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ASHRAE Provides Guidance for Determining Office-Equipment Heat Gain

May 15, 2015
ASHRAE Standard 203-2014 prescribes methods of test for determining internal heat gains from plug loads (computers, printers, etc.) for use in cooling-load calculations.

Guidance for determining office-equipment heat gain is contained in a new standard from ASHRAE.

​ASHRAE/ANSI Standard 203-2014, Method of Test for Determining Heat Gain of Office Equipment Used in Buildings, prescribes methods of test for determining internal heat gains from plug loads (computers, monitors, printers, projectors, etc.) for use in cooling-load calculations.

“Most plug loads operate at a fraction of their nameplate electrical load, so, as a result, produce significantly less heat load than engineers may use in their cooling-load calculations based on those nameplate values,” Glenn Friedman, chair of the Standard 203 committee, said. “This can result in oversizing of air-conditioning equipment, resulting in extra initial cost for that equipment as well as higher operating cost.”

The cost of Standard 203-2014 is $35 for ASHRAE members and $41 for non-members. Copies can be ordered by phone at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada) or 404-636-8400, by fax at 678-539-2129, or online at www.ashrae.org/bookstore.

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Scott Arnold | Executive Editor

Described by a colleague as "a cyborg ... requir(ing) virtually no sleep, no time off, and bland nourishment that can be consumed while at his desk" who was sent "back from the future not to terminate anyone, but with the prime directive 'to edit dry technical copy' in order to save the world at a later date," Scott Arnold joined the editorial staff of HPAC Engineering in 1999. Prior to that, he worked as an editor for daily newspapers and a specialty-publications company. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Kent State University.