The association between low humidity and increased disease from SARS-CoV-2 is real, important, and cannot be discounted by the presence of other variables.
Energy recovery, sensors, and smart deployment of other options can let a system clear the psychrometric hurdle of designing for high outdoor air requirement and high moisture levels.
Dedicated outdoor air systems (DOAS) have been available for over 20 years, with the primary benefit being the ability to decouple outdoor air tempering from conditioned space thermal loads that can be handled by separate, secondary systems.
There’s more room for mystery and surprise in the early phases, but retrofit projects still contain a unique advantage or two for the thoughtful engineer and owner.
The kitchen may prepare individual meals, but its ventilation system was a smorgasbord of unusual and/or ineffective measures. Sample the task force’s recipe for success.
This article describes the remodeling of a hospital kitchen in which workers experienced high temperature and humidity levels, as well as turbulent airflows most of the year.
Over the years of designing and building HVAC infrastructure, I’ve been fortunate to be able to complete the projects via integrated project delivery (IPD) and design-build (D-B), in addition to design-bid-build (DBB) and construction management (CM).
Retrieving every last bit of performance from the system while stopping short of the surge line is no small feat. Dig into sizing, tower selection, chilled water loads and stability, and condenser water management to leave no efficiency stone unturned.
Finding the holy grail of centrifugal chiller optimization for all operating conditions is hard, if not impossible. This article will talk about the requirements of most chiller systems and means of control for condenser optimization.
The people adapting and modifying new technology for fun yesterday will be shaping the building automation offerings of tomorrow. The differences in outlook and output will not be minor. Take a look at what the future might hold for facilities, consulting firms, and manufacturers.
Two towers of office space were overdue for an efficiency overhaul. A creative and responsive project team cleared some placement and design hurdles for its new central plant, all while remaining qualified for nearly $1 million in utility rebates.
Back in 1983 — over three decades ago — a built-up DX cooling system was a good alternative to a chilled water-based system for the Molina Center (Long Beach, CA).