A New Approach to HVAC Design: Benchmarking and the MLM (Most Likely Maximum) Method

Karl Brown, California Institute for Energy Efficiency

Objectives:

This presentation will introduce a new benchmark-based approach to sizing of plant and other HVAC equipment. Issues surrounding load estimation and system sizing will be discussed. Feedback will be sought on the applicability of the method and the potential for adoption. The usefulness of performance benchmarking in design will be illustrated. The importance of establishing feedback in the design process will be emphasized. Further collaboration on benchmarking and related design methods will be sought.

Findings:

UC Merced plant design and other building equipment sizing was influenced by the availability of benchmark energy use and load data from other campuses. A new design methodology emerged to address issues surrounding load estimation and system sizing. The MLM (Most Likely Maximum) method emphasizes the identification of part load and "most likely" full load conditions, along with the traditional design conditions. The method encourages more systematic evaluation of loads and accounting for load diversity. Appropriate factors of safety can be more easily identified using the method. The method is particularly applicable to laboratory system design.

Labs21 Connection:

This presentation emphasizes optimization of whole-building and whole-campus efficiency, as well as the use of measurements of energy consumption. The tracking of performance and sharing of results are key to success of the MLM (Most Likely Maximum) approach to HVAC design.

Biography:

Karl Brown is the Deputy Director of the California Institute for Energy Efficiency (CIEE), a part of the University of California Office of the President (UCOP). Karl began his career as a consulting engineer-including field survey and analysis of building end-use efficiency. For the last eleven years Karl has planned and managed end-use energy R&D in conjunction with CIEE's partners-including California energy utilities and the California Energy Commission. His leadership of CIEE's Building Systems Program has included focus on HVAC duct leakage, diagnostics for commissioning and operations, and design of facilities for high-technology industries (e.g. laboratories). Karl also assists with energy planning for University of California facilities, most notably as an advisor to the new Merced campus and recently as a member of a working group conducting a feasibility study for a UC green building and clean energy policy.