Consulting-Specifying Engineer - March 2008 - (Page 48)

Not just cooling buildings, but cooling people, was a revelation. If a room is not in use, why cool it? Our expectation in the United States tends to be that any room should be comfortable at any moment in time, whether or not it is being used. Turning on a light is OK, but we are not conditioned to turning on comfort. Saving energy by turning off lights was a frequent reminder back in the 1970s when we first dealt with energy conservation. Some of you may remember the signs adorning light switches in public buildings, urging us to save energy by turning out the lights when we left the room. Having cut my teeth on chillers and central systems, it was difficult to accept the ideas of not using them. After all, what could be better than a central system if you could afford it? But now, after years of being exposed to many applications that use non-central systems, what has evolved is an appreciation of another tool in our arsenal to create comfort in our buildings at minimal energy usage. Creative architectural use of air-cooled condenser air flow is demonstrated here. The condensers are located underground. Photo: Daikin Industries Ltd. I was able to witness a group of experienced U.S. commercial sales engineers tour large buildings in Belgium. The buildings use variable refrigerant volume systems, which also opened my mind to the possibilities of these systems being used in addition to or in lieu of central systems in commercial buildings. Why is that? • Space saving: more rentable area by freeing up floor space • Less structure on the roof • Extremely quiet operations that should be witnessed to appreciate • System backup in case of failure • Easy retrofit for air conditioning buildings with no existing ductwork • Less required ductwork and less shaft space: the only ductwork required is floor-by-floor • Very good zone control • Flexibility to move condensing units in an elevator • Floor-by-floor investment as tenants occupy space • Single supplier of the system, including controls • The interior space can look the same as what is used to with a wide choice of diffusers • No operating engineers required due to the modular size of the system. What stands out is the zoned philosophy of these non-central systems, which include ductless and variable refrigerant volume designs. Sure, buildings in the United States are constructed so occupants can turn zones on and off in a variety of ways, but realistically, we often do not. We expect invisible comfort, it should always be there and we don’t want to think about it, see it, or have to manage it on a daily basis. But outside the United States, energy costs also have been much higher for a long time and air conditioning often is considered more of a luxury. Using air conditioning more sparingly and, when it is used, using it efficiently, became design foundations. Cool people, not buildings. Think outside the chiller box Recently, I toured a building in Shanghai that is familiar to those of us in the United States. It uses a chilled water system consisting of centrifugals and direct-fired absorption chillers supplying chilled/hot water with four air handlers per floor and VAV boxes in each zone. A rooftop installation for multiple variable refrigerant volume air-cooled condensers is shown concealed by architectural louvers. Photo: Daikin Industries Ltd. Variable refrigerant volume air-cooled condensing units located indoors allow increased building design flexibility. Photo: Daikin Industries Ltd. 48 Consulting-Specifying Engineer • MARCH 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Consulting-Specifying Engineer - March 2008

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - March 2008 Contents Viewpoint Letters News M/E Roundtable Grade A HVAC When UPS and Gensets Have Issues Ignite Opportunities To Mentor Fire Protection Engineers Cooling People, Not Buildings Codes & Standards Case Study New Products Equipment Lifecycles Advertiser Index Green Space Pure Power Supplement Edison Institute Honors Recovery Efforts Canada Launches Clean Energy Software Climate Change Drives Increased Investment Critical Power for R&D Heating Calculations for Electrical Duct Bank Submetering for Energy Profiling New Products

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - March 2008

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