ASHRAE Journal - October 2020 - 78

RESEARCH REPORT

expose the public to hazardous conditions during a fire, which will result
in liability issues for the designers of the HVAC and Life Safety systems.
1649-RP

IAQ and Energy Implications of High Efficiency
Filters in Residential Buildings

April 2016 - Completed January 2020; University of Toronto; Principal Investigator, Jeffrey
Siegel; TC 2.4, Particulate Air Contaminants and Gas Contaminant Removal Equipment

Filters are usually present in well-maintained forced air systems in
the U.S., including in residential systems with recirculation airstreams.
The intent of this research is to quantify the actual impact that high
efficiency filters have on in-home PM concentrations, and it will result
in a database of simultaneous measurements of indoor/outdoor aerosol
concentrations, system operational values e.g. run times, pressure drops),
and system energy use. This work will directly inform existing ASHRAE
Standards including minimum filtration aspects of 62.2-2007, which has
been incorporated into existing state energy codes e.g., for California),
and the discharge addendum in 52.2-2007. Finally, this work will provide
data to better inform the residential consumer on: 1) IAQ impacts of high
efficiency purchases, which were estimated as an annual revenue stream
of $150 million to the filter market; 2) how often higher efficiency filters
both standard and electrostatic) should be changed to maintain their effectiveness of PM concentration reduction; and 3) any associated energy
costs with using higher efficiency filtration.
1650-RP

Training Requirements for Sustainable, High
Performance Building Operations

November 2016 - Completed January 2020, Montana State University, Principal Investigator,
Jaya Mukhopadhyay; TC. 7.3, Operation and Maintenance Management, co-sponsored by: TC 7.6,
Building Energy Performance, TC 7.8, Owning and Operating Costs and TC 2.8, Building Environmental Impacts and Sustainability

research highlight

Ensuring Data Centers'
Equipment, Systems
Reliability
Air pollution and environmental control in data centers are critical to
the reliability of equipment and systems, says Jianshun Zhang, Ph.D.,
Fellow ASHRAE, principal investigator of 1755-RP.
The goal of 1755-RP, Impact of Gaseous Contamination and High
Humidity on the Reliable Operation of Information Technology Equipment
in Data Centers, was to improve the understanding of the effects of gaseous pollution combined with higher relative humidity, temperature, fluctuating relative humidity and electrical current on the corrosion of copper and silver materials. 1755-RP investigated how increasing relative
humidity and temperature from the recommended range would affect
the corrosion of copper and silver coupons exposed to "realistic indoor"
concentrations to explore whether the recommended thermal envelope
could be expanded to promote reduced cooling energy consumption if
air pollution conditions are better understood and controlled.
The final research report can be accessed through the Technology
Portal. Logged in ASHRAE members can download the report for free at
tinyurl.com/y2b9qv7z.

dynamic models to ASHRAE and will demonstrate their use for control
sequence evaluation. The project allows the close interaction among experts
in energy modeling (TC 4.7), controls (TC 1.4) and smart building systems
(TC 7.5) using dynamic modeling of energy transports, control systems
and smart control algorithms.

Support of operating engineers and operations is critical to realizing
ASHRAE's core mission of creating better building environments. If we
stop at design, we fall short of fulfilling the potential of our knowledge.
Experimental Evaluation of the Thermal and
ASHRAE has a great deal of credibility to gain by taking on responsibility 1666-RP Ventilation Performance of Stratified Air Distribution
Systems Coupled with Passive Beams
for achieving high performance buildings across their full life cycle. In
April 2016 - Completed March 2020; Purdue University; Principal Investigator, Qingyan Chen;
doing so, ASHRAE stands to gain strength and prominence as a source TC 5.3, Room Air Distribution
of fundamental knowledge in alliances with major national organizations
The experimental results and recommendations will produce previously
such as USGBC, BOMA, IFMA, NIBS and agencies such as US DOE, NIST, unavailable new design and operating guidelines for the combined system of
FEMP, GSA and state level energy agencies.
displacement ventilation with passive beams. The improved understanding
achieved from this project will allow this promising integrated technology
to be considered more confidently by system designers. This will reinforce
Development and Validation of Dynamic Models
1661-RP for the Control of Chiller Plants with Water Side
the value of ASHRAE guidelines to building system designers and help to
Economizer
ensure mechanical system design and installation provides comfort while
August 1, 2017 to April 2021 (P); University of Colorado, Principal Investigator, Wangda Zuo; TC
4.7, Energy Calculations
supporting ASHRAE's net-zero energy design strategies.
This project will evaluate the performance of current control sequences
for water side economizers published in ASHRAE publications and recom- 1675-RP Guidance for CFD Modeling of Data Centers
mend a new near-optimal control sequence. It will also provide validated April 2016 - March 2021 (P); Florida International University; Principal Investigator, Cheng-Xian
78

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ASHRAE Journal - October 2020

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