[Equest-users] Baseline vs proposed fuel consumption problem

[Chris Baker]

Here's a question for you equest folks out there!

I'm working on equest modeling for LEED cert.  The project is a religious worship building here in Alaska.  It was built in 1940's with CMU exterior walls and minimal interior insulation.
The proposed model shows how we added 5" of EIFS along the exterior, new interior wall furring with insulation and we added a substantial foam buildup on the roof.

We also replaced all lighting with LED, along with completely new HVAC and heating systems.

The baseline model shows the lightweight assembly types from ASHRAE Appendix G table 5.5-8 (for our climate zone).  All the R values, U values and thermal reflectance are compliant with ASHRAE minimums for Alaska.

Proposed and Baseline building envelopes are accurately modeled.

The fuel type currently in my proposed model is fuel oil (Condensing HW Boiler).
The fuel type currently in my baseline model is natural gas (Packaged VAV/ac system type 3 - required for this climate zone).

My question is: Does the baseline need to show the same fuel type as in the proposed or does ASHRAE Appendix G determine the fuel type as natural gas?

Here's the problem...
My gas consumption is very high in proposed model when compared with the baseline.

My baseline Gas consumption (BtU x000,000): 3044.1
My proposed Gas consumption (BtU x000,000): 4552.3

My baseline Elec consumption (kWh x000): 208.74
My proposed Elec consumption (kWh x000): 147.43

But we don't feel this accurately depicts the annual cost savings we provided.  The proposed gas consumption should be less.  Not the other way around.

Could something as simple as fuel type be driving this difference?

I should note that FM1 (fuel meter 1) is the same in both models with utility rate at $3.95 per unit (which is from published data for local fuel oil cost).

Chris Baker
CCI CAD Drafter


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