Consulting - Specifying Engineer - Saving Energy in Water Heating Systems

3/6/2020 Consulting - Specifying Engineer | Saving energy in water heating systems
Saving energy in water heating systems

Increased domestic water heating equipment e ciencies and numerous system con gurations o er design
professionals more tools to save energy and meet the building and client requirements.
BY MATT DOLAN, PE, LEED AP BD+C, JBA CONSULTING ENGINEERS, LAS VEGAS JULY 18, 2012
In today’s era of U.S. Green Building Council LEED certi cation, planet preservation, and “green” markets and mandates, the overall
trend has been toward saving energy within buildings wherever possible and creating more sustainable construction methods and
equipment. Many of these new technologies and designs have been centered around visible building systems (e.g., high-
performance glazing or wall/roof structures, and low-VOC carpeting, paints, and millwork) or highly documented energy users (e.g.,
variable frequency drives on central plant pumps, chillers, energy-e cient LED or CFL lighting, and condensing type boiler systems
with low supply water temperatures and large temperature differentials). These systems have generated many design philosophies
and implementations and have helped contribute to numerous LEED certi cations and considerable energy savings.
Domestic water heating has not seen the same renaissance of system designs as these other systems. This has not been for lack of
energy-e cient equipment or new technology, but more due to limitations centered on hot water supply temperatures and health
concerns.
Water heating design considerations
Domestic water heating accounts for approximately 15% to 35% of the total commercial building fuel usage ( gures provided by the
Ernesto Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory report “Technology Data Characterizing Water Heating in Commercial
Buildings: Applications to End-Use Forecasting”). Reducing the demand and standby energy consumption associated with this
equipment has not been as great of a motivator within building system designs as the other items listed above. Commercial water
heating typically requires a minimum supply temperature of 140 F to mitigate the presence of legionella bacteria, which causes
Legionnaires’ disease through inhalation of bacteria-laden water (i.e., steam mist from a shower). According to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention Patient Facts on Legionnaires’ disease, 8,000 to 18,000 people are hospitalized with this disease
each year.
A minimum of 140 F supply temperature for domestic hot water is always recommended, but it is not always required for distribution
within commercial buildings. Once water is heated to this temperature, the legionella bacteria are effectively eliminated and this
water can be safely distributed at any necessary temperature to the associated plumbing xtures. Kitchens use 140 F to 180 F
domesticBywater
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for dish/glass washing and sterilization, while information. standard hand sinks and lavatories may require a hot water X
https://www.csemag.com/articles/saving-energy-in-water-heating-systems/ 1/8
temperature no higher than 105 F to 120 F. The 140 F minimum hot water supply temperature must not be overlooked by the system
designer/engineer when selecting water heating equipment.
When sizing a domestic water heating system, the rst consideration is to determine the quantity of hot water required during the
demand peak of the building. This is accomplished by rst determining the quantities and types of plumbing xtures to be placed
within the building. For a standard o ce building, most of the hot water generation will be required for lavatories or break room sinks,
though some o ces also include shower/changing facilities. For hotel guestroom towers, domestic hot water will be required for a
shower/bathtub (typically only one of these xtures is in use at a time, which allows a diversity to be used on a system level) and
lavatory faucets. From these xture counts the associated cold water and hot water xture units can be assigned. (The required
xture units associated with a given plumbing xture are listed within the Uniform and International Plumbing Codes.) The hot water
xture units are typically determined from a 75% factor of the total cold water xture unit count; this percentage is used to account
for hot water mixing to produce the required discharge temperature at each xture.
Fixture units do not directly correlate to a gallon per minute (gpm) ow rate for sizing equipment. Instead, the hot water xture unit
value is combined with Hunter’s Curve to ascertain the estimated hot water ow rate with a given level of diversity. A demand peak of
1 or 2 hours (which equates to a speci c ow rate for the given length of time) is then used to size the required water heating
equipment.
Water heater designs have become increasingly energy e cient with the use of condensing type gas water heaters (both tank type
and tankless), electric tankless point-of-use units (as well as large electric tankless units), and hybrid boiler/water heater systems.
Each system has advantages and disadvantages, and these should be taken into account when considering which types of buildings
are most appropriate for installation.
Tank type water heaters

Tank type water heaters have remained the standard design type used within buildings
for an extended period of time. These heaters rely on a heated storage tank anywhere
from about 5- to 150-gal in size along with a heating element (either gas or electric
service) to provide domestic hot water to the building as required. By using a storage
tank, these units can be supplied with smaller heating elements or heat sources to
reduce the electrical or gas infrastructure cost (electrical wire size, disconnects, gas
meter, gas pressure regulator, piping, etc.). The energy penalty paid for using this type
of water heater is in the form of standby losses. These are the losses associated with
maintaining the hot water tank at a set temperature while it is continually losing energy
to the surrounding space. Newer tank type water heaters have employed thicker
insulation with lower conductivity factors to help reduce such losses as much as
possible.
Tank type units are available in a variety of e ciencies from the 80% energy code
minimum up to approximately 96% to 98%. The high-e ciency units use condensing
type heat exchangers that allow the exhaust gases to cool and condense prior to being
expelled from the unit, which in turn draws additional energy from the gas fuel source
to raise their overall e ciency. The condensation produced through this process is
slightly acidic in nature. Because of this, the heat exchanger must be designed to
account for this corrosion factor, as well as provide a means for condensate to drain
from the combustion chamber.
Sizing a tank type water heater for a commercial building is accomplished by rst determining the quantity of hot water required
based upon the attached xtures. For showers, lavatories, and other xtures that have the ability to operate continuously, a timed use
must be established (12 sec for each use of a lavatory faucet, 5 to 10 min for a shower, etc.). Once the total hot water demand (in
gallons per hour, gph) has been established, a demand factor and a storage factor can be applied to this value to account for the
peak demand ow rate required along with the expected duration of use. Demand factors typically vary between facility types, from
0.25 for a hotel to 0.40 for a school. Storage factors typically vary between 0.60 for a hospital and 2.00 for an o ce building.
(Demand and storage factors have been taken from chapter 50 of the 2011 ASHRAE Applications handbook.)
An 80% acceptance factor of the overall storage tank volume for hot water must be included. This is to account for water mixing
within the tank to help ensure that water drawn from the storage tank is maintained at the required supply temperature. The demand
factor is multiplied against the required gph to give the expected demand ow per hour. The storage factor is multiplied against the
demand gph (from the previous calculation) to determine the quantity of storage required for the system (in gallons). From this point
a tank type water heater can be selected to meet the gph demand for recovery and tank size to meet the storage requirements. One
item to note is that tank type water heaters do not have a minimum ow rate required for their use. They are sized to maintain a
given water temperature within the tank and for a speci c gph recovery rate.
Tankless water heaters

There has been an increase in the demand for tankless water heaters in recent years. This has stemmed from energy-e ciency
measures and rebates associated with their installation. These water heaters rely on a much larger burner/heating element (either
gas or electric service) to deliver a constant volume of water at a speci ed temperature rise, which results in a given hot water supply
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temperature based upon the incoming ground water temperature mixed with any hot water return (if provided within the plumbing
information.
design). Many of these designs employ stages of heating to allow turndown of the burners and associated hot water ow to help
match the hot water generated with the hot water demand from the building plumbing xtures.
These units are available in a variety of e ciencies from the 80% energy code minimum up to approximately 96% to 98%. Most
electric tankless units are found as under-counter-mounted water heaters serving a single faucet. These units are very effective at
limiting all standby and piping losses, but they typically do not heat water beyond 110 F at a ow rate of 0.5 gpm for hand washing
use. These small units are approximately 3 to 4 kW in electrical capacity. Large electric tankless units are available for special
applications. Applications such as remote emergency eyewash/showers can bene t from units of this size due to the required 20 to
25 gpm ow rate of tepid water (60 F to 100 F mixed water temperature as de ned by ANSI Z358.1-2009) for 15 minutes. These
units can require 72 kW or more for the heating element and are typically impractical for most commercial buildings due to the
electrical requirements.
Sizing a tankless water heating system begins much in the same way as sizing a tank type unit. The same demand gph ow rate is
calculated based upon the attached plumbing xtures. This equates to the required gpm/hour ow rate of the water heating system.
A diversity can be applied to this gure much like the demand factor noted for tank type units. Determining the exact level of diversity
is up to the designer or owner based upon the expected level of coincident xtures (and associated heating energy) in operation at
one time. Because no storage tank is required within this system type, any standby losses associated with the tank are removed.
For hot water recirculation systems combined with tankless water heaters, water continues to ow through the heat exchangers with
return water being mixed with incoming cold water for makeup as needed to meet the hot water demands of the building. The
tankless water heater’s heat source energizes as needed to maintain a constant hot water supply temperature. Because water
heaters rely on a minimum ow through their heat exchanger to maintain internal temperatures at proper levels, tankless units
require a minimum ow rate through the unit to allow the heat source it to be enabled. This rate can be between approximately 0.1
and 0.5 gpm. The 0.1 gpm minimum ows typically require small internal buffer tanks to help the water heater meet low demands
(from a single lavatory faucet or similar low- ow xture) operated within a building. For tankless units, which require a higher
minimum ow, there can be times when a slug of cold water can be passed through the unit before it is able to sense the call for
heating (if no hot water recirculation system is in place).
Hybrid boiler/water heaters

Hybrid boiler/water heater systems rely on a mechanical boiler system to produce heating hot water or steam, which is passed
through a heat exchanger to create domestic hot water. There are numerous heat exchanger designs that can ful ll this role: plate
and frame, shell and tube, brazed plate, and tube bundles within a storage tank. All of these designs can deliver domestic hot water
using boiler water or steam as a heat source.
This type of system allows for greater diversity among both the boiler and water heater systems due to block load calculations for
domestic hot water demand as well as building heating demands. This system type is found more often in larger facilities where
heating hot water or steam utility piping is routed from boilers located within the central plant throughout a network of buildings.
Heat exchangers are placed as needed to serve hotel tower domestic water loads or those associated with kitchens and other
venues. The e ciencies for this system are based upon how e cient the boiler system is minus the losses associated with the heat
exchanger and, in the case of the boiler water source, the additional pumping horsepower. Boilers are available in similar e ciencies
as gas- red water heaters from the 80% energy code minimum up to approximately 96% to 98%. The typical heat exchanger
approach temperature varies with each heat exchanger type, typically 2 to 5 F. Approach is the difference between the hot side
entering temperature of the heat exchanger (where the boiler water is delivered) and the cold side leaving temperature (where the
domestic hot water is supplied). This means that if 140 F domestic water is required for the building, the boiler water must be
supplied at a minimum of 142 F to 145 F to maintain this condition.
Sizing a hybrid boiler/water heater system is dependent upon the speci c heat exchanger type that is used for a project. If a brazed
plate, plate and frame, or shell and tube heat exchanger type is used, the sizing will be similar to the tankless water heater design
criteria. If a tube bundle inside of a storage tank is used to make domestic hot water, the sizing will more closely follow the tank type
water heater design criteria. To complicate matters further, storage tanks can be added to the brazed plate, plate and frame, and
shell and tube heat exchangers to modify these “tankless” units, turning them into a hybrid tank type water heater.
The hybrid system allows for the most variation in designs to achieve the same end result. Heat exchangers can be sized to
accommodate any ow rate that a designer can dream up. The only limiting factor is the amount of boiler water or steam that can be
supplied and at what temperature. These heat exchangers also allow for large amounts of turndown with the use of fully modulating
control valves.
There are some limitations and issues that need to be reviewed when deciding to use this system type. Redundancy is a key concern
when using boiler water to serve space heating as well as domestic water heating. If boilers are down for service or repair, even if
one or more are still in operation, they may not be adequate to meet the demands of the building. The system designer/engineer
should work with the building owner/user to establish a reasonable level of redundancy. Some buildings may require 100%
redundancy (N+1 up to N+N), while others are not affected if space heating or domestic hot water is unavailable for a short time.
Hybrid systems may also result in a lower overall energy e ciency than the tank type and tankless units presented above when
concerned with strict energy usage. Though condensing type boilers can achieve very high energy e ciencies, the approach
temperature difference for the heat exchangers results in a reduction in e ciency of approximately 5% to 12% when generating
domestic hot water, depending upon the heat exchanger type used (based upon 2 to 5 F approach with a 40 F ΔT for boiler water).
This loss, along with piping losses discussed below, is the price paid for the versatility and level of recon guration available when
combining boilers and domestic water heat exchangers.
information.
Hot water recirculation systems

Hot water recirculation systems have been implemented widely to maintain the ow of
hot water throughout a building and deliver the necessary hot water temperature at
each xture within the required time constraints given by the health district and
associated codes. Recirculation systems help reduce the quantity of potable water
wasted by users who run sinks, showers, and other xtures until the water reaches a
suitable temperature for use. Buildings such as hotel guestroom towers and
restaurants bene t greatly from recirculating hot water. These buildings have
signi cant hot water demands under load conditions and longer piping system lengths
that can allow hot water to cool down to room temperature while remaining stagnant if
this water is not recirculated.
Hot water recirculation has a price. It may result in reduced potable water waste and is
recommended to meet health department requirements for hot water availability within kitchens in certain jurisdictions, but it also
results in increased energy usage within the entire system. The energy loss is due to heat transfer from the heated water into the
surrounding air, even though all of the hot water recirculation piping must be insulated based upon code minimums.
This energy loss is governed by the standard heat transfer equation for radial geometry:
Q=[k*t*A2*(T1-T2)]/[12*r2*ln(r2/r1)]
(This equation is from chapter 23 of the 2009 ASHRAE fundamentals handbook and has been modi ed to account for the insulation
thickness in inches.) “Q” is the rate of heat ow in BTU/hour. “k” is the thermal conductivity of the insulation surrounding the pipe,
which is typically between 0.19 and 0.28 BTU*in/hr*ft2*F. “t” is the insulation thickness in inches. ASHRAE 90.1-2007 requires a
minimum of ½ inch of insulation with a “k” factor of 0.28 at 100 F mean temperature for domestic hot water piping less than 1-½
inches in diameter and 1 inch insulation thickness for all larger pipe sizes. “A2” is the area of the outer surface in ft2. “T1” is the supply
water temperature (typically 120-140 F), while “T2” is the temperature of the surrounding air, which is approximately 70 F for interior
plenums during the winter season. “r2*ln(r2/r1)” is referred to as the equivalent thickness of the insulation layer.
This equation indicates that by increasing the insulation thickness or reducing

its thermal conductivity, the overall quantity of heat lost from each linear foot
of piping is decreased. In addition, if the temperature differential between the
water and air temperatures is reduced, so is the associated heat transfer. This
means that using a higher performance insulation in excess of the code
minimums will reduce the energy loss within the hot water piping system.
Table 1 shows the theoretical heat transfer differences for given insulation
types and thicknesses for nominal pipe sizes from ½ in. through 6 in. for Type L
copper piping with 140 F hot water and 70 F ambient temperature.
It should be noted that as with many high-performance products there is an

additional cost associated with low k factor insulations as well with increasing
the insulation thickness throughout the piping systems. Code minimum
insulation is typically berglass type piping insulation with a k factor of
approximately 0.28. Phenolic or polyisocyanurate insulation is necessary to
achieve a k factor of 0.19 or less due to its material properties, though phenolic
or berglass insulations are more acceptable in Type 1A buildings
(noncombustible construction as de ned by the International Building Code)
due to their low ame spread and smoke developed ratings (less than the
required 25/50 rating for this building type based on ASTM E84 testing).
Polyisocyanurate insulations have di culty maintaining the 25/50
requirements and should be reviewed thoroughly if being considered for use
within Type 1A buildings. In addition, berglass, phenolic, and polyisocyanurate
insulation types can be constructed free of CFCs or HCFCs.
Even with the most energy-e cient products and designs, using greater insulation thicknesses, high-e ciency water heaters, and
low- ow plumbing xtures, there can be adverse effects on the planet. Of course, looking at the microcosm of a single building, we
can believe that we are preserving the human environment and creating a more sustainable future for our grandchildren. But if we
are not able to look outside of our projects and see what effect our choices have on the markets and conditions in the rest of the
world, we can end up doing more harm than good. Retro tting old buildings with new equipment requires resources for manufacture
and distribution. Many insulation types are nonbiodegradable and have limited recyclable properties.
Design professionals should look at all aspects of the design and understand the impact of each piece of equipment and product
selection to ensure that the correct choices are made for each speci c project. Rules of thumb and copy/paste design
methodologies should typically be avoided because what worked for one building may not be suitable for another. As an engineering
mentor of mine always reiterated, “you should understand everything before you do anything.” Design professionals should keep in
mind how they impact not only their building but also the community so that they can truly be “trusted advisors.”
information.
Dolan is a project engineer with JBA Consulting Engineers. His expertise is in designing complex HVAC and plumbing systems for
various building types, such as commercial o ces, healthcare facilities, and hospitality complexes including high-rise guestroom
towers and numerous restaurants.
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3/6/2020 Consulting - Specifying Engineer | Saving energy in water heating systems

Saving energy in water heating systems

Water heating design considerations

Tank type water heaters

Tankless water heaters

Hybrid boiler/water heaters

Hot water recirculation systems

This equation indicates that by increasing the insulation thickness or reducing

It should be noted that as with many high-performance products there is an

Magazines and Newsletters

Village of Plain: Green Technology Training and Enterprise Center (G-TTEC)

Designing e cient refrigeration systems

Power for emergency re/life safety systems

Autism center design developed with designer’s rsthand experience

Video: Cybersecurity for Energy Managers

3010 Highland Parkway Suite 325

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