Condensing Boiler Assessment: Peachtree Summit Federal Building
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Prepared for the General Services Administration By the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory November 2012 Condensing Boiler Assessment: Peachtree Summit Federal Building Atlanta, Georgia S.A. Parker J. Blanchard The Green Proving Ground program leverages GSA’s real estate portfolio to evaluate innovative sustainable building technologies and practices. Findings are used to support the development of GSA performance specifications and inform decision-making within GSA, other federal agencies, and the real estate industry. The program aims to drive innovation in environmental performance in federal buildings and help lead market transformation through deployment of new technologies. DISCLAIMER This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States Government. While this document is believed to contain correct information, neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), nor Battelle Memorial Institute, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by its trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof, or the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, or Battelle Memorial Institute. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof or the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, or Battelle Memorial Institute. The work described in this report was funded by the U.S. General Services Administration under Contract No. PX0012922. The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is a multi-disciplinary research laboratory operated for the U.S. Department of Energy by Battelle Memorial Institute under Contract No. DE-AC05-76RL01830. NO ENDORSEMENTS Any hyperlink to any website or any reference to any third party website, entity, product, or service is provided only as a convenience and does not imply an endorsement or verification by PNNL of such website, entity, product, or service. Any access, use or engagement of, or other dealings with such website, entity, product, or service shall be solely at the user's own risk. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS United States General Services Administration - Public Buildings Service - Green Proving Ground National Program Team: Kevin Powell, Zachary Hawks, Michael Hobson, and Stefan Natzke. United States General Services Administration Region 4: Mark Moody, Tim Wisner United States General Services Administration Peachtree Summit Building: Roderick Grant, Ron Poole Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: Kristen Alexander, Susan Arey, Nathan Bauman, Jeremy Blanchard, Jeromy Jenks, Steven Parker, Marcus De La Rosa, Lorena Ruiz and William Sandusky. For more information contact: Kevin Powell Program Manager Green Proving Ground Office of the Commissioner Public Buildings Service U.S. General Services Administration 555 Battery Street, Room 518 San Francisco, CA 94708 Email: [email protected] Condensing Boiler Assessment: Peachtree Summit Federal Building, Atlanta, GA Page i Table of Contents Page I. Executive Summary .......................................................................................................................................... 1 II. Background ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 A. Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 5 B. Opportunity ................................................................................................................................................ 5 III. Methodology .................................................................................................................................................... 7 A. Technology Description .............................................................................................................................. 7 B. Technical Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 8 C. Demonstration Project Location ................................................................................................................ 9 IV. M&V Evaluation Plan ...................................................................................................................................... 11 A. Facility Description ................................................................................................................................... 11 B. Technology Specification ......................................................................................................................... 12 C. Test Plan ................................................................................................................................................... 14 D. Instrumentation Plan ............................................................................................................................... 15 V. Results ............................................................................................................................................................. 18 A. Boiler Plant Performance Profile .............................................................................................................. 18 B. Building Thermal Load Profile .................................................................................................................. 19 C. Normalized Annual Energy and Economic Assessment ........................................................................... 21 D. Ways to Further Improve Boiler Performance ......................................................................................... 27 VI. Summary Findings and Conclusions ............................................................................................................... 31 A. Overall Technology Assessment at Demonstration Facility ..................................................................... 31 B. Best Practice ............................................................................................................................................. 31 C. Barriers and Enablers to Adoption ........................................................................................................... 34 D. Market Potential within GSA Portfolio ..................................................................................................... 35 E. Recommendations for Installation, Commissioning, Training, and Change Management ..................... 36 VII. APPENDICES .................................................................................................................................................... 37 A. Abbreviations and Acronyms ................................................................................................................... 37 B. Glossary .................................................................................................................................................... 39 C. References ................................................................................................................................................ 53 D. Historical Consumer Price for Natural Gas for Commercial Facilities ...................................................... 55 Condensing Boiler Assessment: Peachtree Summit Federal Building, Atlanta, GA Page ii I. Executive Summary This report is divided into five sections. The first section describes the background and opportunity for condensing boilers to reduce energy consumption by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). The second section discusses the condensing boiler technology and how it reduces energy consumption. The third section introduces a demonstration of the technology. The fourth section provides a more detailed overview of the demonstration application, how the heating boiler system operates, and how the new heating technology was monitored for comparison to a baseline condition. The fifth section presents the results of the monitoring activity, documents the performance and resulting energy savings, and presents the results of a life-cycle cost analysis. This section also presents additional opportunities to further improve the performance of the condensing boiler technology based on the observations and lessons learned. The final section draws conclusions from the demonstration results and projects how GSA may best benefit from its application. Several best practices are discussed to assist GSA in designing applications that take advantage of the efficiency benefits offered by this technology, including a discussion of the barriers and enablers to adoption, as well as some recommended changes to GSA Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service (GSA 2010). BACKGROUND In the U.S., space heating accounts for the largest end-use of energy in buildings. Achieving energy and greenhouse gas reduction goals means this significant demand for