[Equest-users] LEED-parking garage question/advice needed

[Walson, Kristy]

Hi Pasha,

Having modeled a few parking garages in various software at this point, I also do not agree with the LEED representative's suggestion.  In my experience, parking garages typically have daylighting controls to turn off perimeter lights during the day.  This would be tough for a simulation program to model without creating a separate building for the parking garage.  I know you said that the parking garage would not be utilizing any ECM's, but I like to leave my options open in case an owner comes back and decides that the payback is well worth the money spent up-front for controls.

If you end up incorporating the lighting as a bulk load on the electrical meter at each building, just remember that you'll need 2 bulk loads - one for daytime garage lighting and one for night time exterior lighting.  If you're sure they won't be adding ECM's at a later date, then I think the bulk load idea will work.  Just be sure to spend some time on your lighting schedule because the lighting savings seen between the baseline and proposed models for a parking garage can be significant and you don't want to lose any of this benefit.  Good luck!

Kristy Walson, PE, LEED AP
Mechanical Engineer / Sustainable Design

From: equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org [mailto:equest-users-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org] On Behalf Of Pasha Korber-Gonzalez
Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2010 9:13 AM
To: eQUEST Users List
Subject: [Equest-users] LEED-parking garage question/advice needed

Hi,

I would like to get a few opinions from some fellow simulators on a modeling approach for a LEED project.   Please share your opinion/advice if you are interested.

Project:    Four separate buildings that surround an open-air parking garage structure (all above grade.)--Location is Miami, FL
Intent:    All Four buildings (as a whole project) are going for LEED certification.  Each building will be modeled in it's own .pd2 file as the simulator would prefer to manage the models in this manner versus using a campus modeling approach in a single .pd2 file.

USGBC recommendations where that the parking garage should be divided (or split) into four pieces and 1/4 of the parking garage should be included with the buildings in each of the separate model files.

The ISSUE is this:   My simulation gut instinct is telling me that this is a really bad way to include the energy use of a parking garage in a project model....(I was actually shocked that this was the advice from a LEED representative.)    So I am trying to advise my colleague that it might be better to not include the actual parking structure (i.e. separate shell) in each model, but to calculate the lighting use (on a schedule of operation) for the parking garage lighting and then simply add in that energy as a kW input on a separate meter and assign a ltg operating schedule to it.    With this approach it would be easier to take the advice of the LEED folks and input 1/4 of the installed kW in each of the separate model files, rather than wasting time with building in (& managing) another shell in each model file.   (FYI-there are no other ECM's that will be accounted for in the parking garage.)


What do you think of this approach?   Do you think that it is significant and important to include the "physical" presence of the parking garage in each of the model files?   What approach would you take?

Thanks for your time as always...

Pasha :)
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