As the percentage of building energy use from plug loads continues to grow, a new standard from ASHRAE will help building professionals estimate the heat gain of equipment. AHSRAE/ANSI Standard 203-2014 Method of Test for Determining Heat Gain of Office Equipment Used in Buildings will calculate the range and average operating heat gains of office equipment.
Plug loads from office equipment like printers, computer monitors, and copy machines account for 20-50% of building energy use. Without accurate data or a uniform process to measure internal heat gains, it is difficult to cool facilities efficiently.
“Most plug loads operate at a fraction of their nameplate electrical load, and as a result, produce significantly less heat load than engineers may use in their cooling load calculations based on those nameplate values,” says Glenn Friedman, chair of the Standard 203 committee. “This can result in oversizing of air-conditioning equipment, resulting in extra initial cost for that equipment as well as higher operating cost.”
The standard will help engineers optimize HVAC equipment selections by verifying how much internal heat gains from plug loads contribute to the cooling load.
Looking to cut your building’s energy waste? Check out these 6 Steps to Slash Plug Loads.
