a program, if and when the program is
released by the utility company.

Types of Systems

DR systems can be manual, semiautomated, or fully-automated. LEED does not allow a

project to use a manual system—that’s important to remember. Manual systems involve
intensive human intervention to activate. More advanced uses of DR, such as systematically
shifting load to off-peak times, require some form of automation, and consequently the
installation of an energy management control system (EMCS) or building automation system
(BAS). BAS is a DR tool that allows building managers to program the building's equipment
and appliances in such a way that they automatically power down in response to peak load
events, reducing the building's load demand in times of peak usage and/or peak pricing.

▪ Manual DR does not use a BAS. People manually turn off lights and equipment
when asked to do so. This is not an option for LEED.

▪ Semiautomated DR uses a BAS. A person initiates a control strategy—

preprogrammed into the BAS—when a DR event is called.

▪ Fully automated demand response (AutoDR) also uses a BAS. Receipt of an

external price, reliability, or event signal automatically triggers a BAS control
sequence that switches the building to low-power mode; no human intervention is
required.
DR is something you will need to contact your utility provider about early on to see if a
program is available. The minimum reduction is 10% in peak electricity demand, so the
project team will need to review the energy model from EA prerequisite minimum energy
performance to determine what quantity that will be. If a project used the prescriptive paths
for the prerequisite this credit can still be earned. In these cases, projects can use space peak
load calculations to estimate the peak demand.

Case Study

If you think DR isn’t going to work for your project, take a look at this case study on the
extreme end of the spectrum: a refrigerated warehouse for perishable food.

In 2010, Railex,1 a nationwide full-service transport, logistics, and distribution firm, built a
new 225,000-square-foot distribution center. The building was built for high-performance, and
123
 soon business was growing and operating expenses increased. Railex contacted their utility,
Southern California Edison (SCE), and asked how they could lower their energy costs. The
answer was AutoDR.

SCE offered Railex a $72,400 incentive to install the required controls. The remainder of the
expenses was repaid in 4 months from the savings during DR events. Over two years, Railex
averaged 9-15 peak events in summer months only. Although their energy use increased by
35% in one year, participation in the DR program kept their electricity costs the same.

EA Credit 5 | Renewable Energy Production

The intent of this credit is to reduce the environmental and economic harms associated with
fossil fuel energy by increasing self-supply of renewable energy. Onsite renewable energy
systems offset building energy costs and reduce GHG emissions. Your building may not
become more efficient, but you reduce the cost of energy and lessen your environmental
footprint.

Calculations

The renewable energy produced is expressed as a percent of the annual energy cost. What
people generally do is look at their total building energy performance, then look at how much
renewable energy they’re producing, and calculate a percentage.

For projects that did not do an energy model, the Commercial Building Energy Consumption
Survey (CBECS) database can be used to estimate the annual energy use and cost.

Renewable Points all Points Core

Energy Rating Systems and Shell only
1% 1 1
3% ‐ 2
5% 2 3
10% 3 ‐

1 https://www.sce.com/wps/wcm/connect/109348ba-7680-43f6-839f-

6b7651b583ff/CaseStudy_Railex_AA.pdf?MOD=AJPERES

124
Community Systems

New in LEED v4 is the ability to include the use of solar gardens or community renewable
energy systems if both of the following requirements are met.

▪ The project owns the system or has signed a lease agreement for a period of at
least 10 years.
▪ The system is located with the same utility service area as the facility claiming the
use.

Credit is based on the percentage of ownership or percentage of use assigned in the lease
agreement.

Implementation

Eligible on-site systems for this credit include:

▪ Photovoltaic systems
▪ Wind energy systems
▪ Solar thermal systems
▪ Biofuel-based electrical systems
▪ Geothermal heating systems
▪ Geothermal electric systems
▪ Low-impact hydroelectric systems
▪ Wave and tidal power systems
▪ Some geothermal systems

Generally, projects mistakenly undersize their renewable energy systems. If you can
oversize the systems, it creates a safety net and you potentially become a power supplier to
your local energy provider. This is called net metering, and your system can become a small
profit center.
Scope

It’s important for you to know what onsite systems are eligible. Some biofuels that can’t be
included are:
▪ Burning trash
▪ Forest biomass other than mill residue
▪ Wood covered with paints and coatings
▪ Preserved wood, such as pressure-treated lumber

Those biofuels that are not eligible have a high GHG potential or toxicity potential.

125
Calculations

The percent of renewable energy cost is calculated by dividing the equivalent cost of usable
energy produced by the renewable energy system, by the total estimated building annual
energy cost which you will find in EA Prerequisite Minimum Energy Performance.

Manufacturers will be able to assist with the calculations based on the information they
provide about their systems.

The percent of renewable energy cost is calculated by dividing the equivalent cost of usable
energy produced by the renewable energy system, by the total estimated building annual
energy cost.

Usable energy is defined as the output energy from the system less any transmission and
conversion losses, such as standby heat loss or losses when converting electricity from DC
to AC. So, while you may install an 8kW PV array, that doesn’t mean you’re building gets
8kW of output or you use 8kW in the calculation.

The equivalent cost of the usable energy system can be calculated in two ways: either by
using a virtual rate or actual utility tariff plus demand rates. This is beyond the scope of this
study guide, so check out the reference guide for the fine-grained details.

Case Study

The Brewster Community Solar Garden Project is a large solar array located in a field adjacent
to the Brewster Water Department. In Brewster’s industrial zone, the field is a former sand pit
and debris disposal location—a site unsuitable for most other development. The facility is
constructed and maintained by My Generation Energy, Inc., also a Brewster-based company
and a leader in community solar installations in Massachusetts.

The solar power is delivered to the site every day, welcomed by a large array of 1,440 highly
efficient and US-made Sharp panels. The panels generate electricity which is then
conditioned and metered to the utility grid at the site. Through ‘virtual net metering’ the
credit from the project’s utility account is then transferred to the accounts of the Brewster
Community Solar Garden Cooperative members. Each member’s SunShare entitles the
member to the equivalent of 28 panels of energy each month. The facility provides enough
locally grown solar energy to power dozens of businesses and households in Brewster.

EA Credit 7 | Green Power and Carbon Offsets

The intent is to encourage the reduction of GHG emissions through the use of renewable
energy technologies and carbon mitigation projects.

126
 Green Power and Carbon Offsets are different than any of the other credits we talked about in
one distinct way. First of all, it’s a 5-year contract for financial investment in at least 50% of
the building’s electricity from green power, renewable energy certificates, or carbon offsets.
More importantly, it is the only credit that allows strategies to be fully designed and
implemented by a third party off-site.

Credit Synergy

Projects earn 1 point for a 50% offset and 2 points for a 100% offset. The percentages are
based on the quantity of energy the project consumes, as determined by the project’s annual
energy consumption.

This credit factors all of the energy used in the building, not just the electric energy use. If
your building uses natural gas for heat in the winter, you must include that usage too.

Green power and carbon offsets are calculated based on the energy consumed by the project.
This is different than Energy and atmosphere credit Renewable Energy Production, which is
based on cost.

Timeline

For the Green Power and Carbon Offset credit, the building owner is looking at a long-term
commitment to earn this credit—at least 5 years. This credit is not a one-time purchase; it is a
yearly purchase for a minimum of 5 years. That is something to consider when deciding to
pursue this credit.

Marketplace

What is green power? Not to be confused with onsite renewable energy production, green
power is a subset of renewable energy composed of grid-based electricity produced from
renewable energy sources. To be considered a qualified resource, the renewable project must
have come online since January 1, 2005.

Visit https://www.green-e.org/ for detailed descriptions on how green power works for this
credit. The idea is your electricity provider is adding renewable energy to the grid on your
behalf.

By purchasing 50% of your power over 5 years from a Green-e provider, you are
subsidizing green power. You’re paying not just for power, but also the difference for them
to provide this power to the grid.

The provider is not plugging green power into your building. You’re subsidizing them
providing green power to the grid.

127
Referenced Standards

Any Green Power and RECs must be certified by Green-e.

Carbon offsets must be Green-e Climate certified or an equivalent.

RECs

The way most people achieve this credit is purchasing Green-e Renewable Energy
Certificates (RECs). By purchasing RECs, the project obtains the environmental attribute of
renewable energy. Beyond the LEED application, building owners can use RECs to balance
their carbon emissions on corporate sustainability reports. Teams can call any Green-e
certified provider and get a quote in cents per kilowatt hour cost. Getting that quote would
help you understand this credit.

Green Power

Project teams may purchase green power directly, where available. For the Green Power
calculations, you need to know your design energy cost and your default electricity
consumption. Here’s a little bit of the math. Let’s say a project uses a million kilowatt hours
per year. Multiply that by 50%. The project would need to purchase 500,000 kilowatt hours
annually for a minimum of 5 years. The provider would multiply that by 1.2 cents per
kilowatt hour (or whatever the rate is), and then they would charge the building owner that
amount each year.

Carbon Offsets

The newest recognition for GHG accounting is carbon offsets. For the credit, the minimum
purchase is 50% of the building’s annual GHG emissions. Carbon offsets are proactive
strategies to capture or sequester carbon in biological, agricultural, or clean-fuel technologies.
Examples include planting trees and changing from conventional to no-till farming.

For LEED, the overall equation is: consumption, times the CO2 emissions factor, equals the
GHG emissions, or CO2 equivalent.

What you are purchasing is carbon offsets, so you have to determine the total metric tons of
CO2 equivalent the building is putting out for both grid-generated electricity and non-
electrical energy (such as natural gas). This is not difficult to calculate at all. We’ll walk
through the terminology and an example as well.

128
Types of Emissions

Total emissions are the primary metric, quantifying the majority of GHG associated with
commercial buildings. It can be broken down into component metrics, direct and indirect
emissions.

Direct emissions, scope 1, are emissions from fuel that is directly burned at your
building; for example, natural gas that may be combusted to heat your property.

Indirect emissions, scope 2, are emissions associated with energy purchased from a
utility; for example, emissions associated with the generation of electricity or district
steam.

To calculate the project’s total emissions, first you have to know how much energy the
building is estimated to use and the different types of energy. This data already has to be
determined from Energy and Atmosphere Prerequisite Minimum Energy Performance.

GHG Emission Factors

For the calculations, you will need to know the direct and indirect GHG emission factors for
different fuel types as defined in the ENERGY STAR portfolio manager. These tables are
listed in the LEED reference guide.

Shown here is a table for direct GHG emission factors.

Fuel type Mt CO2e/kBtu Mt CO2e/kWh

Natural gas 5.32 × 10‐5 1.82 × 10‐4
Fuel oil (No. 2) 7.36 × 10‐5 2.51 × 10‐4
Wood 1.02 × 10‐4 3.47 × 10‐4
Propane 6.35 × 10‐5 2.17 × 10‐4
Liquid propane 6.36 × 10‐5 2.17 × 10‐4
Kerosene 7.27 × 10‐5 2.48 × 10‐4
Fuel oil (No. 1) 7.36 × 10‐5 2.51 × 10‐4
Fuel oil (Nos. 5 and 6) 7.92 × 10‐5 2.70 × 10‐4
Coal (anthracite) 1.04 × 10‐4 3.56 × 10‐4
Coal (bituminous) 9.42 × 10‐5 3.21 × 10‐4
Coke 1.14 × 10‐4 3.90 × 10‐4
Fuel oil (No. 4) 7.36 × 10‐5 2.51 × 10‐4
Diesel 7.36 × 10‐5 2.51 × 10‐4

129
Calculations

To calculate direct GHG emissions:

1. All billed or metered site energy consumption for each fuel is converted from
native units to MBtu. Fuels that are delivered, billed, or measured in mass or
volume units (i.e., cubic feet, tons, gallons) are converted to energy using
standard heat content factors.
2. Total site energy for each fuel is multiplied by a single CO2-equivalent factor that
incorporates the reference global warming potential of each gas. In the US, these
factors are computed at the national level (each fuel has one factor).
3. Direct emissions are summed together across all fuels (e.g., oil, gas, etc.) and
reported as a Direct Emissions Metric.
4. Direct emissions are also added to the total GHG emissions.

Example

Let’s say your energy model shows your office building is going to consume 5,000,000
kWh of electricity per year and 1,000,000 kBtu of natural gas.

The natural gas is a direct GHG emission.

The ENERGY STAR direct GHG emissions factor of natural gas is 5.32 times 10 to the
minus fifth of metric tons of CO2 equivalent per kBtu.

1,000,000 kBtu per year times 5.32 times 10 to the minus fifth metric tons of CO2
equivalent per kBtu which equals 53.2 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year. You
multiplied two numbers—easy.

The next step is to calculate indirect GHC emissions.

Indirect emissions result from the purchase of a utility-supplied energy product such as
electricity or district heat. When these secondary forms of energy are purchased, emissions
occur at the plant where the heat/electricity was originally produced. These factors are
applied to your site energy consumption and take into account emissions associated with the
heat (or power) generation. However, the emissions associated with energy losses from the
delivery of that energy (e.g., along transmission and distribution lines) is attributed to the
utility, not to your building. The main sources of indirect emissions are electricity, district
steam, district hot water, and district cold water.

In our project example we had 5,000,000 kWh of purchased electricity per year.
ENERGY STAR has an emission factor of 5.90 times 10 to the minus forth per metric
ton of CO2 equivalent per kWh.

Doing that math is 5,000,000 kWh per year times 5.90 times 10 to the minus forth per

130
 metric ton of CO2 equivalent per kWh, which comes out to 2,950 metric tons of CO2
equivalent per year. It’s a mouthful when you say it, but again, it’s just multiplying two
numbers.

For natural gas, we had 53.2 metric tons and for electricity the project has 2,950 metric tons.
The total output is 2,950 plus 53.2 equals 3,003 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year. The
project’s carbon offset would be 50% of this amount per year for 5 years to earn the credit,
or 1,502 metric tons of CO2 equivalent per year.

While that seemed like a lot of math and big terms, it boils down to taking the energy values
from the prerequisite and multiplying them by the emission factors provided in the reference
guide and multiplying that total by 50%.

How to Choose

In summary your project team has to choose from purchasing green power, RECs, and/or
offsets. The choices will vary by the project location.

Carbon offsets can be used to offset non-electricity sources, such as natural gas. RECs, green
power, or carbon offsets can be used to offset electricity sources. That is a key
differentiator—carbon offsets are the only choice that can be used for both electricity and
non-electric energy.

A cost-benefit analysis can align the project’s goals with the type of purchase that best fits.
Carbon offsets are not all equal—some are for energy efficiency, some are for land or forest
restoration and preservation. Whatever the project team chooses must be for a minimum 5-
year commitment.

Net Zero

If the project is a net-zero building, the project can achieve 2 points for this credit without
purchasing additional renewable energy, RECs, or offsets. To do this, the project must not
sell any RECs associated with the on-site renewable energy production.

Energy and Atmosphere Synergies

Within the EA category, there are a number of synergies with commissioning because it
is the oversight of energy systems. When you look at light pollution, that has an effect on
energy, therefore, it requires commissioning.

131
 In optimized energy performance there's a huge overlap, and then on and on through any
credit related to energy. Remember when you see these Related Credits to think about how
things sync up. For instance, how does one decision that affects commissioning also affect
minimum indoor air quality performance, etc.?

HVAC System Design

These are the same related credits we saw in Fundamental Commissioning. As you study,
try to figure out how each of these fit in. For example, how is it that increased ventilation
combines with Enhanced Commissioning? Think about a project that wants this credit and
say, “Increased ventilation is going to be achieved by a certain fan power, then pulling air
out through some exhaust fans.” Then you would think, “Well, that would be connected
because Enhanced Commissioning would be looking for those fans on the construction
drawings. They might be looking for those fans in the submittal process.” This is how
commissioning would oversee an actual performance credit. Drawing those parallels is a
great way to learn.

Your refrigeration choice impacts the energy use. Less efficient refrigerants require more
energy to achieve the same level of cooling as more efficient refrigerants. The gotcha is that
more efficient refrigerants usually have higher ODP and/or GWP. You must strike a balance
based on the project goals. Efficiency can also impact the design of the HVAC system.

System Interdependency

Anything related to energy is really related to energy performance. You could even see
things as distant as heat islands being tied to this, because the heat island effect has to do
with how much a building is being heated by the heat retention from the roof. This relates to
how much you cool the building, which relates to energy if the building is mechanically
cooled.

For water reduction, if you reduce the quantity of hot water, you reduce the energy needed
to heat the hot water.

Integrative Process

Project teams pursuing the Integrative Process credit must complete the basic energy
analysis for that credit before conducting the energy simulation for Energy and Atmosphere
Optimize Energy Performance.

132
Key Terms

Commissioning (Cx) Plug Loads

Commissioning Authorities Demand Response
(CxA) Load Shedding
Energy Management Control
HVAC
System (EMCS)
Owner Project Requirements
Building Automation System
(OPR)
(BAS)
Basis of Design (BOD)
Fully Automated Demand
ASHRAE Guideline 0-2005
Response (AutoDR)
ASHRAE Guideline 1.1–2007
Commercial Building Energy
Sequence of Operations
Consumption Survey (CBECS)
Seasonal Setpoints
Database
Preventive Maintenance
Biofuels
Fundamental vs. Enhanced
RECs
Monitoring Based
Green-e
Commissioning (MBCx)
Carbon Offsets
Building Enclosure
GHG Emission Factors
Commissioning (BECx)
Direct Emissions
Whole Building Energy
Indirect Emissions
Simulation
Scope 1
ASHRAE 90.1-2010
Scope 2
Return on Investment (ROI)
Net Zero
ASHRAE Advanced Energy
Design Guide
Appendix G
Natural Ventilation
Recover Waste Energy
Building Orientation
Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC)
Montreal Protocol
Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP)
Geothermal

133