AEE Business Energy Professional flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

ASHRAE 90.1 scope

ASHRAE 90.1 sets minimum energy-efficiency requirements for most commercial and high-rise residential buildings, excluding low-rise residential buildings, and provides prescriptive, trade-off, and energy cost budget compliance paths.

ASHRAE 62.1 purpose

ASHRAE 62.1 specifies minimum ventilation rates and indoor air quality requirements for commercial buildings to protect occupant health and comfort.

ISO 50001

ISO 50001 defines requirements for an energy management system, including energy policy, planning, implementation, performance evaluation, and continual improvement.

LEED credit categories

LEED credits are grouped into integrative process, location and transportation, sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, innovation, and regional priority.

Net-zero energy building

A net-zero energy building produces on-site renewable energy equal to or greater than its annual site energy consumption within a defined measurement boundary.

kWh to Btu

One kilowatt-hour equals 3,412 British thermal units, so a 10 kWh electricity use equals 34,120 Btu of site energy.

Power factor formula

Power factor equals real power in kilowatts divided by apparent power in kilovolt-amperes; for sinusoidal loads, kW equals kVA multiplied by power factor.

Affinity laws

For fans and pumps at constant efficiency, flow varies with speed, head varies with speed squared, and shaft power varies with speed cubed.

Demand charge

A demand charge bills the customer for the highest average power, usually in kilowatts, measured during a billing period or a defined demand interval.

Demand ratchet

A demand ratchet sets the billed demand from a percentage of a prior peak, such as 80 percent of the highest monthly peak in the previous year, when current demand is lower.

Spark spread

Spark spread equals the electricity price minus the natural gas price multiplied by the generator heat rate, usually expressed in the same energy units.

Firm gas transportation

Firm natural gas transportation reserves pipeline capacity for the shipper and guarantees delivery priority, while interruptible transportation can be curtailed when pipeline capacity is scarce.

Energy balance

An energy balance accounts for purchased energy as useful output plus conversion losses, distribution losses, and unaccounted energy within a defined boundary.

Weather-normalized EUI

Weather-normalized energy use intensity adjusts annual energy use per floor area for heating and cooling degree days so different periods or buildings can be compared more fairly.

Scope 1 emissions

Scope 1 emissions are direct greenhouse gas emissions from sources owned or controlled by the reporting organization, such as combustion boilers, furnaces, and fleet vehicles.

Scope 2 market-based

The market-based Scope 2 method uses contractual instruments, such as renewable energy certificates or supplier-specific factors, to calculate emissions from purchased electricity, steam, heat, or cooling.

CO2 equivalent

CO2 equivalent expresses the warming effect of different greenhouse gases in metric tons of carbon dioxide using global warming potential multipliers over a stated time horizon.

Interval data

Interval data records energy or demand over fixed periods, commonly 15 minutes, enabling load profiling, demand analysis, and baseline development.

Meter multiplier

A meter multiplier scales raw meter readings to actual energy or demand and equals the current transformer ratio multiplied by the potential transformer ratio.

ASHRAE audit levels

ASHRAE defines Level 1 as a preliminary walk-through, Level 2 as an energy survey and analysis, and Level 3 as an investment-grade analysis.

Blower door test

A blower door test pressurizes a building to measure envelope airtightness, reported as air changes per hour at a specified pressure difference.

Simple payback

Simple payback equals the initial capital cost divided by annual energy cost savings; it does not account for time value of money or savings after payback.

Levelized cost of energy

Levelized cost of energy equals the present value of life-cycle costs divided by the present value of energy output over the analysis period.

IPMVP Option C

IPMVP Option C measures savings for a whole facility using utility meters and a baseline adjusted for weather, occupancy, or production changes.

Commissioning OPR

The owner's project requirements document states the owner's functional needs, performance criteria, and expectations that commissioning verifies against the design.

M&V savings equation

Measurement and verification savings equal adjusted baseline energy minus reporting-period energy, with adjustments for weather, occupancy, production, and other independent variables.

Chiller kW per ton

Chiller efficiency in kW per ton equals input power in kilowatts divided by cooling output in tons; lower values indicate better efficiency.

Economizer operation

An air-side economizer uses cool outdoor air instead of mechanical cooling when outdoor air temperature or enthalpy is below the return air condition.

Compressed air specific power

Compressed air specific power is input kilowatts divided by delivered flow in hundreds of cubic feet per minute; leaks and pressure drop increase it.

Steam trap failure

A failed-open steam trap wastes live steam, while a failed-closed trap traps condensate, reduces heat transfer, and can cause water hammer.

CHP total efficiency

Combined heat and power total efficiency equals useful electric output plus useful thermal output divided by total fuel energy input.

Topping-cycle CHP

A topping-cycle CHP system generates electricity first and then recovers exhaust or jacket heat for thermal loads such as steam, hot water, or absorption cooling.