Carrier Releases Free Life Cycle Cost Analysis Software to Compare Chillers from Different Manufacturers

To help consulting engineers make more objective and informed decisions about their chiller plant designs, Carrier has introduced PLV Pro, a new software tool to provide fast, easy life cycle cost analysis   at no charge for water-cooled chillers from different manufacturers. 

“Many engineers and facility managers know that full load and integrated part load value (IPLV) may not provide a complete and accurate picture of the performance of multi-chiller central plants in the real world, but they often fall back on them because detailed energy modeling analyses can be costly and time-consuming,” said Scott McDonough, Associate Director of Product Management, Carrier Commercial Global Equipment. “PLV Pro offers a free alternative that’s fast, easy and accurate.”

PLV Pro calculates custom part-load weighting factors and condenser water temperatures based on site-specific weather profiles, U.S. Department of Energy building occupancy profiles, chiller staging and system design. Criteria include geographical location, building type, quantity of chillers, chiller staging method, design temperatures and chiller plant capacity and design. Custom PLV weighting factors and condenser water temperatures generated by the software are suitable for inclusion in equipment schedules.

“While some of the new application’s speed comes from its intuitive and simple user interface, what’s going on under the hood is even more important,” said McDonough. “Engineers and contractors can now use and independent software to provide custom PLV values to show the performance of all chillers under local job conditions.”

PLV Pro uses load profiles generated with Carrier’s Hourly Analysis Program  energy modeling software for thousands of building types and locations worldwide, using detailed building modeling and 8760-hour-by-hour analysis. By leveraging a large library of pre-calculated, precisely detailed load profiles, PLV Pro can deliver both fast analysis and credible results for local job specifications.