Advances to ASHRAE Standard 55 to encourage more effective building practice

ASHRAE Standard 55 has been evolving in recent years to encourage more sustainable building designs and operational practices. A series of changes address issues for which past design practice has been deficient or overly constrained. Some of the changes were enabled by findings from field studies of comfort and energy-efficiency, and others by new developments in the design- and building-management professions.  The changes have been influencing practice and spurring follow-on research.The Standard now addresses effects of elevated air movement, solar gain on the occupant, and draft at the ankles, each with several impacts on energy-efficient design and operation. It also addresses the most important source of discomfort in modern buildings, the large inter- and intra-personal variability in thermal comfort requirements, by classifying the occupants’ personal control and adaptive options in a form that can be used in building rating systems. In order to facilitate design, new computer tools extend the use of the standard toward direct use in designers’ workflow. The standard also includes provisions for monitoring and evaluating buildings in operation. This paper summarizes these developments and their underlying research, and attempts to look ahead

Integrating Smart Ceiling Fans and Communicating Thermostats to Provide Energy-Efficient Comfort

The project goal was to identify and test the integration of smart ceiling fans and communicating thermostats. These highly efficient ceiling fans use as much power as an LED light bulb and have onboard temperature and occupancy sensors for automatic operationbased on space conditions. The Center for the Environment (CBE) at UC Berkeley led the research team including TRC, Association for Energy Affordability (AEA), and Big Ass Fans (BAF). The research team conducted laboratory tests, installed99 ceiling fans and 12 thermostats in four affordable multifamily housing sites in California’s Central Valley, interviewed stakeholders to develop a case study, developed an online design tool and design guide, outlined codes and standards outreach, and published several papers.The project team raised indoor cooling temperature setpoints and used ceiling fans as the first stage of cooling; this sequencing of ceiling fans and air conditioningreducesenergy consumption, especially during peak periods, while providing thermal comfort.The field demonstration resulted in 39% measured compressor energy savings during the April–October cooling seasoncompared to baseline conditions, normalized for floor area. Weather-normalized energy use varied from a 36% increase to 71% savings, withmedian savings of 15%.This variability reflects the diversity in buildings, mechanical systems, prior operation settings, space types, andoccupants’ schedules,preferences, and motivations. All commercial spaces with regular occupancy schedules (and twoof the irregularly-occupied commercial spaces and one of the homes) showed energy savings on an absolute basis before normalizing for warmer intervention temperatures,and 10 of 13 sites showed energy savings on a weather-normalized basis. The ceiling fans provided cooling for one site for months during hot weather when the coolingequipment failed.Occupants reported high satisfaction with the ceiling fans and improved thermal comfort. This technology can apply to new and retrofit residential and commercial buildings

Optimizing Radiant Systems for Energy Efficiency and Comfort

Radiant cooling and heating systems provide an opportunity to achieve significant energy savings, peak demand reduction, load shifting, and thermal comfort improvements compared to conventional all-air systems. As a result, application of these systems has increased in recent years, particularly in zero-net-energy (ZNE) and other advanced low-energy buildings. Despite this growth, completed installations to date have demonstrated that controls and operation of radiant systems can be challenging due to a lack of familiarity within the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) design and operations professions, often involving new concepts (particularly related to the slow response in high thermal mass radiant systems). To achieve the significant reductions in building energy use proposed by California Public Utilities Commission’s (CPUC’s) Energy Efficiency Strategic Plan that all new non-residential buildings be ZNE by 2030, it is critical that new technologies that will play a major role in reaching this goal be applied in an effective manner. This final report describes the results of a comprehensive multi-faceted research project that was undertaken to address these needed enhancements to radiant technology by developing the following: (1) sizing and operation tools (currently unavailable on the market) to provide reliable methods to take full advantage of the radiant systems to provide improved energy performance while maintaining comfortable conditions, (2) energy, cost, and occupant comfort data to provide real world examples of energy efficient, affordable, and comfortable buildings using radiant systems, and (3) Title-24 and ASHRAE Standards advancements to enhance the building industry’s ability to achieve significant energy efficiency goals in California with radiant systems. The research team used a combination of full-scale fundamental laboratory experiments, whole-building energy simulations and simplified tool development, and detailed field studies and control demonstrations to assemble the new information, guidance and tools necessary to help the building industry achieve significant energy efficiency goals for radiant systems in California

Thermal and Air Quality Acceptability in Buildings that Reduce Energy by Reducing Minimum Airflow from Overhead Diffusers

There is great energy-saving potential in reducing variable air volume (VAV) box minimum airflow setpoints.In the past, setpoints have been maintained at high levels because of three concerns: 1) low flows might cause the occupants draft discomfort from insufficient mixing of diffuser discharge air, 2) inability of VAV boxes to control at low flows, and 3) poor air quality resulting from a combination of poor control and insufficient diffuser mixing. It is worth examining these concerns to see whether they are justified. The controller accuracy and stability have recently been addressed by RP 1353, in which VAV boxes were found to control well at very low flow levels. The diffuser mixing issue and impact on comfort are addressed in this research project, RP 1515.RP 1515 is a combined field and laboratory study, in which occupants’ thermal comfort and air quality satisfaction is evaluated in the field under reduced minimum VAV flow rate setpoints, and the mixing performance of diffusers is measured in the laboratory. The laboratory portion was performed with co-funding from Price Industries. Additional co-funding from the California Energy Commission’s PIER program allowed us to quantify the HVAC energy savings resulting from the reduced flows in the field study buildings.

Effects of diffuser airflow minima on occupant comfort, air mixing, and building energy use (RP-1515)

There is great energy-saving potential in reducing variable air volume (VAV) box minimum airflow setpoints to about 10% of maximum.  Typical savings are on the order of 10-30% of total HVAC energy, remarkable for an inexpensive controls setpoint change that properly maintains outside air ventilation. However, there has long been concern whether comfort and room air mixing are maintained under low flows through diffusers, and this concern has prompted VAV minima to be typically set at 20-50% of maximum.RP 1515 evaluated occupants’ thermal comfort and air quality satisfaction in operating buildings under both conventional and reduced minimum VAV flow setpoints, and measured the air diffusion performance index and air change effectiveness for typical diffuser types in the laboratory.  The hypotheses were that lowered flow operation would not significantly reduce comfort or air quality, and that HVAC energy savings would be substantial. The hypotheses were almost entirely confirmed for both warm and cool seasons.  But beyond this, the reduction of excess airflow during low-load periods caused occupants’ cold discomfort in the warm season to be halved, a surprising improvement.  It appears that today’s widespread overcooling of buildings can be corrected without risk of discomfort by lowering conventional VAV minimum flow setpoints

Current practice for design and control of high thermal mass radiant cooling systems, and opportunities for future improvements

Radiant cooling and heating have the potential for improved energy efficiency, demand response, comfort, indoor environmental quality, and architectural design. Many radiant buildings have demonstrated outstanding performance in these regards. However, there are no well-established best practices for design of radiant buildings and their control systems, and most industry professionals are unfamiliar with radiant systems. This study summarizes interviews with eleven professionals with substantial experience with design and operation of radiant buildings in North America. Interviews focused specifically on high thermal mass radiant buildings, referred to as thermally active building systems (TABS). Interviews revealed a diverse range of approaches for design and control of TABS buildings. While interviewees expressed many similar approaches, they also have manyunique preferences. Examples of consistent themes include the use of dedicated outdoor air systems for ventilation and for supplemental cooling, and the use of a relatively simple control schemes that target a constant slab temperature for all times of the day and night. However, interviewees described unique preferences for space types where TABS should be applied, design and types of valves or pumps used for radiant zone control, the control of changeover between slab heating to slab cooling, and many other design considerations. Preferences appear to be driven by project constraints and by personal experience. Interviewees report that their design preferences are effective, but there is no industry consensus about how alternatives compare for energy performance. This paper outlines opportunities for further research, improvement radiant design and control, and the development of best practices

Current practice for design and control of high thermal mass radiant cooling systems, and opportunities for future improvements

Radiant cooling and heating have the potential for improved energy efficiency, demand response, comfort, indoor environmental quality, and architectural design. Many radiant buildings have demonstrated outstanding performance in these regards. However, there are no well-established best practices for design of radiant buildings and their control systems, and most industry professionals are unfamiliar with radiant systems. This study summarizes interviews with eleven professionals with substantial experience with design and operation of radiant buildings in North America. Interviews focused specifically on high thermal mass radiant buildings, referred to as thermally active building systems (TABS). Interviews revealed a diverse range of approaches for design and control of TABS buildings. While interviewees expressed many similar approaches, they also have manyunique preferences. Examples of consistent themes include the use of dedicated outdoor air systems for ventilation and for supplemental cooling, and the use of a relatively simple control schemes that target a constant slab temperature for all times of the day and night. However, interviewees described unique preferences for space types where TABS should be applied, design and types of valves or pumps used for radiant zone control, the control of changeover between slab heating to slab cooling, and many other design considerations. Preferences appear to be driven by project constraints and by personal experience. Interviewees report that their design preferences are effective, but there is no industry consensus about how alternatives compare for energy performance. This paper outlines opportunities for further research, improvement radiant design and control, and the development of best practices

Moving air for comfort

Moving air has long been used to provide comfort in warm environments. Provision for indoor air movement was one of the wellsprings of traditional architectural design in warm regions, affecting building form, components, and equipment over millennia. However, this design option has faded from practice since the advent of air-conditioning, in which the focus has been on controlling temperature and humidity. Despite the fact that air movement can be an energy efficient alternative to air cooling, it became viewed more as a possible source of undesirable draft, and comfort standards came to set room airspeed limits very low, even for temperatures as warm as 26ºC (79ºF). An exception was granted if the airspeed source was under personal individual control, such as a window in a private office, or a desk fan, but only above 26 ºC (79ºF)