Bill:

We have confronted the same difficult situation on industrial projects with greater than 50% costs due to process loads. We have found ourselves in more detailed discussions with process designers and process equipment vendors, working out the impact of different energy system decisions.

One possible way to think about your unique process is to break it down into smaller, more manageable pieces, and describe how the small pieces use energy efficiency technology.

If there are motor loads, is there an opportunity for premium efficiency motors and variable speed drives?
If there is combustion, are there a variety of burner / heat exchanger designs with a range of efficiencies? Is it possibile to economize stack losses?
If there is refrigeration, are there opportunities for recovering waste heat to serve other needs?
Etc. etc., based on the specific pieces of the process.

It's something of a gamble to know if the efficiency choices you are making really are better than what any other sensible designer who wasn't considering the energy impact would do. In the end it can come down to the judgment of the modeler and the LEED Reviewer, which may not be the most comfortable place but seems to be where we live on these types of projects.

Aaron Dahlstrom , PE, LEED? AP