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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTHE GROVE AT FORT COLLINS - PDP - 16-10B - CORRESPONDENCE - (51)Page 3 of 3 The last direction that I received from the developer is that they are NOT going to use electric space heating. As I suspect you know, the plan has not been finalized so I suppose the choice of how to heat the units could change. I doubt that it will change, as it would require a substantial redesign of the electric utility plan, which in turn could impact other parts of the development. Also, if they do use electric heat, the Light & Power charges to the developer for installation of electric facilities would increase substantially. Thanks for your inquiry. Please let me know if you have any further questions relative to the electric utility system. Please note that I will be out of the office beginning on May 11th through May 23rd Doug Doug Martine Electric Project Engineering Supervisor (970)224-6152 dmartine@fcgov.com From: Heather and Paul [mailto:armstickle@gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, May 03, 2011 9:09 PM To: Steve Olt; Doug Martine Cc: Armstrong Armstrong/Stickler Subject: Electric Space Heating in The Grove At Fort Collins PDP Hi Mr. Olt and Mr. Martine, My name is Heather Stickler. I am a neighbor near the proposed development known as The Grove at Fort Collins. I have been reading about the current proposed development and notice that there is a note from the January 4th, 2011 Staff Review notes which was not shown in the recent Staff Review notes from April 22, 2011. It seems this issue was resolved but I cannot tell how. Is it that in fact no form of electric space heating is being used at The Grove? So I assume all gas heat then? Thanks in advance for your reply, Heather Stickler From ]an 4, 2011 review letter: Department: Light & Power Issue Contact: Doug Martine Topic: Electric Utility Number: 5 Created: 12/15/2010 [12/15/10] With a few minor adjustments, the electric facilities shown on the utility plan are acceptable providing that no form of electric space heating is used. 5/5/2011 Page 2 of 3 there are pros and cons to each system type and that an air -source system seems like reasonable solution for this project. Some considerations about an Air -Source Electric Heat Pump system compared to a gas fired furnace or a heat pump with gas back up. • Air -source heat pumps works very efficiently above 40 degrees Fahrenheit by creating up to 4 times the heating energy as they use • Air -source systems still provide thermal comfort under 40F, but use less efficient electric resistance heating at sub -freezing temperatures • A heat pump requires less equipment than a furnace and an air conditioning unit — presumably with reduced embodied energy for the equipment • A heat pump does not use natural gas, which has some benefits. o Natural Gas is ultimately a non-renewable resource — by being an all -electric system there is the opportunity to be 100% powered by renewable energy o The Grove would like to install a 100kW PV system on the Ft. Collins project if the proposed feed -in tariff program passes, which would account for approximately 56% of their total electric consumption on an annual basis. o Forced air systems create more indoor air quality problems than radiant heat including potential for carbon monoxide poisoning and health issues associated with forced air • The Air -source heat pump without natural gas eliminates the demand for natural gas infrastructure and increases demand on electric infrastructure, but there are infrastructure efficiencies associated with having only one system Linda Ripley, ULI, ASLA land planning/ landscape architecture Ripley Design Inc 401 W. Mountain Ave., Suite 200 Fort Collins, CO 80521 tel. 970.224.5828, ext. 120 fax. 970.224.1662 lind"A ley-@ripjeydesi�gninc.com From: Steve Olt [mailto:SOLT@fcgov.com] Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 9:41 AM To: 'linda.ripley@ripleydesigninc.com' Subject: FW: Electric Space Heating in The Grove At Fort Collins PDP Linda, FYI, here is Doug Martine's response to Heather Stickler regarding source of heat at The Grove. Steve From: Doug Martine Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 9:08 AM To: 'Heather and Paul'; Steve Olt Subject: RE: Electric Space Heating, in The Grove At Fort Collins PDP Heather, 5/5/2011 Pagel of 3 Steve Olt From: Doug Martine Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 10:17 AM To: 'linda.ripley@ripleydesigninc.com'; Steve Olt Cc: Doug Swartz Subject: RE: Electric Space Heating in The Grove At Fort Collins PDP Linda et.al., The last information I have is that no form of electric space heating will be used. The latest electric system design that I prepared, which is shown on the Utility Plan, assumes that electric space heating will NOT be used. I have not prepared an electric system design to provide for electric heat for the revised site plan. However, there will be substantial changes necessary (both on -site and off -site), and the electric development charges will be much greater (about double) if any form of E.H. is used. At the very least, the 18 & 24 unit buildings will need a transformer on each end of each building, with Yz of the electric meters located on each end of the buildings. The use of even highly efficient heat pumps isn't much different than any other form of E.H. as far as the utility design is concerned. It is true that heat pumps are highly efficient down to an ambient temperature of about 40 deg. F. However, at some point at a lower temperature, heat pumps require a resistance heating back-up system. There are other impacts that I won't go into here. The electric system needs to be designed to accommodate the peak electric demands. I will be out of the office starting next week, and won't return until May 24th. I already have commitments for the rest of this week, so I won't be able to look at this until sometime after I return. Also, we have previously designed the electric utility system for this development twice. Once in November 2010 for the previous site plan, then again earlier this year for the revised site plan. Our policy is to provide one re -design for no additional charge. If we need to design the electric utility system a third time, there will be additional engineering costs to the developer. Doug Martine Electric Project Engineering Supervisor (970)224-6152 dmartine@fcgov.com From: Linda Ripley[mailto:linda.ripley@ripleydesigninc.com] Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 9:08 AM To: Steve Olt Cc: Doug Martine; Doug Swartz Subject: RE: Electric Space Heating in The Grove At Fort Collins PDP Steve, Josie Plaut from the Institute for the Built Environment ([BE) provided the following response to Heather's question regarding heating with electricity. The project is planning to use electric air -source heat pumps for heating and cooling. The Grove in Fort Collins will be following the new City of Fort Collins Green Code, which stipulates increased thermal envelope performance for electrically heated buildings, which will reduce the demand for any heating and cooling needs of the occupants. While I cannot say decisively that an air -source heat pump is superior to a natural gas furnace, I can say that 5/5/2011