All Exceptions require additional documentation; see the ZE Exception Documentation and Summary Table in Documentation Requirements for more information.
ENERGY USE EXCEPTIONS
EC-001 Industrial Peak Load
Industrial applications are allowed to use propane gas water heaters as a short-term peak load backup to the regular domestic and process hot water system. The team must provide a narrative describing the hot water requirements and alternatives explored in an effort to avoid this Exception, as well as demonstrate through sub-metering that the gas is used for only the short-term processing peak load (i.e., winery “crush,” which is approximately six weeks long) and not throughout the year.
EC-002 Specialized Combustion
In certain circumstances, use of this Exception requires ILFI approval in advance; see details below.
Combustion-based equipment used for process-specific applications that require high heat, such as Bunsen burners in a laboratory setting, are allowed. For any specialized applications that do not require high heat, electric-based alternatives must be explored and documented prior to requesting an Exception. Each Exception request must be submitted as a Request for Ruling for preapproval.
EC-003 Combustion in Commercial Kitchens
In commercial kitchens where electricity-based equipment will not adequately serve the cooking needs of the facility, and where efforts have been made to find alternative solutions and minimize combustion impacts, teams may use combustion-based equipment.
The project team must explain the proposed use, why electricity-based equipment is not functionally equivalent, and efforts both to source non-combustion based energy and to minimize the impacts of combustion. Utility bills and BTU/ kWh calculations (using 1 kBTU = 0.293 kWh) that demonstrate the offset of combustion energy through on-site renewable production are also required.
EC-004 Ornamental Fireplace in Transects L1, L2, and L3
In the limited instances where development is allowed in Transects L1 and L2, it is acceptable to install a single indoor wood-burning stove or fireplace because of a strong cultural legacy of the “hearth in the wilderness.” The allowance for a single wood-burning stove or fireplace in Transects L1 and L2 assumes that it is merely ornamental and ceremonial and are not used for primary, day-to-day heating purposes. Therefore, it may be excluded from the project’s energy calculations. This Exception also allows one outdoor wood-burning fireplace in addition to the indoor wood-burning stove or fireplace. The use of a propane igniter is not allowed.
Fireplaces are also allowed in projects in Transect L3 under the following conditions:
The fireplace:
- Cannot be a primary heat source; and
- Must be closed and meet current Nordic Swan emission and efficiency standards (or prove equivalency) as developed by the Nordic Council of Ministers (see below).
In addition, the project must be in a region that is in compliance with the EPA 2013 PM2.5 primary annual fine particle standard of 12 μg/m3.
Nordic Swan Standards
Emissions criteria:
- Organic gaseous carbon (OGC): 100 mg/m3
- Carbon monoxide (CO): 1250 mg/m3
- Particles: 2.0 g/kg (for up to four loads); 5 g/kg (for each load)
- Efficiency criteria: 76% for manually operated stoves or inset fireplaces for intermittent use.
The project team must provide a narrative describing the functionality of the fireplace with regard to these requirements.
If fireplaces with Nordic Swan labels cannot be sourced from within a project’s country, the project team may prove equivalency by showing that the fireplace:
- Falls below the U.S. EPA’s particulate matter emissions level of 2.5g/hr for cord wood or 2.0g/hr for all other wood; and
- Meets the Nordic Swan’s efficiency requirement of at least 76%.
The project team must also advocate to the regional air quality regulatory body to require fireplace manufacturers to perform CO and OGC testing.
The project team must provide documentation showing the installation of carbon monoxide detector(s) within the building.
EC-005 Pre-existing Infrastructure
Projects can take advantage of pre-existing photovoltaic (PV) arrays in certain limited circumstances. The renewable energy system cannot predate the project unless the PV installation was intentionally sized with sufficient overcapacity in place to meet the project’s energy demand. For example, a PV array might be installed ahead of building construction or as part of a campus system to take advantage of certain incentives or efficiencies of scale. This is allowed as long as the team can demonstrate that the PV system was planned, designed, and installed with the intention to serve additional buildings in the future. The project team must provide:
- Photographs of the existing system;
- Metering data or other records documenting the amount of energy both produced by the existing PV array and used by the campus prior to the addition of the project; and
- A narrative signed by the owner confirming their approach and that the system was planned, designed, and installed specifically to service additional buildings.
Pre-Existing Campus Infrastructure
If the project will be served by a pre-existing array that serves an area larger than the project alone, the percentage of energy production that can be attributed to the project must be based on the following:
- The total energy use of the campus over the 12-month performance period, including the project;
- The production of the existing array during the same 12-month period; and
- The total energy use of the project
For example, if during that 12-month period the array provides 22% of the total energy for a larger campus, then the project may claim that 22% of its operating energy was supplied by the array.
To show compliance, the remaining energy required by the project will need to be supplied by new renewable sources dedicated solely to the project unless there is an intention to add renewables that will supply 100% of the entire campus’s energy. The new renewables could be located within the Project Area, elsewhere on the campus, or off site as part of a procurement associated with the project.
Existing Building Projects
If there is an existing PV array serving the building, that energy production may continue to be utilized for the project. The existing PV array must have been planned, designed, and installed with the intention to serve additional buildings in the future, and it may not be attributed to another building or entity via ownership or REC purchasing. In addition, no other current uses of the existing PV can be supplanted by the renovation project.
EC-006 Periodic Cultural Festivals
Periodic cultural festivals are allowed to use gas water heaters as a backup to the regular kitchen hot water. The team must provide a narrative describing the hot water requirements and alternatives explored in an effort to avoid this Exception, as well as demonstrate through sub-metering that the gas is only used during festivals and not during regular occupancy.
RENEWABLE ENERGY EXCEPTIONS
EC-007 Government REC Sales
Project renewable energy certificates (RECs), or other similar production incentives, may be sold as part of a governmentally established or mandated program for achieving larger public policy objectives such as carbon reduction. In these cases, the RECs must be sold to a governmentally specified REC recipient, such as a utility, and the REC purchase contract must specify that the RECs will be held (not resold) by the governmentally established recipient for a minimum of 15 years in order to prevent double-counting of the energy and carbon benefits. Project teams must provide the REC contract and highlight the renewable attribute language of that contract.
EC-008 Arbitrage of Project-Generated RECs
Project-generated RECs and/or emissions-avoidance claims from on-site or off-site systems can be sold or transferred to a third party for their energy or emissions claims if the following conditions are met:
- The project procures, then retires or maintains possession for a minimum of 15 years, new RECs equal to the renewable energy capacity of the RECs being sold or transferred; and
- All newly procured RECs must:
- Be sourced from a comparable 100% non-combustion based renewable energy source, such as wind or solar.
- Be sourced from within the same regional grid, as defined by the electric power markets by the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (or comparable international authority).
- Be exclusively attributed to the project.
- Be Green-e Certified (or international equivalent).
EC-012 Off-Site Renewables
Use of this exception requires ILFI approval in advance; see details below.
Projects that are unable to provide renewables on site because they fall under one or more of the project types listed below may locate renewable systems off site if they meet the requirements listed below and receive preapproval through a Request for Ruling. The preapproval request must provide documentation demonstrating that the certifying project meets eligibility criteria and that the renewables strategy meets all off-site requirements. Note that additional elements may need to be addressed in the preapproval request, as indicated below, depending on project type and renewables strategy.
Eligible Project Types
- Tenant improvement projects where there is no ownership interest by the project owner or developer in the core building HVAC systems and/or the building envelope or grounds.
- High density/high–energy use intensity (EUI) projects that, even after the highest levels of efficiency are attained, are unable to offset their energy use on site due to project density/height or inherently very high baseline EUIs (such as for a hospital or data center).
- Utility- and jurisdictional-constrained projects that are not able to provide on-site renewables due to substantial limitations of the local grid to absorb the generated energy, or jurisdiction-related limitations (such as military restrictions on wind turbine placement).
Offsite Renewables Requirements – All Project Types
Off-Site renewables for all projects must:
- Be located within the same regional grid as the project.
- Be located on previously developed land, or be installed in a way that allows continuation of ecologic or natural resource functions (e.g. solar panels installed in pastureland in a way that allows continued grazing).
- Provide additionality.
- Be physically identifiable (i.e., location and attributes known rather than a generalized power purchase) and specifically attributed or allocated to the project for a minimum of 15 years through a recognized ownership structure such as a power purchase agreement (PPA). Note that an Interior project’s PPA term may match the term of the overall project lease.
- Be directly metered, with a public meter in the project showing current output in real time and over the year.
- Be clearly and visibly explained in detail at the project site.
Note: If the project team is unable to meet requirement (2), they must show “best effort” to do so, including at a minimum:
- Pursuit of participation in a community solar program;
- Placement of renewables on its own site or on others’ facilities off site with excess solar capacity (e.g., a building that needs only a portion of its roof area for its own energy demands); or
- Work with at least three utility-scale providers to provide renewables that meet the criteria.
If after making such “best efforts,” the project team is unable to locate off-site renewables consistent with these criteria, the team must include a description of its efforts in a Request for Ruling for preapproval.
Ownership
Off-site renewable systems not directly owned by the project are eligible for use by any project type under this Exception, subject to all of the requirements below:
- The annual renewable energy output must be guaranteed through a long-term contract that provides a volume of energy equivalent to 15 years of the project’s anticipated energy use. The annual output of the system must be equal to or greater than the project energy use during the performance period, as required by the certification being pursued.
- The contract for renewable energy must achieve additionality; the project team must demonstrate that the development of the renewable energy system was a direct result of the participation of the certifying project.
- Renewable energy certificates (RECs) must either be retained by the certifying project owner or retired on their behalf.
- The renewable energy system must be physically identifiable and publicly attributed to the certifying project, including in educational signage at the project site.
- All other criteria for renewable energy not related to ownership must be met.
To use the indirect ownership pathway, project teams must include in their submission for preapproval to use this Exception documentation that:
- Describes the renewable energy ownership arrangement and includes a copy of the contract language and/or terms demonstrating that all renewables criteria applicable to the project type are met.
- Demonstrates that the involvement of the certifying project was critical to development of the renewable project.
Requirements Specific to Project Type
- Tenant improvement projects: No additional requirements.
- High-density/high–energy use intensity ((EUI) projects must:
- Target and achieve a level of energy efficiency consistent with the project’s required energy efficiency target through a Request for Ruling preapproval based on an energy professional’s energy model for the project.
- Provide a mechanism to reinforce the targeted level of energy efficiency.
- Meet the following minimum on-site renewable energy requirement:
Existing buildings:
Projects must have a solar site assessment of the existing roof performed by a qualified contractor. For those portions of the roof that have a Total Solar Resource Fraction (TSRF) of 75% and greater, projects must install a minimum 75% of the maximum solar capacity (based on DC – nameplate), based on standard industry practice for PV installation and maintenance accessibility.
New Construction:
Projects must be designed to include solar photovoltaics within the Project Area that are equivalent to at least 75% of the available roof area, using standard industry practice for PV installation and maintenance accessibility within that 75%. Systems shall be designed to provide a minimum TSRF of 75% and greater. Some PV must be provided on site, even if there is little to no available roof area. PV may be placed on on-site shade structures, or elsewhere on site to meet this area requirement.
New Construction and Existing:
Where the project’s roof is shaded by existing structures or natural features that are not within the project team’s control, that area of the roof that has a TSRF below 75% may be excluded from the available roof area.
- Utility-constrained and jurisdictional-constrained projects must:
- Advocate to the jurisdiction or authority to allow as much on-site generation as feasible.
- Work with the jurisdiction or authority in a good-faith effort to investigate any identified technical, legal, financial, or policy limitations, and seek to implement all reasonable solutions. The results of the effort shall be provided in a local grid advocacy report.
- Include the maximum renewables on site allowed by the jurisdiction or authority after the project team’s advocacy and technical work.
- Achieve a highly efficient EUI based on either:
- A maximum energy usage calculation of Net Positive Energy performance based on the amount of renewable generation technically feasible on site (absent utility constraints); or
- An energy efficiency target preapproved through a Request for Ruling that is consistent with Net Zero Energy projects of their building type and climate zone, based on an energy professional’s energy model for the project.
Documentation
The specific documents required to show compliance with this Exception for the certification audit will be determined with ILFI for each project circumstance and will be communicated to the project team at the time of preapproval, if granted. Required documentation is likely to include an Exception narrative, technical documents (e.g., grid limitation documents, energy study, solar site assessment, PV generation information), and photographs. At the time of Final Audit, all documents must show the contribution of off-site renewable energy to offsetting 105% of the project’s actual annual energy use.
EC-022 Zero/Net Positive Energy Performance for Utility Constrained Projects
Projects that are grid-connected but prohibited by the utility from exporting energy to the grid may demonstrate the ability to be zero energy (or net positive, per the standard being pursued) through calculations showing excess energy that could have been provided to the grid during the performance period in their energy balance. The project must draw energy from the grid only when their battery has been depleted and be unable to cover loads with renewables. Calculated energy surpluses must be identified as such in the energy tracking table and must be based on actual meteorological conditions and actual loads.
The project team must provide documentation showing:
- A record of correspondence with the utility that highlights the inability to export energy to the grid;
- Surplus energy calculations, including loads and meteorological conditions; and
- Advocacy to the utility provider to allow for energy to be exported to the grid.
SCALE JUMPING EXCEPTIONS
See Scale Jumping section.
