AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 14

By DAVID JOHNSON,, AMCA Air Curtain Engineering Committee, with contributions from
FRANK R. CUADERNO and BRIAN JONES, AMCA Air Curtain Engineering Committee

Air Curtains: A Proven
Energy-Saving Alternative
Years of research conducted by Concordia University and others
shows air curtains save energy. The buildings community is taking
notice, as model energy codes and standards, including, recently,
ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 90.1, are being updated to allow air curtains as
an alternative or a complement to vestibules.

D

uring its 2019 Annual Conference in Kansas City,

and the International Green Construction Code in 2012.

Mo., June 25, ASHRAE approved for publication

Composed of a system of motors, fans, and specialized

in the 2019 edition of ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 90.1, Energy

plenum that creates a cohesive sheet of laminar airﬂow over

Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings,

a building opening with a high-velocity discharge that

a provision allowing use of an air curtain as an alternative

entrains the surrounding air and splits at the ﬂoor, an air

to the requirement for a vestibule.

curtain, or air door as it sometimes is called, normally is

ANSI/ASHRAE/IES 90.1 is the latest building standard

installed at a building's entrance to minimize the cross-

or code to allow air curtains as an alternative to vestibules,

migration of warm and cold air from buoyancy pressures

following the International Energy Conservation Code

and wind. It also provides environmental separation by

(IECC) and ANSI/ASHRAE/USGBC/IES 189.1, Standard for

repelling airborne dust and dirt, fumes, odors, and ﬂying

the Design of High-Performance Green Buildings Except Low-

insects.

Rise Residential Buildings, in 2015

The energy savings air curtains provide has been thoroughly documented in research since the early 1960s.
This article summarizes research commissioned by
AMCA and conducted by Concordia University in
Montreal.
Air-curtain performance was evaluated using
methods developed by Grenville K. Yuill, PhD,
then a professor of architectural engineering at

Air curtain.

14

Photo courtesy of Mars Air Systems

20 19 A M CA i n m o t i o n

The Pennsylvania State University, in a 1996 study

w w w. a m c a .o r g

http://www.amca.org

AMCA InMotion - September 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AMCA InMotion - September 2019

Contents
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - BB1
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - BB2
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - Cover1
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - Cover2
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - Contents
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 2
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 3
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 4
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 5
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 6
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 7
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 8
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 9
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 10
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 11
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 12
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 13
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 14
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 15
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 16
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 17
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 18
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 19
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 20
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 21
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 22
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 23
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 24
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 25
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 26
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 27
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 28
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 29
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 30
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 31
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 32
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 33
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 34
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 35
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 36
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 37
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 38
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 39
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 40
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 41
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 42
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 43
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - 44
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - Cover3
AMCA InMotion - September 2019 - Cover4
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