Enter values in this section to identify the HVAC (heating, cooling, air distribution, and ventilation and exhaust) systems present in the building. Inputs include fields for central plants, distribution equipment and zone controls.

Use the green ‘Add HVAC System’ button to add entries for as many HVAC systems as are present in the building, and the space functions that they serve.   Many of the fields in this section are required for selected city reports, and must be completed before the section is identified as complete.  Select N/A for any fields where inputs do not apply.

View suggested equipment configurations for common HVAC Systems.

Audit Template inputs for HVAC:

Plants

Create a Heating Plant (e.g. boiler or district hot water or steam), Cooling Plant (e.g. chiller or district chilled water), or a Condenser Plant (cooling tower or ground heat exchanger), for any central plant serving the building by selecting the green ‘Add’ buttons. 

Enter the plant type and fuel type (for heating and cooling plants).  For boilers and chillers, enter the capacity, rated efficiency, and other details from the drop down menu options, and select any controls that may applicable.

To represent water-cooled chillers, add a Condenser Plant, and link it to a chiller from the Linked Condenser Plant field of a Cooling Plant. 

Chilled water reset, chiller pump and condenser plant controls are not ASHRAE level 2 inputs, but may be entered if the information is available.

Validations Note: The Audit Template will validate inputs to verify minimum required inputs, validity of the entered value and combination of inputs. An incorrect value (for example, an input of 80% for COP of a chiller) will result in an error prompt; similarly the user interface will prevent incorrect input combinations (for example, a fuel type for a district chilled water system). 

Enter shared HVAC systems in NYC Energy Efficiency Reports

HVAC System

Select a Heating Source and Cooling Source from the drop down menus, and enter values for associated component fields where applicable to account for the HVAC system(s) present in the building.

If Plant is chosen as the Heating and/or Cooling Source, reference a Plant that was added previously by selecting from the Heating or Cooling Plant drop down menus. For furnaces and/or DX cooling (direct expansion air conditioning systems), complete the additional fields to identify location, condition, capacity, and rated efficiency.

Note:  If a building is served by an HVAC System with the multiple pieces of the same heating and cooling equipment, create a single HVAC System entry, enter the number of pieces of equipment, average output capacities, and a weighted average for the efficiencies.

Select N/A for any fields where inputs do not apply, or are unknown.

Identify applicable distribution equipment, ventilation systems, and control system components to complete HVAC System entries.

View suggested equipment configurations for common HVAC Systems.

Distribution Equipment – required inputs:   Most city reports require entry of a Central Distribution Type, a Delivery Equipment Type, and Fan Control.  

Distribution Equipment – optional inputs for HVAC Systems that serve multiple zones with reheat:

Minimum Airflow Fraction: Specify a value for Terminal Units present, if known.  Select a value of 0.3 or 0.4 depending on what the minimum airflow rate of the terminal unit damper is set to. Energy savings can be realized by lowering the minimum airflow rate to a level that still provides adequate ventilation air for the occupants, but will result in reduced fan and reheat energy used by the system.

Reheat Source Type: Specify if reheat source is Gas Fired, Electric Resistance, or Hot Water Plant.  If it is a Hot Water Plant, you will need to reference a plant previously added in the tool, by selecting from the Reheat Plant drop down menu.

To create a ventilation only system, or one without any mechanical equipment, add an HVAC System with ‘No Heating’ and ‘No Cooling’ selected as the Heating and Cooling Source.   When prompted for the Distribution Equipment, you may select ‘Other’ for the Central Distribution and Delivery Equipment Type, and add custom text such as ‘none - naturally ventilated parking area’.  And, you may select ‘Natural Ventilation’ from the Outdoor Air Control drop down in the Ventilation Systems section.

Space Functions Served

Identify the space functions served for each of the HVAC system types entered by selecting the blue ‘Add Space’ button.  Select from the use types that were previously identified in the Use Types section.  Enter the percentage of the area served by the system.  Add additional spaces to account for all of the use types served for each HVAC system.

After HVAC system values have been entered, return to the Use Types section to select the Principal HVAC Type to reflect the HVAC System with the highest percentage served for each use type.

View Space Functions Served requirements for HVAC in New York Energy Efficiency Reports, San Francisco, and Berkeley Reports