ASHRAE Provides Guidance for Determining Office-Equipment Heat Gain

​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.