Energy Trust has announced a new incentive for rooftop units (RTUs), included in 2018 Standard Incentive Brochures for Existing Buildings in Oregon and Washington. We’ve addressed some common questions below to clarify what constitutes advanced rooftop controls, which are required for these standard incentives:

Q:         What are “manufacturer-installed advanced controls”?  

A:         These include factory installed, self-contained economizers, demand control ventilation (DCV), and/or supply fan variable frequency drives (VFDs) on RTUs.

The incentive relates to economizers, DCV and/or supply fan VFDs installed on RTUs. Code does not require these features to be included. The controls (economizer, DCV and VFD) must be installed by the rooftop unit manufacturer as factory options in new units.

Q:         Do the units have to be connected to some type of external control system (direct digital controls, pneumatic, thermostat or building automation system)? 

A:         No, that is not a requirement to qualify for the incentives, however, they may be connected to an external control system and still qualify.

To be eligible for the incentive, the RTU must have an economizer, DCV VFD installed by the factory (see Q1 above), and control over these options must be enabled so they can be controlled by themselves or by external control systems. This assumes that all other eligibility criteria are also met.

If you have questions, please contact Nick Dreves, trade ally manager, at 503.568.3324.