2013 Student Design Competition: Utility and Service Life Overview

General
The purpose of this document is to illustrate the utility rate structures and elements of building life cycle expectancy for the Dallas Power & Light Building at Commerce and Browder streets. This building is a historical element of downtown Dallas and as such shall be treated as a landmark feature with multipurpose functions and is assumed to be an integral element of the urban environment within Dallas, Texas. The Dallas Power & Light Building shall have the following utilities.

Utilities
Primary electrical power shall be available to the building and this power will be offered on a Time-of-Day rate structure. The On Peak time period shall start at 11:00 AM and end at 7:00 PM Monday through Saturday. On Peak electrical cost shall include a consumption rate of $0.085/kWh and a demand cost of $5.75/kW. The Off Peak time period shall include all other times and the electrical cost during this time period shall be a simple consumption rate of $0.045/kWh. Natural gas shall be available to the Dallas Power & Light Building and this supply of natural gas shall be charged at a simple consumption rate of $0.75/Therm. It is assumed that natural gas availability is plentiful if the building owner wishes to us this as a primary source of energy. The assumed primary supply of this energy is 75 psig at the entrance to the building property. Since the building is within the city limits, City Water and Sewer service is available. The City Water rate is a flat consumption rate of $0.002/gal. The City Sewer rate is also a flat consumption
rate of $0.003/gal. Utility rate structures shall be expected to rise at the following rates of escalation.

Electrical cost will rise at the annual rate of 3.5% Natural Gas cost will rise at the annual rate of 3% City Water and Sewer will rise at the annual rate of 2.5%

Building Service Life

The Dallas Power and Light Building is considered a Long Life service building and therefore is defined by ASHRAE Standard 189.1-2011 to have an expected minimum service life of 50 years. All building decisions related to the building composition, building structural elements, building

systems, and building operation shall include a 50 year life cycle study as the building owner expects a sustainable approach to all building design, construction and operational elements. Student teams shall include this basis with all building analysis. To complete the life cycle study, the building owner expects the following elements to be included with any analysis. General Inflation rate for future cost items (replacement items, maintenance and anticipated future costs) will be 3% Owners Rate of Return for monetary decisions (this is to be used for bring future costs back to present net worth dollars) will be 4% The Life Cycle Analysis shall illustrate a 50 year study and bring all costs back to a total present value sum for each alternative so the building owner understands in present dollars which alternatives represent the best life cycle value.