[Bldg-sim] Laboratory Summer Heating Energy Usage

[Paul Erickson]

David,

Summer steam loads, especially ones higher than average, are pretty typical for laboratory buildings.  Older ones tend to have high minimum air change rates that result in high reheat energy consumption.  If lab plug loads were as high as many planners suggest then you'd be getting "free" warming of all that ventilation air, but the reality that we and others find when benchmarking lab facilities is that plug loads are typically 50-80% lower than anticipated.  So, this is likely your main culprit.  You should also try to determine what process loads may be going on that require steam.  Additionally, you might be sure that your building isn't adding humidification unexpectedly post dehumidification.  Strange things can happen in real buildings.

Good luck.

Paul

Paul Erickson  LEED(r)BD+C
Practice leader Sustainable



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From: bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org [mailto:bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of David Tamayo
Sent: Wednesday, December 05, 2012 9:12 PM
To: bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org
Subject: [Bldg-sim] Laboratory Summer Heating Energy Usage

I am in the midst of modeling and analyzing heating usage for a laboratory/classroom type of building. I am sizing everything similar to the actual building, and setting plug loads according to the standards for a laboratory; however, I am having trouble capturing the summer steam usage. The current building has a great deal of summer heating, but I can't seem to capture the heating for the summer. Has anyone had this sort of trouble, and does anyone have any tips or advice?

Thank you,

David
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