Life Cycle Climate Performance Calculator & Analysis (HVAC, DHW and Grid Emission Impacts)

JS Rancourt
Username
JS Rancourt
Proposer First Name
JS
Proposer Email
js.rancourt@dxseng.com
Proposer Last Name
Rancourt
Proposer Company/Organization
DXS New England
Proposer Phone
(781) 718-3849
Proposer Job Title
Principal
Proposed Session Description
It can be very challenging to understand and compare the true carbon impacts of various system decisions in buildings, such as heating and cooling systems, ventilation systems, and domestic hot water systems. Furthermore, those difference vary drastically depending on the predicted electrical grid emission factors assumed over the life cycle of the building. We partnered up with a 3rd party energy modelling company to create a Life Cycle Climate Performance [LCCP] tool, using an 8 story multi-residential building in a few regions, including Boston. The energy model compares various standard and all electric heating and cooling systems, as well as ventilation systems. The model also compares different domestic hot water systems, from 100% natural gas to 100% air source heat pump, and everything in between. The model then aggregates hourly grid emission data for New England, overlapped with a few grid emission models over the next 30 years. Please join us as we share the process and results using our LCCP calculator. We will share insights on how different decisions impact the 30 year LCCP of buildings, and how this tool can help the market make better and more educated decisions.
Diversity and Inclusiveness
One of our speakers (Bhushan Patel) is originally from India, and has an impressive story of how he made his way to Harvard with an impressive scholarship.
Learning Objectives
Attendees will learn to: Identify the components that make up and impact building Life Cycle Climate Performance, and the overarching mathematics of how they are calculated (embodied carbon, direct emissions, indirect emissions).
Attendees will learn to: Analyze the holistic impact of 4 different Heating and Cooling system options, 2 different Ventilation options, and 5 different DHW options, on the overall 30 year LCCP of a building in Boston (and how to perform similar analysis for different locations, building types and system types).
Attendees will learn to: Discuss the impacts of improved emissions from our electrical grid over the next 30 years on different HVAC and DHW options available today
Attendees will learn to: Analyze the true holistic climate value proposition of different systems and technologies as it pertains to LCCP, for improved decision making by all involved in the building decision making process.
Has this session been presented before?
No
Additional Comments
An early version of this research was presented in one of my NESEA presentations entitled "HFC Refrigerants in Heat Pumps: Regulatory Update & Emissions Analysis". https://nesea.org/session/hfc-refrigerants-heat-pumps-regulatory-update-emissions-analysis This presentation is now more hollistic, regarding our entire LCCP research, and our comparison of different heating and cooling systems, ventilation systems, and domestic hot water.
Session Format
Presentation followed by facilitated discussion or breakout groups
Session Format Details
Presentation by 2 speakers. Unsure about breakout groups yet. The presentation has a few clear sections that we will break-up amongst the two speakers. We definitely want time for Q&A.
Recommended Length
60-minute session
Comments about your speaker roster
Bhushan is a Harvard University Engineering Student that we hired to lead this LCCP research for us. I am inviting Bhushan to join in presenting this work. He has already presented it internall to our different organizations. We also plan on publishing some white papers on our work.
Anything else you'd like to tell us about your session proposal?
We think we've really put together something unique and comprehensive here with our LCCP calculator and analysis. Many LCCP tools we've found out there do not use proper energy models for modern HVAC and DHW systems, nor do they look deep into grid emission factors (we went hourly). Our tool also allows attendees to visualize the aggregated impacts of different systems and grid prediction, to really give them a good visual of which major systems have the most importance on LCCP, especially as the grid changes. We're excited to present our final results!
Reviewer 1
Simons, Mike
Proposal #
203
Committee Decision
Rejected

Presenters

Full Description
When different building components or systems are compartmentalized, wrong decisions can be made for the overall climate performance of buildings. For example, adding insulation can help the thermal performance and HVAC emissions, but the embodied carbon impacts could result in more overall emissions. Or, changing to a different refrigerant could help reduce the warming impact in case of a leak, but in turn could reduce the efficiency of the HVAC system to point where more carbon will be emitted throughout the life of the building. Understanding the impacts of different decisions on the overall LCCP, and the processes and tools available for doing these types of analyses is important.