What needs to be accounted for when calculating demand for multi-family dwellings?

When calculating demand for multi-family dwellings, it's essential to consider that the overall demand factors may differ due to shared resources. This is because multi-family dwellings often have common areas, such as hallways, laundry facilities, and shared amenities that impact energy usage collectively rather than individually.

For instance, when estimating the electrical or heating load, the shared nature of these facilities can lead to different demand profiles compared to single-family homes. In addition, equipment and appliances used in common areas can significantly add to the overall load. These unique factors necessitate a different approach to calculating demand, ensuring that the common usage does not result in an underestimate of the total demand that the building will impose on the electrical supply.

Considering just the total number of individual units or square footage of each unit would not capture the nuances of resource sharing, and focusing solely on the energy consumption of common areas ignores the interactions between individual units and shared resources. This is why accounting for the overall demand factors that may differ due to shared resources is critical when performing load calculations for multi-family dwellings.