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Chiller Plant Optimization Index

ASHRAE 90.1 · kW/ton · COP · IPLV

When to use: Use to benchmark the efficiency of a chilled-water plant. Sum the electrical demand of the chiller, cooling tower fans, condenser water pump, and chilled water pump, then divide by the cooling load in tons to get kW/ton (lower is better). A well-tuned all-variable-speed water-cooled plant targets ≈ 0.5–0.7 kW/ton. Because efficiency degrades at low load, set the part-load ratio (PLR) to estimate kW/ton at the operating point.

Plant Parameters
kW
kW
kW
kW
tons
0.1–1.0
PLR
0.80
Efficiency Benchmark (kW/ton)
<0.6
Excellent
0.61
Good / Fair
>1
Poor
✓ EXCELLENT EFFICIENCY
0.588
System Efficiency (kW/ton)
Results
Total Plant kW235.0 kW
System Efficiency0.588 kW/ton
Chiller-only0.450 kW/ton
COP5.99
kW/ton at PLR 0.800.617 kW/ton
IPLV note×1.05 vs full load
References
ASHRAE 90.1 — chiller efficiency (kW/ton, IPLV)
kW/ton = Total kW / tons
COP = 3.517 / (kW/ton)
All-variable-speed plant target ≈ 0.5–0.7 kW/ton