“Elegant” is not a term often used by engineers to describe their efforts. Words like efficient, sustainable, and economical are used far more often. However, in the world of design, elegance incorporates all of these.
Elegance is certainly more than a word. When it is systematically applied to design, it fosters excellence. Elegance in design has been studied and employed by practitioners in a variety of industries. This paper examines its application to HVAC system design.