Ashrae Journal - October 2008 - 16

Living Lab Capabilities system. They will be administered via the building business The renovated headquarters building provides sensing, data computer network. collection and data storage capabilities sufficient to support a Several large flat screen monitors have been installed at strabroad range of HVAC&R research and development on build- tegic locations in the building to provide on-site displays for ings, the building environment, building systems, subsystems, viewing by ASHRAE staff and visitors. The display interface equipment, and controls. This required installing sensors and will also be viewable via the worldwide web for all ASHRAE data acquisition capabilities beyond those of most ordinary members. The specific information to be displayed and its presmall office buildings. The building includes sensors to support sentation format have not yet been decided, but it will include monitoring the energy performance of the whole building but graphical display of significant indicators of building perforalso its major systems—the dedicated outdoor air system, the mance (such as electric power demand and consumption, and ground source heat pump system providing space condition- indicators of indoor conditions). ing to the second floor and the variable refrigerant flow system Two conference rooms will be available for dedicated research providing cooling for the first floor. space suitable for a wide range of real-world investigations of Energy System Measurement capabilities include: interest to ASHRAE technical committees and other organiza• Energy use and electric power demand of the whole build- tions working on ASHRAE research. These spaces have been ing, major systems, subsystems, and individual system outfitted with unused sensor inputs on controllers to enable components/equipment segregated by energy type; the installation of additional sensors specific to the research • Conditions, such as on/off status, operation mode, tem- conducted in the space. Such research is expected to be conperature, humidity, pressure, and flow rate, at numerous ducted in the presence of occupants, thus not interfering in any substantial way with the normal use of the rooms. points in the various systems and equipment; • The values of all control points can be monitored and recorded; System Architecture and Data Access • Indoor environmental conditions, such as air temperature, A high-level schematic of the overall living lab data acquisihumidity, CO2 concentration, concentration of other air tion, storage and access system is shown in Figure 1. The diapollutants, airflow gram shows the relationrates, lighting levels, ship between the buildand daylight availing control system and ability; additional components • Water consumption for the living lab. Living by the whole-buildlab components (e.g., ing and targeted end additional sensors) that uses; and are not part of the control • Outdoor weather system are shown outside conditions includthe dashed boundary of ing total and diffuse the control system. All sensor data are gathered solar radiation and air quality. and communicated back A detailed list of mea- A weather station (left) monitors outdoor weather conditions. Building sys- to the living lab server by sured points is shown in tems (right) provide independent monitoring of ambient conditions. the control system. Table 1. All data will be The system provides the stored at five-minute or 15-minute intervals, but the capability capability to effectively manage the data collected from the exists to adjust the collection interval for select sets of data for building with a minimum of active human involvement (i.e., specific studies to one-minute interval or less. labor). This will include the capability to collect the data, store The data collected will be sufficient, for example, for it in a suitable database, ensure adequate secure backups, and monitoring and studying the indoor environmental quality, the provide access to all ASHRAE members and performers of energy use of the building and individual systems, equipment ASHRAE research via the Internet and World Wide Web. performance (efficiency, reliability, degradation, fault occur- On-site and off-site backup of data to ensure its safety will be rence) in the short term and over its lifetime, control system provided as part of the overall ASHRAE IT system, which properformance, benchmarking, and investigation of new tech- tects all ASHRAE computer data in a similar manner protecting niques and technology such as automated fault detection and it from loss as a result of a system crash or other unfortunate diagnostics, advanced controls, ventilation strategies, energy occurrence (e.g., a fire). conservation strategies, maintenance practices, etc. Web access to the data will be provided to members and reThe laboratory is envisioned to include occupant satisfaction search project contractors by secure access through a firewall. survey capability, although this is not yet implemented. Occu- The Web server will initially be provided by the control system pant surveys will not be implemented on the building control but may later be transitioned to another computer on which the 16 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org October 2008

Ashrae Journal - October 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Ashrae Journal - October 2008

Ashrae Journal - October 2008

Contents

Commentary
Industry News
Letters
ASHRAE HQ Dedication Booklet
ASHRAE Rebuilds HQ to Reflect Mission
Feature Articles
ASHRAE's Living Lab
Meetings and Shows
Sizing Pipe Using Life-Cycle Costs
Feature Articles
Energy-Efficient Data Centers: A Close-Coupled Row Solution
The Future of 90.1
Ventilation Standard for Health Care Facilities
Grosvenor Humidity Chart
ASHRAE Research Report
ASHRAE Honor Roll
Building Sciences
Special Products
Emerging Technologies
Product Showplace
Classified Advertisting
Advertising Index
Ashrae Journal - October 2008 - Ashrae Journal - October 2008
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Contents