Peak load - research building

[SiPaul]

Hello -

I am way out of my engineering area, but I am in the unlikely position of looking at a peak load estimate for an approx. 280,000 sf lab building.

I am going to work with an EE to look at the specifics, but I was wondering if anyone knew of a reference for estimating peak loads for buildings based on square footage, avg. temperature, etc.

We have been told that the building has a peak demand of 6,400 KW - I just want to see if this within the realm of reality or way off.

Again - this is not my area.

Thanks

 

[EEJaime]

The figures you have indicate a peak demand of about 23 Watts/sf. This is somewhat high, but not an unreasonable level of loading for a laboratory building for a PEAK load figure. I would expect the average loading to be quite a bit lower.

 

[dpc]

Sounds pretty high (23 watts/sq ft). But without any information regarding climate, type of lab, special equipment, it's hard to say. I would be willing to say it sounds conservative.

As a point of comparison, the IEEE Gray Book has a little table indicating the the heat loss can be as high as 11.7 watts/sq ft.

The Gray Book is pretty dated, but might be a sanity-check reference. (IEEE Std 141)



"An 'expert' is someone who has made every possible mistake in a very narrow field of study." -- Edward Teller

 

[rbulsara]

What type of lab?? List typical electrical apparatus in there.

Where is it? Geographical location?

 

[SiPaul]

Wow -
Thanks to everyone for the quick responses!

A newly constructed building w/Silver LEEDS Rating.
mid-atlantic region.

DPC- Sanity check is what I am looking for!

Note - the building is not fully occupied.

 

[ykee]

What did the designers indicate in their load calcs? Is the 6,400 kW from the utility?

If occupancy is partial, there will be a larger load later on. Has the building had all the labs up and running?

 

[RonShap]

With an electric meter number, many utility companies will give you the demand reading from the meter. Granted it is not the peak, but it is a baseline to start from.

 

[waross]

The utility bills may show the peak demand every month.
If you are not billed a demand charge, the meter may still have a demand register. If the meter has a demand register it will show the maximum demand since the meter was last reset, typically day one if you are not charged for peak demand.

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

 

[EEJaime]

With a silver LEED rating, this is an extremely high peak load level. That would indicate all labs running full tilt on the hottest day of the year. What type of labs are housed in this building? I imagine the mid-Atlantic region has it's share of hot humid days when all A/C will be cranking while the building is fully occupied.

If there are clean rooms, multiple fume hoods, make up air fans, 100% outside air/100%exhaust,(no recirculated return air), laboratory ovens, imaging loads, things of that type- the loads can be significantly higher than a typical facility, but it is tough to pinpoint without more information.

But your figure should be ok as an upper limit for a peak figure.