A diverse group of commercial manufacturers from the United States, Mexico, and Canada, supported by IAPMO and members of the Hydronics Industry Alliance, a Committee of the Radiant Professionals Alliance, has taken on the challenge of delivering a total commercial building HVAC system efficiency comparison tool that is now available online at no charge.

The free, interactive Building Efficiency System Tool (BEST) solves a long-standing industry issue of being able to accurately compare different styles of HVAC systems, which are all tested to different standards, with various efficiency ratings (EER, IEER, SEER, COP, HSPF), as they are applied in an actual building.

The BEST was created to better inform prospective builders, consulting engineers and design-build professionals about their selection options for HVAC systems during the early design process, and to make it free, fast, and easy to understand.

The BEST uses the Building Energy Efficiency Ratio (BEER), which takes certified AHRI data, manufacturers’ published performance data at multiple performance points, as-applied correction factors, performance curves for components, pipe and duct required in a typical system, and combines them to bridge the gap between certified equipment efficiencies and real-world building system efficiencies.

For example, most direct-expansion equipment is laboratory tested at fixed points that include an 80 degree F room air temperature and 50 percent humidity (80 DB/67 WB). While a designer needs to know the rated performance to calculate system efficiency, BEST goes further by using the performance at actual operating temperatures (73 DB/61 WB) to develop an overall system efficiency, thereby more closely mirroring actual building operation.

Simply enter the square footage of the building, the number of stories, and the nearest city for local weather data, and then chose up to four types of HVAC systems to compare – from more than 30 pre-loaded systems.

The BEST features more than 100 default input settings, including system cost per square foot (provided by more than 50 contractors around the U.S.), each of which are adjustable to model any building in any location. BEST quickly outputs estimated installation cost, replacement cost, maintenance cost, monthly energy cost, electrical and fossil fuel consumption costs, total life cycle cost, cumulative life cycle cost by year, system payback time (as compared with other modeled systems), pump and fan HP, system integrated energy efficiency ratio (IEER), coefficient of performance (COP), and more.

To download the Building Efficiency System ToolTM (BEST) for free, learn more about the Hydronic Industry Alliance-Commercial, the Radiant Professionals Alliance, or to join this important efficiency advocacy effort, visit visit www.HIA-C.org and www.radiantpros.org.