A proposed addendum regarding air- and water-cooled chillers, relative to ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2004, could produce an estimated annual energy savings of 13 percent.
ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings,
provides minimum requirements for the energy-efficient design of
buildings except low-rise residential buildings. Fourteen proposed
addenda to the 2007 standard, due out for publication later this year, are open for public comment.
Among the addenda is proposed addendum m,
which establishes effective Jan. 1, 2010, an additional path of
compliance for water-cooled chillers, as well as consolidation and new
requirements for some existing categories.
Product development for water-cooled chillers in recent years has
focused on improving off-design and part-load performance where most of
the operating hours occur, says Drake Erbe, chair of the
standard’s mechanical subcommittee. Variable-speed drive (VSD)
technology has advanced and is finding widespread application in
water-cooled chillers. The use of VSDs has led to off-design and part-load improvement of the chiller’s performance with efficiencies of up
to 30 percent in integrated part-load value (IPLV).
The
proposed addendum would establish Path B, an alternative set of efficiency levels, for water-cooled chillers intended for applications where
significant time is expected at part load. All Path B chillers must be
equipped with demand-limiting controls. Under this proposal, equipment can achieve compliance
with Standard 90.1 by meeting the requirements
of Path B or Path A, which are intended for applications where significant
operating time is expected at full-load conditions. But the equipment must meet both
full-load and IPLV levels to fulfill the requirements of
Paths A or B.
The proposed addendum also combines water-cooled positive-displacement
chillers into one category and adds a new size category, centrifugal
chillers at or above 600 tons. The category type for air-cooled chillers without condenser
equipment has been eliminated. All air-cooled chillers
without condensers now must be rated with matching condensers.
Minimum efficiencies of air-cooled chillers also have been updated. Efficiencies in the inch-pound version of Standard 90.1 now are expressed in energy efficiency ratio (EER) for air-cooled chillers,
kW/ton for water-cooled chillers, and coefficient of performance (COP)
for absorption chillers, to reflect industry practices.
Proposed addend m to ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 is available during its public review period, which ends Oct. 29.
