Energy modeling of laboratories in accordance with ASHRAE 90.1-99

Susan Reilly, PE, Enermodal Engineering, Inc.
Michael J. Walsh, PE, R.G. Vanderweil Engineers, Inc.
Carl Ian Graham, PE, Steven Winter Associates
Fred Porter, Architectural Energy Corporation
and
Paul Mathew, Ph.D., and Dale Sartor, PE, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Otto Van Geet, PE, National Renewable Energy Laboratory

An effort is underway to develop a guideline to modeling laboratories in accordance with the ASHRAE 90.1-99 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low Rise Residential Buildings. This panel will discuss those areas of the code that influence laboratory design. These issues cause the greatest misunderstandings when modeling laboratory facility systems. Specifically, the panel will address defining the budget building and defining the lab VAV system, scheduling of loads, zoning and reheat issues, a proposed method of handling fan energy, and energy recovery.

Findings:

This group of experts has spent the last 6 months drafting the guideline. We have clarified issues related to the budget building definitions under the energy cost budget method and come to a consensus that the budget building ventilation system must use VAV for temperature control An inconsistency in modeling laboratories, is the scheduling of lights, plug loads, people and ventilation. We have included schedules in the guideline that may be used but are not mandatory. It is common knowledge that almost all laboratories exceed the fan power limitations in the standard. We are proposing an alternative approach to calculating fan power and recommend that ASHRAE exclude laboratories from having to meet the fan power limitations Another important issue in laboratories, is the high energy use associated with reheat because of highly variable loads in adjacent spaces. And finally, we discuss how to handle energy recovery ventilation.

Labs21 Connection:

There is no publicly available guideline on modeling laboratories in accordance with ASHRAE 90.1-99. The standard is difficult to apply to laboratories, which results in misunderstandings by design teams, owners and within programs, such as LEED™. The purpose of this guideline is to dispel confusion and institute a consistent method for modeling laboratories.

Biographies:

Susan Reilly, PE, has 19 years of experience in the building energy field and has been running Enermodal Engineering, Inc. in Denver, Colorado for the past 12 years. She is currently working as the energy consultant to laboratory projects in Hawaii, North Carolina, and Indiana, performing DOE-2 analysis and identifying efficiency opportunities. Ms. Reilly has also been working with Laboratories for the 21st Century on the energy analysis and benchmarking for laboratories, and recently completed the best practices guides on energy recovery ventilation with Otto Van Geet. Ms. Reilly has a Bachelor and Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

Michael Walsh, PE, has over 18 years experience as a consulting engineer. His focus as Vice President of Science & Technology at R.G. Vanderweil Engineers is the design of mechanical systems for new and renovated research, forensic and biocontainment laboratory facilities. Mike is a member of ASHRAE and is a LEED™ Accredited Professional. Mike has recently presented at national seminars discussing Sustainable Design in Academic Research Buildings, Magnetic Resonance Imaging Facility Design and Biocontainment Laboratory Design. Mike has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering.

Carl Ian Graham, PE, is a senior associate at Steven Winter Associates. He has more almost 15 years' experience with testing, monitoring, design, and evaluation of building systems, with an emphasis on the energy use of HVAC systems. He has performed energy analyses for commercial and University research laboratory projects, and has applied LEED and ASHRAE 90.1-1999 to each. He recently brought this practical experience to the Labs21 program. His experience includes energy analysis, rate analysis, facility and system audits and performance evaluations, and indoor air quality investigations for commercial, industrial, institutional, and residential buildings of all sizes. He is the author of the HVAC Resource Page of the Whole Building Design Guide (a website sponsored by the U.S. Navy, GSA, DOE/NREL, SBIC). He was also one of the contributing authors in drafting the regulations for New York's Green Building Tax Credit. In 2001, he was named Energy Engineer of the Year for Region One (New England, Mid-Atlantic) by the Association of Energy Engineers.

Fred Porter currently serves as senior engineer at Architectural Energy Corporation. He is engaged in building energy use simulation using DOE-2, and verification and calibration of simulation results using metered data. He has implemented systems to write input decks for DOE-2 from database information, and developed building data reduction tools for simulation and calibration. Mr. Porter also has experience with on-site short-term monitoring of building systems and conditions. He has analyzed energy use and/or developed ECM recommendations for restaurants, supermarkets, hospitals, office buildings, hotels, manufacturing plants, schools, and residences.

Mr. Porter has been involved with projects sponsored by EPRI, Salt River Project, New England Electric System, Burger King, and many other enterprises. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Paul Mathew, Ph.D., is a Staff Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, where he works on applied research in energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in the built environment. His current work is focused on high performance, sustainable laboratory design for the Labs21 program, as well as risk analysis in energy efficiency projects for the Federal Energy Management Program. He has a Bachelor s degree in Architecture, and a Ph.D. in Building Performance and Diagnostics from Carnegie Mellon University. His work experience includes technical consulting, tool development, and training in energy efficiency, sustainable design, and risk management. Prior to joining LBNL, he worked at Enron Energy Services and the Center for Building Performance at Carnegie Mellon University.

Dale Sartor, PE, heads the LBNL Building Technologies Applications Team which assists in the transfer of new and underutilized technology through project focused multi-disciplinary teams. Mr. Sartor has an AB in Architecture, and a Masters in Business Administration. He is a licensed Mechanical Engineer, and a licensed General Building Contractor. He has over twenty five years of professional experience in energy efficiency and renewable energy applications including ten years as a principal of an architecture and engineering company, and seven years as the head of LBNL's In-House Energy Management Program. Mr. Sartor is an active volunteer in professional organizations, and lectures extensively.

Otto Van Geet, PE, has over 20 years experience with the design and operation of laboratory buildings. He is currently a senior engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP). Otto is one of the founding members of Laboratories for the 21st Century and serves as a technical advisor to the program.

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