Normal/typical plug loads are accounted for (inferred) automatically within FEDS. These values can be viewed and/or changed from the miscellaneous equipment inputs in maximum detail display. The data is based on major end-use load surveys for typical plug load levels and accounts for the typical levels of equipment loads in a given use-area type. For example, for an office building this will account for typical levels of things, such as computers, printers, copiers, clocks, vending machines, coffee makers, and kitchenette equipment.
On the *.txs report, the electricity dollar values listed under the "Annual Installation Energy Use by Fuel Type" and "Annual Energy Use by Building Set and Fuel Type" pages include both energy and demand charges. To determine how much of that total cost is attributable to the energy vs. demand, the demand component (reported on the following page) may be subtracted from this total value.
Yes. All motors in the FEDS retrofit database meet current applicable EPAct and EISA efficiency standards that vary depending on parameters, such as motor horsepower, enclosure type, and speed.
During a month that has been identified as seasonally unoccupied (also referred to as non-operating), FEDS assumes zero occupancy, all lights are off (except exit signs), and the cooling system is shut down. Heating is operated at a reduced level generally for the purpose of preventing the pipes from freezing (temperature kept at low setpoint specified by the unoccupied season thermostat setting). General plug loads are assumed to be non-operational, as are most motors (although this may be overridden by specifying monthly motor load factors).
Emissions factors are used and relate a quantity of pollutant emitted (e.g., tons of CO2) per unit of fuel burned. There are factors for each of the six pollutant types corresponding to each main fuel type. To estimate emissions, FEDS multiplies the consumption value for each fuel type by the appropriate emission factor. The emissions factors for certain fuel types, (for example electricity) can vary significantly depending on factors, such as plant type (coal, gas, nuclear, hydropower) and source fuel composition (e.g., sulfur content) such that state average values are applied based on the typical generation resource mix supplying that state.
Unoccupied hours or day types of occupied months are those periods during which there is reduced occupancy of the building. These are referred to as low occupancy periods in FEDS. For a typical commercial facility this might occur during the night and on weekends. A small number of occupants might be present (though less than during normal operating hours), and all energy systems remain active although they may operate at reduced levels. The operation of HVAC, lighting, plug loads, and motors are all controlled by inputs such as thermostat setpoints (enabling temperature setback), ventilation control mode, and utilization/load factors.
Full 24-hour occupancy can be specified for any day type by entering the same start and end hours (except 0 and 2400). For unoccupied day types enter 0 for both start and end times (or leave them blank). Note: if you do not specify occupancy hours, they will remain blank and FEDS will model the buildings as though they are unoccupied (reduced occupancy). Shortcut buttons are available on the standard occupancy inputs screen to make specifying continuously occupied and unoccupied day types easier.
While FEDS models motor energy use, demand, and interactions with the HVAC system quite well, it is not a substitute for the MotorMaster+ software. MotorMaster+ contains extensive motor management and analysis capabilities that are found in no other software program. FEDS recommends general categories and performance levels of motors based on what is currently available, but does not specify particular manufacturers or special features. It is recommended that results of motor analyses from FEDS be used in MotorMaster+ to further refine and specify motor purchase requirements.
For example, the effect of the affinity laws on fan motors can have a significant impact in degrading the efficiency of an energy-efficient motor if it has less slip than the original motor. While it is true that many energy-efficient motors run faster than their standard efficiency counterparts, there are typically energy-efficient motors available with a full-load rpm equivalent to that of the motor it is replacing. FEDS does not account for the effect of speed on energy consumption in centrifugal loads, but assumes the user can find a motor with an equivalent slip as their current motor. MotorMaster+ is an invaluable tool to help users assess the impact of speed on energy consumption and finding the right motor for a given application.
Attractive NPVs, payback periods, and SIRs typically fall within certain ranges, which should always be positive. However, negative values are possible in a couple of instances and do not necessarily indicate an error. The first possibility is that the project is recommended for a technology or building component you identified as "replacement required". As such, FEDS will recommend the most cost-effective replacement option, but not require that it be cost effective. So, while it may be the best replacement option, it may exhibit seemingly nonsensical economic figures of merit. Similarly, if a building retrofit occurs due to central plant or thermal loop abandonment, it may also exhibit negative savings criteria. That simply means that the retrofit (e.g., replacing central steam service with an in-building boiler) was not cost effective when looking just at the building energy use and costs. But the value of abandoning the central plant and/or distribution loop (due to the accompanying reductions in thermal losses and O&M costs) provided a net positive gain when added to the negative savings at the building level. Thus, at the site level, taking the central plant and thermal loop savings into account, the net benefit is positive—but purely from the building perspective (reflected in the TXD and CSV reports) the change from steam to dedicated boiler was not cost effective. Reviewing the central plant and thermal loops section of the TXS report and looking for a positive abandonment value will provide additional detail on just how much of a net positive gain accrues do the abandoning the plant and/or loop.
The index code in following the existing technology description for a heating or cooling technology represents the technology record number. For example,{H2} indicates a heating technology is actually heating record #2 (as input in the user interface). This information can be valuable when dealing with heat/cool pairs with several heating and cooling records in a single building set.
Variable occupancy is an improved approach to the seasonal occupancy option which allows users to specify that certain months are non-operating (e.g., schools may be shut down over summer break). Variable occupancy also offers greater flexibility by allowing users to specify the percent of days within specific months which follow the general occupancy and operation schedule defined in the standard occupancy inputs. One hundred percent indicates the building or use area operates all days of that type during the month according the standard schedule. Zero percent indicates the building (use area) is either non-operating (shut down) or in a low occupancy state (occupied at the low occupancy and equipment use level) for all days of that type during the month. For any value between 0% and 100%, FEDS will multiply that value by the actual number of days of that type in the month and model the resulting number of days (rounded to the nearest whole day) as operating according to the standard schedule. The remainder of the days of that type in the month will be deemed either non-operating or at low occupancy (depending on the selection of non-operating period status type). As a convention, FEDS will model the first X days in the month as occupied and operating to the standard schedule, and the remaining days of that type in the month as non-operating or at low occupancy. The variable occupancy capability provides significant modeling flexibility and is particularly useful in modeling occupancy and building operation that varies within the course of a month, such as for National Guard or Reserve buildings that may only be heavily occupied on certain weekends through much of the year.
Another option for even greater control over building and use-area operation and occupancy (for each hour of the year) is also available. Contact FEDS Support for more information if interested in using this approach.
FEDS allows a negative value for percentage of heat to the conditioned space. For example, if the equipment has a COP of 2.0 and operates with an exterior condenser, then -200 should be entered for this value and the capacity should be half the actual rated capacity. (This will result in heating an amount equivalent to 200% of the unit's consumption as being rejected outside.)
The utilization factor represents the percentage of time during a particular period that the motor is operating. The load factor indicates the typical operating output of the motor as a percentage of rated output. For example, a 10-horsepower motor driving a 6-horsepower load and operating 50% of the time would have a load factor of 60% and a combined utilization/load factor of 30%.
FEDS allows the user to specify this information separately for occupied and unoccupied hours, either constant over the year, or varying from month to month. FEDS uses these values to calculate the hours of operation, and hence the consumption, and demand implications of each motor record. FEDS also calculates the heat output of the motors and its impact on the HVAC system.
Many motors in use today are oversized for the load they are driving, and some are grossly oversized. In such situations, the motor is driving a load equal to only a fraction of its rated capacity, and if too low the operating efficiency of the motor may suffer. Most importantly, when it's time to replace the motor, purchasing a motor with far excess capacity for its load will cost much more than a properly sized motor. Why spend more than necessary for the same (or even worse) level of service? FEDS understands t many motors may be over- (or under-) sized and allows the user to specify the required capacity of a motor, if known. FEDS will use the required capacity in order to select a replacement motor of the proper size and base its performance and cost calculations accordingly.
Section 432 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA 432) requires U.S. federal agencies to perform energy and water evaluations of their covered facilities on a recurring basis and report their performance via the Compliance Tracking System (CTS). The FEDS CTS report is provided to help agencies compile and format results from their FEDS analyses to facilitate this reporting requirement. Measures identified with buildings modeled in FEDS are categorized and summarized into the CTS Evaluation Upload Template (in an Excel spreadsheet format).
The Energy Resilience and Conservation Investment Program (ERCIP) report (*.ecp, otherwise known as the DD 1391) is a special form required by certain U.S. Department of Defense agencies in order to submit projects for ERCIP funding. The ERCIP report is designed to facilitate the form preparation and submittal process.
The [Heating/Cooling] end use designation is used for existing heat pumps or heat/cool pairs. Because such technologies provide both heating and cooling, two rows are needed to describe them on the *.csv report. [HEATING/Cooling] indicates that the data on that row pertain to the heating technology (and overall economic impacts) while [Heating/COOLING] indicates that the data describes the cooling portion of the equipment (and no overall energy and economic data are shown).
The typical FEDS user will not have detailed information available regarding plug load levels in order to adequately model them and will need to rely on the inferred values. However, miscellaneous equipment records may be modified or added if a load is unusual or atypical of the use-area type, or has an extremely large load (or one that sees extensive use) that is above and beyond what would be considered typical. Similarly, a user may want to reduce the capacity density for some areas deemed to have a lower load density than typical for that type of space, or even delete entire records when there is no equipment in use of a given type.
Motor inference data and an extensive list of replacement motors (including performance and cost data) have been compiled from the MotorMaster+ software's extensive database of three-phase motors. MotorMaster+ was developed under the U.S. Department of Energy's Motor Challenge Program by the Washington State University Cooperative Extension Energy Program.
For heat/cool pairs (separate heating and cooling technologies), information may be listed for both retrofits to new, more efficient equipment and to a heat pump. In some cases, it may be cost effective to replace the heating equipment (or cooling only, or both) with a newer unit of similar type, as well as replace both heat and cool simultaneously with a heat pump system. All cost-effective options will appear on the *.csv report. The best option can be determined by comparing the sum of the individual heat and cool annualized total life-cycle costing savings with that of the combined heat/cool system (i.e., heat pump).
The installed capital cost listed at the very bottom of the *.txd report represents the actual total cost including materials, labor, taxes, and overhead. It is the actual cost that would be paid to complete a project. The installed cost value listed under the life-cycle costs savings section displays both the present and annualized values of the installed cost as used in the life-cycle cost analysis. The present value of the installed cost may be less than the installed capital cost if the study period for the analysis is less than the life of the new equipment. This can occur when the remaining life of the existing technology is less than the life of the retrofit technology. In this case, the cost of the retrofit technology is annualized over its full rated life, but only the annualized costs occurring during the remaining life of the existing equipment is discounted back to the analysis year and used for a fair cost/benefit comparison.
No. All occupancy hours must be specified by the user. Failing to do so will indicate to the model that the building is operating in the unoccupied mode each day during the week.