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MAY 2019
ASHRAE
JOURNAL THE MAGAZINE OF HVAC&R TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATIONS ASHRAE.ORG
OPEN
CLOSED
Remote Testing of Fire and Smoke

Dampers
Commercial Ice Maker Efficiency | Selecting & Specifying Airflow Measurement
Ventilation System Helps School Achieve Net Zero | Case for Controllability
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CONTENTS VOL. 61, NO. 5, MAY 2019
STANDING COLUMNS
56
74 ENGINEER’S NOTEBOOK
Selecting and Specifying
Airflow Measurement
By Stephen W. Duda, P.E.
82 IEQ APPLICATIONS
A Case for Controllability
64 26 By Peter Alspach, P.E.
FEATURES 85 REFRIGERATION APPLICATIONS

The Big Easy
18 Remote Fire and Smoke Damper By Andy Pearson, Ph.D., C.Eng.
Testing Methods
By Larry Felker
26 SOLVING PROBLEMS
36 Simulation of Efficiency Developing Field
Competence: The U.S.
Improvements to an Automatic Air Force’s Approach to
Commercial Ice Maker HVAC Education
By Miles Ryan, P.E.; Joshua Dill, P.E.
By Haithem Murgham, Ph.D.; David Myszka, Ph.D., P.E.; Kyaw Wynn
2019 ASHRAE TECHNOLOGY AWARDS DEPARTMENTS

4 Commentary
56 Transforming an Occupied Office 6 Industry News
Into a Zero Energy Building 14 Letters
By Hiroaki Takai; Koji Tanaka; Kazuki Wada; Hiroki Kawakami 16 Meetings and Shows
86 InfoCenter
93 Products
64 School Design Exceeds 94 Special Products
Net Zero Energy Goals 95 Classified Advertising
By Michael P. Sherren, P.E. 96 Advertisers Index
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2 ASHRAE JOURNAL ashrae.org M A Y 2 0 19

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COMMENTARY
1791 Tullie Circle NE
Atlanta, GA 30329-2305
Phone: 404-636-8400
Fax: 404-321-5478 | www.ashrae.org Jay Scott
DIRECTOR OF ASHRAE PUBLICATIONS & EDUCATION
Mark S. Owen
EDITORIAL Remote Testing for Actuated Dampers
Editor
Jay Scott
jayscott@ashrae.org Building codes require periodic test- Features, for structural fire resistance.
Managing Editor ing of life-safety dampers. These are referred to as “containment”
Sarah Foster An article this month deals with or “compartmentation” dampers. The
sfoster@ashrae.org
remote testing methods of actuated second, those required in Chapter 9,
Associate Editor
Rebecca Matyasovski dampers. Actuated dampers, such Fire Protection and Life Safety Systems,
rmatyasovski@ashrae.org as smoke and combination fire and for “smoke control system dampers.”
Associate Editor smoke, can be remote tested per the The author provides several exam-
Jeri Alger
jalger@ashrae.org 2019 versions of the National Fire ples of typical actuated life-safety
Associate Editor Protection Association (NFPA) 80 and dampers and control methods that
Mary Kate McGowan 105 standards, which are referenced in exemplify the majority of cases. He also
mmcgowan@ashrae.org
the International Building Code (IBC) includes information on the intervals
Associate Editor
Courtney Payne and International Fire Code (IFC). at which various types of life-safety
cpayne@ashrae.org The initial remote inspection dampers must be tested.
Assistant Editor includes a visual inspection con-
Tani Palefski
tpalefski@ashrae.org firming that the position indication EXISTING CONTROLS APPLIED
Contributing Editor, Europe & Middle East method accurately reflects the full to smoke control system dampers
W. Stephen Comstock open and full closed positions. installed per IBC and IFC Chapter 9
PUBLISHING SERVICES According to the author, the advan- already provide methods for remote
Publishing Services Manager
David Soltis tages of remote testing are code com- testing. Remote operation and posi-
Production pliance before any intervention by a tion indication are included initially
Jayne Jackson
fire official, cost avoidance, no ceiling and can be used for periodic testing.
ADVERTISING
Associate Publisher, membrane disturbance, and the abil- At times they are automatically tested
ASHRAE Media Advertising ity to test inaccessible dampers. These in the weekly smoke control system
Greg Martin
gmartin@ashrae.org advantages result in an overall safety equipment tests.
Advertising Production Coordinator increase without undue increase in However, the author explains, con-
Vanessa Johnson costs.
vjohnson@ashrae.org
tainment dampers installed per IBC
ASHRAE OFFICERS
and IFC Chapter 7 will need additional
President A SMALL NUMBER of single- and controls and wiring to allow remote
Sheila J. Hayter, P.E.
multi-blade fire dampers are actuated. testing.
President-Elect
Darryl K. Boyce, P.Eng. The same methods used for combina- Damper open and closed position
Treasurer tion fire and smoke dampers can be verification is required. The author
Charles E. Gulledge III, P.E.
used for them. Ceiling radiation and discusses two methods for remote
Vice Presidents
Julia A. Keen, Ph.D., P.E. most fire dampers must be manually testing.
Malcolm Dennis Knight, P.E.
Farooq Mehboob, P.E. inspected and tested. One, local test switch with position
Michael Schwedler, P.E. Actuated dampers are applied in two indication lights can be installed. The
Secretary & Executive Vice President general building applications. First, second, using the fire alarm or build-
Jeff H. Littleton
POLICY GROUP
those required to meet Chapter 7 of ing automation system to remote test.
2018 – 19 Chair the IBC, Fire and Smoke Protection Enjoy the issue.
Publications Committee
José Correa, P.E.
Washington Office
washdc@ashrae.org
Mission Statement: ASHRAE Journal reviews current HVAC&R technology of broad interest through publica-
tion of application-oriented articles. ASHRAE Journal’s editorial content ranges from back-to-basics features
to reviews of emerging technologies, covering the entire spectrum of professional interest from design and
construction practices to commissioning and the service life of HVAC&R environmental systems.

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INDUSTRY NEWS
Fisair’s air dehumidifiers use an exclusive high-

performance silica gel desiccant rotor for the retention
of water vapor.
efficiency and to decrease CO2 emis-

sions creates another opportunity,”
she said. “There also is heightened
interest in indoor air quality and of
course in the refrigerants with a low
GWP.”
At Systemair, representatives
explained how eliminating con-
taminated air, replacing it with fresh
air and processing it can improve
the indoor environment. “We see
a trend to apply our technologies
in the health-care field to the resi-
Steady Growth for dential market,” said Juan Madrid,

Managing Director for Systemair in
Spain. “We are now talking not only
HVAC&R in Spain
about airflow and temperature but
also about other factors for IAQ and
comfort like CO2.”
BY WS COMSTOCK, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST Luymar’s entire range of recovery
MADRID—At Spain’s largest biennial The show’s technical program and filtration units is manufac-
HVAC&R exhibition, suppliers and topics tell the story of issues facing tured in Spain. The company was
visitors alike spoke about “steady the industry: “Reality of near-zero established to serve the industrial
growth.” Ended is government energy consumption buildings”; market, adding commercial prod-
funding for large projects like “Relevant aspects of refrigerants”; ucts several years ago. Now it is
airports and arenas and incentives and “Updating regulations on moving into domestic solutions.
for alternative energy applications. thermal installations in buildings “Because our products are manu-
Health care, data centers, privately to meet Ecodesign Regulations factured in Spain, we are agile in
financed commercial construc- and the Technical Building Code meeting our customer’s needs.
tion, and residential retrofits drive Requirements.” We maintain adequate inventory,
the market as suppliers react to The European Commission’s and for turnkey projects, we work
European Union (EU) regulations renewable energy directive requires to have our products delivered as
for refrigerant transition, energy ef- the EU to fulfill at least 20% of its soon as possible,” said Antonio Lara
ficiency and indoor air quality. Some total energy needs with renewables Lorente, a Luymar analysist.
manufacturers have posted 20% by 2020. That is an opportunity for The market driver Luymar
gains over the past two years. the HVAC companies, says Pilar sees on the horizon is residential
CLIMATIZACIÓN Y Budi, managing director of AFEC, IAQ regulation by the European
REFRIGERACIÓN (C&R), held the Spanish air-conditioning manu- Commission. “Humans require
February 26 to March 1, attracted facturers association. “I think the high quality air. Regulations are
54,781 trade visitors from 88 coun- market is turning,” she said. “Some going to address that,” said Lorente.
tries, 9.7% more than in 2017, and companies are adding new prod- “The second objective will be to
374 direct exhibitors. Non-Spanish ucts to their offerings, like heat provide it at reasonable cost, with
visitors increased by 20.7%, account- pumps. The need to comply with minimal emission of CO2 and at low
ing for 11% of all attendance. the European directive for energy power consumption.”

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INDUSTRY NEWS
(Left) Eduard Roig said Lennox was launching a new chiller with R-32 gas, the first chiller in the market with an inverter scroll compressor. (Center) With the theme “For Indoor
Life Quality,” TROX displayed how it uses digital technology to increase the perceived well-being of building occupants to make daily work easier and to protect the environment
with energy-efficient systems. (Right) Luis Mena explains the third generation Daikin Altherma 3, which provides heating for new houses using heat pumps. Altherma 3 uses a
combination of Daikin compressors and refrigerant R-32 to achieve A++ seasonal efficiency.
The biggest Spanish-based com- situations that may appear. Its prin- demand-based system allows indi-
pany in the industry is Soler & Palau cipal features include fan selection vidual room control, optimization
(S&P), whose product line has more from a required working point, heat of the air-handling unit based on
than 10,000 models covering indus- recovery unit selection, pre-calcula- ventilation and air-conditioning
trial buildings, residential build- tion of airflow, possibility to recon- parameters, fan speed control,
ings, the tertiary sector, industrial figure a product after being added and control of the recirculation
processes and OEMs. “Every six to the project, and BIM objects damper based on the air quality.
seconds S&P places a product in the download. “It is a small EMS that connects to
market,” said Damian Fernandez Trox showed its new line of air dif- the building EMS,” said Aramburu.
Garcia, the company’s commercial fusers that blend invisibly into ceil- With new regulations requiring
director. “Our distribution struc- ing tiles. Air is added to the room in reductions in energy consumption
ture, through subsidiaries and an individually regulated manner. and greater use of energy recovery,
exclusive distributors, allows us to The objective is to obtain the best system solutions are how manu-
be present in all world markets. That possible air quality in the occupied facturers are responding.
enables us to take innovation from zone and stable, homogeneous “Building systems need to be
one market and apply it in others.” ambient temperatures. The diffus- designed according to energy con-
First and foremost, manufacturers act as design elements for archi- sumption during the year,” said
ers need to deliver energy efficiency tects while fulfilling ventilation and Aramburu. “Now we design for the
and, to an increasing extent, indoor acoustic requirements. extremes. We must change to design
air quality, said Fernandez. “In the The big story, though, is how for the whole year, address power,
EU this is driven by regulation, companies are expanding their capacity and energy. We need
especially in the residential sector, range of services to better serve improved simulation tools and CFD
which has greater oversight than their customers, moving from a reports, using big data to design
the commercial market. Because of focus on individual components for actual conditions throughout
our reach throughout the entire EU, to systems. Suppliers like Trox are the entire year, not just the worst
we focus on achieving full compli- packaging diffusers, fire dampers, conditions.”
ance with all the applicable regula- silencers and air handling units Big data is going to change how
tions. We push for compliance to with control systems to improve Fisair, a Spanish company that
deliver the best system performance service and monitoring through manufactures solutions for the
possible.” cloud-based services. “At Trox we control of air and humidity in
Among Soler & Palau’s services are offering a complete solution,” materials and industrial processes,
displayed was EASYVENT, an online said Javier Aramburu, technical designs and delivers its products.
selection tool to guide designers director in Spain. The company, which celebrated
from the beginning of the project Trox X-AIRCONTROL manages the 50th anniversary of its found-
and let them adapt to the different airflow from AHU to diffusers. The ing at the fair, produces hygienic

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INDUSTRY NEWS
humidifiers capable of high-precision rela-

tive humidity control, dehumidifiers for
industrial applications that require dry air,
and evaporative coolers that use dry air’s
natural capacity for cooling by exchang-
ing heat for water. Its clients are both end
users (industries and public buildings) and
manufacturers who use Fisair components
for humidity control inside their facilities or
units.
“Currently, we design products in the lab
based on modeling and put them in the mar-
ket,” said Juan Boeta Tejera, the company’s
director general. “Shortly, we will be able to
design products based upon feedback about
how the product is performing. By using big
data, we will really know what is happening ASHRAE’s Spain Chapter displayed Spanish translations of ASHRAE standards and guidelines.
with the system and if it is delivering what we
expected.” Knowing what data to select and to analyze Director General. “Our industry has to transform whether
it will become a new business model for Fisair. “The the economy is good or bad. It is difficult for technology
data is owned by the client. But we will offer a service to change as rapidly as the regulations demand. That puts
to collect the data and provide guidance to the client pressure on the manufacturers to find not only the right
showing if energy is being wasted and if the drying is product solution but also to put in place training, servic-
being done effectively. We will be able to provide this ing, security, after life requirements, and so on. It also
from the factory to reduce the cost of on-site support. requires we communicate with customers about how
We are hoping to reduce the need to send someone to a the new regulations impact their buildings.”
remote location,” said Boeta. Long term, Mena sees pressure to reduce cooling and
As is the case at any HVAC exhibition today, the path heating demand. “The average capacity will be reduced
exhibitors have chosen for refrigerant transition was dramatically,” he says. “I think Daikin is in a good posi-
prominently displayed. tion in this environment because we touch upon all the
Lennox introduced at C&R 2019 the extension of its business pillars. We offer small units for apartments to
eCOMFORT range—from 170 to 400 kW (48 to 114 ton)— centrifugal chillers of 20 megawatts and everything in
for comfort applications. Available from Q4 2019, the between. It is a full product range with maintenance
chiller—equipped with inverter compressors and EC and control.”
fans—is designed to deliver the highest performance at Another complication for Spain’s refrigerant transition
the lowest cost. Optimized for part-load operation and is a Spanish regulation covering pressure equipment
low-GWP R-32, it increases seasonal efficiency by 30%— and accompanying guidance for technicians. Dating
exceeding Ecodesign 2021 tier—and reduces greenhouse from the 1970s, the regulation was changed only last
gas emissions. The heat pump version is scheduled for a December to allow use of low-GWP refrigerants.
2020 release. “The big challenge for the industry is F-gas Monica del Fresno, an HVAC engineer in Spain,
regulation,” said Eduard Roig, an engineer at Lennox. believes the regulation penalized Spain. As the rest of
“We are pleased to launch the first R-32 scroll chiller on Europe started the transition from F-gases several years
the market. In addition, we will help our customers to ago, in Spain, the process was delayed because of the
make this transition smooth with service, information regulation. “Installers were not able to prepare their cli-
and training too.” ents about the transition. Now we need to move quickly
“Our industry is in the middle of a storm, a storm cen- to tell building owners about the new refrigerants and
tered on F-gas regulation,” said Luis Mena, Daikin Spain the new equipment that is needed.” Her company offers

INDUSTRY NEWS
a full range of mini-split systems for Spain’s residential Chile and Morocco,” said Pedros, the company’s market-
market. “We offer high efficiency products with pricing director for air and food sectors.
ing that reduces one of the barriers to the refrigerant “Besides the European market we have cultural con-
transition.” nections to the Americas,” said Fisair’s Boeta. “In Spain
Data center cooling is one of the sectors leading we are in a good location for the global market.” That
private investment. “Cooling represents the biggest along with economic stability have brightened prospects
slice of the total cost in a data center,” said Systemair’s for HVAC&R in Spain.
Madrid. The most efficient data
centers use products that can
reach PUE value close to 1.0 as
well as focus on Energy Resource
Effectiveness (ERE) to recover as
much energy as possible in all types
of geographies and climate zones.
“Systemair’s free cooling solutions
are a highly efficient method that
use low temperature outdoor air
to control the data center, reduc-
ing total energy consumption. It is
possible to free cool all the time or
for some time of the year in most
countries,” said Madrid. The com-
pany says calculations based on a
one year power saving of approxi-
mately 180,000 kW in Madrid show
that it is possible to estimate over a
five-year period an average energy
saving of 3,600,000 kWh. In terms
of money, cost reduction would add
up to a total of more than 432,000€
during the same period.
Abel Pedros of Eurofred sees Spain
as a new HVAC&R leader in Europe,
saying that while some European
economies are contracting, Spain
is growing at 2.8% or 2.9% per year.
“The heat pump market for us has
grown 50% compared to last year,”
he said. “And IAQ is increasingly
important as the air quality in
Spain’s cities worsens. The equip-
ment we sell can provide indoor
conditions for living that are like
cleanrooms for industry.” After the
Spanish recession of 2008–2014,
Spanish companies also learned to
increase their exports. “We sell in
M A Y 2 0 19 ashrae.org ASHRAE JOURNAL 11

INDUSTRY NEWS
ASHRAE-NREL Workshop
Buildings and Grid Experts Convene
BY ANDREW WALKER, PH.D., P.E., AND HUGH CROWTHER, P.ENG., MEMBER ASHRAE
GOLDEN, COLO.—ASHRAE President Sheila Hayter’s theme of

Building Our New Energy Future achieved another mile-
stone on March 28 and 29 when the grid and building
industries came together at the National Renewable En-
ergy Lab (NREL) in Golden, Colorado. Hosted by NREL
and ASHRAE with the support of the U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renew-
able Energy, the two-day workshop included building
owners, building and grid consulting engineers, utility
operators, equipment and controls manufacturers, EPA,
RMI, DOE, and lab staff from NIST, PNNL, LBL, ORNL,
CREDIT: NREL
and NREL.
Rapid changes in both the grid sector and building
sciences sector made the workshop both timely and ASHRAE President Sheila Hayter, P.E., and Juan Torres, associate laboratory director,
necessary. Previously, buildings were passive consum- Energy Systems Integration at NREL, meet with buildings and grid industry experts.
ers of energy (kWh), and goals were related primarily to

percent energy reduction. The shift to renewable energy • Energy Storage: The power of space, temperature,
generation (e.g., photovoltaics, wind power) and smart and time; and
grid chemical energy storage (batteries) is changing how • Integration and Interoperability: Bringing it all
the grid needs to operate, with the focus on when and together.
where those kWh are delivered. Industry experts kicked off each session with an
With buildings representing about 75% of the grid’s update, followed by breakout sessions that identified
load, these changes are impacting how buildings need opportunities and barriers related to each topic.
to operate, optimizing when those kWh are consumed, The goal of the discussions was to bridge the gap
generated, or stored. Grid-friendly buildings are known between the grid industry and the building science com-
as Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings (GEBs). (https:// munity, identify areas of common interest, and most
www.energy.gov/eere/buildings/grid-interactive- importantly identify areas where analysis, research, and
efficient-buildings). Valuable services that a building practical tools are required. The workshop also helped
could support in concert with the grid include: auto- inform planning by exploring priority areas and shar-
mated demand response; on-site generation; thermal ing interests across disciplines by identifying some key
and electric storage; phase balancing; reactive power takeaways.
(kVAR); and regulation of frequency and voltage.
Building sciences are evolving with a continued focus Research and Analysis
on the human experience in the built environment There are several gaps that we must better understand
while driving lower energy use. The energy focus is on to take advantage of the new energy future. Much of this
low annual energy use intensity (EUI, kBtu/ft²·yr). work will fall to the national labs and engineering con-
Considering the rapid changes, the workshop covered sulting firms under the leadership of the DOE Office of
four main topics: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.
• Grid Services: How can buildings help the grid?; Utilities understand their new challenges and how
• Energy Efficiency: Expanding the capabilities of they would like their customers (i.e., buildings, indus-
existing solutions; try, electric vehicles) to behave for them to take full

INDUSTRY NEWS
advantage of technology changes in their sector. Analysis provide the standards for communication needs to be
and research are required to understand and prioritize completed as quickly as possible. Signals from utilities
what goals buildings can help meet. For example, load could evolve from pricing signals buried in utility bills to
balancing and energy storage are very helpful to the real-time integration of controls.
grid, and buildings can play a significant role, while The grid needs to see a building as more than just a
demand response, voltage control, and frequency con- block load. Research is required to understand, from a
trol are not as mature. load balancing perspective, the internal building loads
Designing GEBs is not well understood by the build- such as HVAC, lighting, process loads, electric vehicle
ing sector. With evolving goals set by utilities, work is charging stations. For example, it is not possible to load
required to understand how to meet these challenges. shed a chiller plant (HVAC load) if the building is in
An example is leveraging passive and active building economizer mode and the chiller plant is not operating.
envelopes not just for thermal comfort and low EUIs but Research needs to identify what various loads can be
to help load balance. used for load balancing, how to prioritize them, and how
The gap between the grid and building sectors’ under- to communicate between buildings and the grid.
standing of each other’s challenges and opportunities Cybersecurity, the Internet of Things, big data, and
was a major takeaway and supported the need for work- balancing the need for privacy will evolve as building-
shops such as this. grid communication expands. There is a role for arti-
To manage load balancing, grid loads must be under- ficial intelligence in building-grid optimization and
stood well enough to know what can be adjusted to this too needs to be researched. Autonomous systems
optimize the grid. The smart grid will provide the means will be required for both rapid response and machine
to communicate needs and opportunities. The work to learning.
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INDUSTRY NEWS
Tools and Applications LETTERS

Available technology can be
applied to make buildings grid
friendly. Applying this technology
Changes in IAQ Caused By Corona
requires applications, guidance, Discharge Air Cleaner
tools, and training. This is a role The IEQ Applications column Without this information it is
where ASHRAE with its 57,000+ entitled “Changes in IAQ Caused By impossible to determine if the
members and its fellow industry Corona Discharge Air Cleaner,” pub- device was operating as intended by
association partners can play a lished in the December 2018 ASHRAE the manufacturer.
leading part. Some of the tech- Journal, in my opinion has multiple Fourth, most of the technologies
nologies identified at the workshop challenges with the test methods used to generate ions are not known
include: employed, presentation of results, for creating any contaminants other
• Courses on what a GEB is, both and conclusions reached by the New than ozone. The authors do not
for the design professional and build- York State Department of Education. state this fact, and yet contaminants
ing owners and operators; First, there are multiple means of other than ozone were measured
• Leveraging integrated design to generating ions that result in vary- to have increased when the device
deliver a grid-friendly building; ing levels of ozone. Most manufac- was turned on. Assuming the device
• Operating a building to be grid turers can provide documentation did not generate those other con-
friendly; regarding the level of ozone their taminants, what caused them to
• Electrochemical and thermal particular technology generates. The increase? This is an unanswered
energy storage for energy storage; authors of this article do not men- question.
• Leveraging passive and active tion which manufacturer’s product Finally, CARB has two standards:
building envelopes for load balanc- they tested or the level of ozone the a one-hour average of 0.09 ppm
ing; device generates. (90 ppb) and an annual average of
• Developing building controls Second, the authors do not state 0.07 ppm (70 ppb). The ozone levels
strategies that are grid friendly; whether they collected data for reported during all test conditions
• Applying smart grid protocols to ozone, relative humidity, tem- are below these levels (maximum of
building design and operation; perature, VOCs, aldehydes, and 34.8 ppb and minimum of 15 ppb).
• Considering cybersecurity in acetone from the outdoor air dur- However, the authors left readers
building design and operation; and ing the testing. For this reason, it is with the impression that the device
• Grid-friendly applications for impossible to determine whether had created unacceptable levels of
existing buildings. outdoor pollutant sources active ozone in the space.
The next steps are to further during the testing time period Having implemented bipolar
define and prioritize both the could have impacted the results. ionization in multiple facilities
research and the application tools Third, technology exists that throughout my career and having
in the next few months. The results would allow for counting of ion been involved in pre- and post-
of this effort will be published in levels in the space. Manufacturers installation IAQ testing, I can attest
an issue of the ASHRAE Journal. The of these devices typically will indi- to the effectiveness of bipolar ion-
analysis will also be shared with cate what the ion level needs to be ization when properly designed
the ASHRAE Board of Directors and to have a meaningful impact on and implemented. In my opinion,
the Research Advisory Committee contaminants. Ion levels were not ASHRAE and the authors have
as they consider their respective measured before or during the test, done a disservice by reporting on a
strategic plans, DOE, and leading in the space or outdoors, and the poorly designed and executed test.
national labs such as NREL. authors appear to have assumed There are multiple manufactur-
the corona device tested was creat- ers and industry experts who could
Andrew Walker, Ph.D., P.E., is senior research fellow,
National Renewable Energy Lab. Hugh Crowther, P.Eng., ing a level of ions that could impact have assisted and supported the
is vice president engineering at Swegon North America. the contaminants being monitored. authors in their pursuit of trying to

LETTERS
understand this type of technology of ozone are very low and daytime well-known to form during these
and the meaningful benefits it can levels may increase when ozone is processes.
provide. formed by sunlight, but Figure 1 Mr. Guiles refers to the California
Ellis G. Guiles, P.E., Member ASHRAE, Wayne, Pa. shows the concentration of indoor Air Resources Board (CARB)
ozone rose during the nighttime Ambient Air Quality Standards for
The Authors Respond period when the corona discharge ozone, which is an outdoor air stan-
We thank Mr. Guiles for his com- was turned on. This study was inter- dard, not an indoor air standard.
ments. Our article describes a nally controlled so that we compared The more applicable CARB regula-
method of measuring the changes in the IAQ when the air cleaner was tions, those for ozone emissions for
indoor air quality caused by corona operating against conditions when it portable indoor air cleaning devices,
discharge. The study was designed was turned off. Table 1 and Figure 1 were not relevant to our evaluation
and executed in collaboration clearly show that indoor air con- of the corona discharge air cleaner.
with the manufacturer of the air tamination increased when the air The vendor claimed their system
cleaner. New York State Education cleaner was operating compared to would satisfy the requirements for
Department (NYSED) requested when it was turned off. the Exception in Mechanical Code
the study and New York State Mr. Guiles suggests that ion lev- 403.2. No numerical standards
Department of Health (NYSDOH) els should have been monitored to for any specific air contaminant
executed the air monitoring, sam- validate the operation of the corona apply in the Exception. Our study
pling and analysis of the indoor air discharge system. The manufacturer demonstrated that indoor air con-
quality. The vendor and manufac- and vendor were engaged through- taminants increase when the corona
turer installed the corona discharge out this study and at no time did discharge is operating in the ventila-
air cleaner in the classroom unit they suggest their air cleaner was tion system. NYSED used this data to
ventilator and made all the adjust- faulty, nor did they recommend respond to the vendor’s claims. This
ments for each phase of the study. measuring the ion levels. air cleaner system, installed and
Mr. Guiles argues the configura- However, if ion levels were ele- operated by the manufacturer in a
tion of the corona discharge affects vated when the corona discharge classroom, does not comply with the
the emission of ozone. Ozone is was operating that would have been requirements of Mechanical Code
one of the reactive oxygen species interpreted as another increase in 403.2.
(ROS) that may be formed by corona the indoor air contamination. Finally, Mr. Guiles attests “to the
discharge in air; other ROS include We are dismayed by Mr. Guiles’ effectiveness of bipolar ioniza-
hydroxyl radical and superoxide assertions that: 1) corona discharge tion when properly designed and
anion. The relative proportions of doesn’t create any contaminants implemented,” but did not share
the different ROS may be varied by other than ozone, and 2) there are the IAQ parameters upon which this
changing the configuration of the no mechanisms for the forma- experience is based. In broad terms,
corona discharge, but we leave it tion of indoor air contaminants. we concur that properly designed,
to others to demonstrate a corona We cited two papers to provide installed and operated corona dis-
discharge that won’t form any ROS readers with excellent summaries charge air cleaners may be appro-
in air. As noted in our article, the of corona discharge and indoor priate in some settings. This study
manufacturer’s marketing literature ozone chemistry (Goldman at al. describes a method for evaluating
stated this system does not form 1985 and Weschler 2000). Those air cleaning systems when they are
ozone. two papers reference some of the installed in ventilation systems to
Mr. Guiles questions whether the many scientific and technical pub- establish whether they meet indoor
outdoor air conditions influenced lications that describe in detail air quality requirements for specific
the indoor air quality (IAQ). corona discharge and reactions in settings, in this case a school.
There are no significant sources of indoor air. This column described
Todd Crawford, Patricia Fritz, Member ASHRAE, and
aldehydes or acetone in this subur- the methods that we designed to Thomas Wainman, New York State Department of Health,
ban location. Winter concentrations measure the contaminants that are Albany, N.Y.

MEETINGS AND SHOWS FULL CALENDAR: WWW.ASHRAE.ORG/CALENDAR
JUNE SMACNA Annual Convention, Oct. 20–23, Aus-

AIA Conference on Architecture, June tin, Texas. Contact the Sheet Metal & Air Condi-
CALLS FOR PAPERS
6–8, Las Vegas. Contact the American In- tioning Contractors’ National Association at 703- ASHRAE JOURNAL
stitute of Architects at (800)-242-3837, 803-2980, info@smacna.org or www.smacna.org/ ASHRAE Journal seeks applications ar-
register@conferenceonarchitecture.com or annualconvention. ticles of 3,000 or fewer words. Submis-
www.conferenceonarchitecture.com.
I2SL Annual Conference, Oct. 20–24, Denver. sions are subject to peer reviews and
EE Global, June 12, Washington, D.C. Contact Su- Contact the International Institute for Sustain- cannot have been published previously.
sanna Silvan, manager of events and executive of- able Laboratories at 703-841-5484, info@i2sl.org or
fice, at 202-530-2236, ssilvan@ase.org or www. Submit abstracts before sending articles
www.i2sl.org/conference/2019/index.html.
eeglobalforum.org. to Jay Scott, Editor, at jayscott@ashrae.
ASPE Technical Symposium, Oct. 24–27, Pitts- org.
BOMA International Conference & Expo, June burgh, Pa. Contact the American Society of Plumb-
22–25, Salt Lake City. Contact the Building Own- ing Engineers at 847-296-0002, info@aspe.org or SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
ers and Managers Association at 202-408-2662, www.aspe.org. FOR THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
meetings@boma.org or www.bomaconvention.org.
CTBUH 2019, Oct. 28–Nov 2, Chicago. Contact the ASHRAE’s Science and Technology for the Built
ASHRAE Annual Conference, June 22–26, Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat at 312- Environment seeks papers on original, com-
Kansas City, Mo. Contact ASHRAE at 800-527- 283-5759, info@ctbuh.com or https://ctbuh2019. pleted research not previously published.
4723, meetings@ashrae.org or www.ashrae.org/ com.
kansascity. Papers must discuss how the research con-
NOVEMBER tributes to technology. Papers should be
JULY ABX 2019, Nov. 6–7, Boston. Contact organizers at about 6,000 words. Abstracts and papers
ASHE Annual Conference and Technical Exhi- 972-536-6444, info@abexpo.com or www.abexpo. should be submitted on Manuscript Cen-
bition, July 14–17, Baltimore. Contact the Ameri- com. tral at www.ashrae.org/manuscriptcentral.
can Society for Healthcare Engineering at 312-422-
3800, ashe@aha.org or www.ashe.org/annual. Greenbuild, Nov. 20–22, Atlanta. Contact organiz- Contact Reinhard Radermacher, Ph.D.,
ers at 866-815-9824, info@greenbuildexpo.com or Editor, at raderm@umd.edu.
AUGUST www.greenbuildexpo.com.
SOLAR 2019, Aug. 5–9, Minneapolis. Contact the
ASHRAE CONFERENCE PAPERS
American Solar Energy Society at 303-443-3130, DECEMBER For the 2020 Annual Conference in Aus-
info@ases.org or www.ases.org/conference. HARDI Annual Conference, Dec. 7–10, New Or- tin, Conference Paper abstracts, full
leans. Contact the Heating Air-conditioning & Re- Technical Papers and paper session re-
The 25th IIR International Congress of Refrigera- frigeration Distributors International at 614-345-
tion, Aug. 24–30, Montreal, QC, Canada. Endorsed 4328, hardimail@hardinet.org or www.hardinet. quests are due August 19, 2019. For more
by ASHRAE. Contact organizers at 450-550-3488 org. information, contact tcox@ashrae.org or
ext. 114, info@icr2019.org or http://icr2019.org. tel: 678-539-1137.
Buildings XIV International Conference, Dec.
HRAI Annual Meeting & Conference, Aug. 25–27, 9–12, Clearwater Beach, Fla. Co-organized by
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Contact the Heat- ASHRAE and ORNL. Contact ASHRAE at 800-527- SEPTEMBER
ing, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Institute 4723, meetings@ashrae.org or www.ashrae.org/ Building Simulation 2019, Sept. 2–4, Rome, Italy.
of Canada at 1-800-267-2231, hraimail@hrai.ca or buildingsxiv. Endorsed by ASHRAE. Contact organizers at +39 06
www.hrai.ca/agm-2019. 39725540, secretariat@buildingsimulation2019.org
or http://buildingsimulation2019.org.
SEPTEMBER 2020
NAFA Annual Convention, Sept. 11–13, Montreal, FEBRUARY OCTOBER
Quebec, Canada. Contact the National Air Filtration ASHRAE Winter Conference, Feb. 1–5, Orlando, European Heat Pump Summit, Oct. 22–23,
Association at 608-310-7865, nafa@nafahq.org or Fla. Contact ASHRAE at 800-527-4723, meetings@ Nuremberg, Germany. Contact Nürnberg-
www.nafahq.org. ashrae.org or www.ashrae.org/orlando. Messe GmbH at +49 9 11 86 06-49 06 or www.
ASHRAE Building Performance Analysis Confer- hp-summit.de/en.
AHR Expo, Feb. 3–5, Orlando, Fla. Cosponsored
ence, Sept. 25–27, Denver. Contact ASHRAE at 800- FILTECH 2019, Oct. 22–24, Cologne, Germany.
by ASHRAE. Contact the International Exposition
527-4723, meetings@ashrae.org or www.ashrae. Contact organizers at 49 (0)2132 93 57 60, info@
Company at 203-221-9232, info@ahrexpo.com or
org/buildperform2019. filtech.de or www.filtech.de.
www.ahrexpo.com.
OCTOBER SAIE BARI, Bari, Italy. Oct. 24–26, Bologna,
AMCA Annual Meeting, Oct. 2–6, Maui, Hawaii. MARCH Italy. Contact organizers at 02-332039460, info@
Contact the Air Movement and Control Associa- CMPX 2020, March 25–27, Toronto. Contact or- saiebari.it or www.saiebari.it/en.
tion at 847-394-0150, communications@amca.org ganizers at 416-444-5225, cmpx@salshow.com or
www.cmpxshow.com.
DECEMBER
or http://www.amca.org/news/60thannualmeeting. 50th International HVAC&R Congress and Exhi-
php. bition, Dec. 4–6, Belgrade, Serbia. Contact orga-
SEPTEMBER
RETA Conference, Oct. 8–11, Las Vegas. Contact AHR Expo-Mexico, Sept. 22–24, Monter- nizers at 381 11 3230 041, office@smeits.rs or http://
the Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians As- rey, Mexico. Cosponsored by ASHRAE. Con- kgh-kongres.rs.
sociation at 541-497-2955, info@reta.com or www. tact the International Exposition Company at
reta.com. 203-221-9232, info@ahrexpomexico.com or 2020
www.ahrexpomexico.com/en/.
ACEEE National Conference on Energy Efficiency MAY
as a Resource. Oct. 15–17, Minneapolis. Contact the IEA Heat Pump Conference, May 11–14, Jeju Is-
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Econo- OUTSIDE NORTH AMERICA land, South Korea. Contact Phetradico Communi-
my (ACEEE) at 202-507-4000 or http://aceee.org/ cation and Publishing at info@heatpumpsnl.com or
conferences/2019/eer.
AUGUST http://hpc2020.org.
5th International HVAC/R Congress, Aug.
IFMA World Workplace, Oct. 16–18, Phoenix. Con- 28–30, Barranquilla, Colombia. Endorsed by OCTOBER
tact the International Facility Management Asso- ASHRAE. Contact organizers at +57 318 7349026, Chillventa, Oct. 13–15, Nuremberg, Germa-
ciation at 713-623-4362, events@ifma.org or http:// direcciontecnica@acaire.org or https://acaire.org/ ny. Contact organizers at +49 9 11 86 06-49 06 or
worldworkplace.ifma.org. congreso. https://www.chillventa.de/en.

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2020
ORANGE COUNTY CONVENTION CENTER
Orlando FEBRUARY 3-5
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TECHNICAL FEATURE
Remote Fire and Smoke

Damper Testing Methods
BY LARRY FELKER, LIFE MEMBER ASHRAE
Building codes require periodic testing of life-safety dampers. Actuated damp-

ers, such as smoke and combination fire and smoke, may be remote tested per the
2019 versions of the NFPA 801 and NFPA 1052 standards, which are referenced in the
International Building Code (IBC)3 and International Fire Code (IFC).4 The initial
remote inspection shall include a visual inspection confirming that the position indi-
cation method accurately reflects the full open and full closed positions.
Among the advantages of remote testing are code Second, those required in Chapter 9, Fire Protection
compliance before any intervention by the fire official, and Life Safety Systems, for engineered smoke control
cost avoidance, no ceiling membrane disturbance, and systems. They are referred to as “smoke control system
ability to test inaccessible dampers. These equate to an dampers.”
overall safety increase without undue cost increase.
A small number of single- and multi-blade fire damp- Code Required Testing Frequency
ers are actuated. The same methods discussed below Table 15 shows the intervals at which various types of
for combination fire and smoke can be used for these. life-safety dampers must be tested.
They are not discussed here as a separate subject. In
most cases, only smoke and combination fire and smoke Typical Actuated Life-Safety Dampers and Control Methods
dampers are actuated. Ceiling radiation and most fire Variations exist in many situations; however, the fol-
dampers must be manually inspected and tested. lowing examples exemplify the majority of cases.
Actuated dampers are applied in two general building Figure 1 shows the typical wiring for a Chapter 7 smoke
applications. First, those required to meet Chapter 7 of damper. As shown, the smoke detector can also be wired
the IBC, Fire and Smoke Protection Features, require- to a fire alarm system—upon detection of smoke, the
ments for structural fire resistance. These are referred detector opens its contacts and removes power to the
to as “containment” or “compartmentation” dampers. damper actuator, closing the damper.
Larry Felker is product manager fire & smoke actuators for Belimo Americas. He is the co-author of ASHRAE’s Dampers and Airflow Control.

TECHNICAL FEATURE
TABLE 1 Periodic testing requirements. FIGURE 1 Containment smoke damper wiring.

DEDICATED NON-DEDICATED
Smoke Damper
Commissioning Commissioning
Semi-Annually Annually Duct Smoke Detector or Relay
CHAPTER 9 Contact from an Area Smoke
Mechanical Smoke Removal Dampers and Auxiliary Fire Extinguishing Equipment (CO2) Detection System
Damper
Commissioning
Annually
120 or N or COM
Fire Detection and Smoke Control Systems 24V ac/dc
DEDICATED NON-DEDICATED a
Weekly Self-Test Not Required Actuator
aSubject to the Exception in 909.12.1 of both IBC and IFC
To Alarm System
Figure 2 shows the typical wiring for a combination
fire and smoke Chapter 7 containment damper. For a FIGURE 2 Containment combination fire and smoke damper wiring.
more complete description of the types of life-safety
dampers see the three-part series “Basic Fire and Smoke Combination Fire and Smoke Damper
Dampers”6 in the ICC Building Safety Journal. If smoke Smoke Detector or
Damper
is detected, power to the actuator is removed and the Relay Contact
damper springs closed. This damper also contains a heat Actuator
165¡F
responsive device (normally a bi-metal, not a fusible 120 or 24V N or COM
link) that is factory supplied at a temperature of 165°F
to 350°F (74°C to 177°C). If the duct temperature rises
High Limit
above the damper’s heat responsive device setpoint the (Primary Heat Sensitive Device)
contact opens and removes power to the actuator thus To Alarm System
closing the damper.
Visual inspection is the only means of notating the
damper cycling for an inspection. be experienced due to a fire in a space. However, 250°F
Figure 3 shows the wiring details of a smoke damper in (121°C) indicates that the fire is near the barrier wall and
a typical Chapter 9 application. In this case we see the the damper must close to prevent fire jumping the bar-
damper is connected to the fire fighters’ smoke control rier. 350°F (177°C) is sometimes specified to give the fire
system (FSCS) panel. In case of an event, the incident fighters longer to remove smoke if the damper has been
commander can override the dampers position or leave overridden open. Code is 250°F (121°C).
it in automatic. The position of the damper—open or
closed—is indicated by lights in the control panel. The Remote Damper Testing
damper can be factory supplied with open or closed Only actuated dampers can be remotely tested for
position switches (via actuator auxiliary switches or inspection if they incorporate factory supplied posi-
damper blade switches) to supply a signal to the control tion indication. Therefore, ceiling dampers and curtain
panel indicating the dampers position. fire dampers using a fusible link must still be manually
Figure 4 shows a re-openable combination fire and and visually tested. If actuated, single- and multi-blade
smoke damper. In this case there is a secondary heat fire dampers could be remote tested using the methods
responsive device (usually 250°F or 350°F [121°C or shown below.
177°C]) present. The primary heat responsive device Dampers installed per Chapter 9 requirements lend
(usually 165°F or 212°F [74°C or 100°C]) can be bypassed themselves to remote testing with no additional wiring.
at the FSCS panel until the damper experiences the Remote operation and position indication are included
secondary heat responsive device temperature. At this initially and can be used for periodic testing. At times
point, the power will be removed from the actuator, they are automatically tested in the weekly smoke
closing the damper. It is assumed that 165°F (74°C) will control system equipment tests. When inspection and

TECHNICAL FEATURE
testing could interfere with normal functions, such as FIGURE 3 Smoke control system—smoke damper.
when fans must be off to avoid duct damage and safety
Re-Openable Smoke Damper
concerns, step-by-step manual intervention allows test-
Area Smoke
ing. Both fire alarm and building automation system Detectors
companies have UL 864 UUKL7 listed panels. Central Damper
connection to either can be used for remote testing
Smoke
depending on local codes. Typically, a networked system, Relay
rather than the hard-wired methods shown in Figures 3
and 4 would be used. The typical combination damper
wired to a network module is shown in Figure 5. Actuator
A very large system may have as many panels as shown Fire Fighters Smoke Control Panel
and an additional workstation that connects to both the Damper
building automation and the fire alarm and smoke con- Detail Smoke
trol panels. Small systems may have only one panel with Relay
N
the fire alarm panel doing many smoke control func- FSCS Panel
tions as well as containing the FSCS panel overrides and Auto
Close Actuator
position indication. Hot
Open
Since the controls must be installed for smoke control, Switches
Hot
there is no extra cost in equipment for remote testing Open
with dampers installed for Chapter 9 smoke control sys- N
tems. Not all systems use a digital graphics display. Most Closed
Damper N
FIGURE 4 Smoke control system—re-openable combination fire and smoke damper.
Re-Openable Combination Damper
Damper
Heat Responsive Devices
Primary Secondary
Smoke Control Panel Smoke Relay 165°F 250°F
COM
Auto
Close Actuator
Hot
Open
Damper Open
Open
COM
Closed Damper Closed
Hot
FSCS Panel
commonly a separate indication and override panel is

used.
Chapter 7 containment dampers do not require cen-
tral connections thus remote testing would require
additional wiring. A trade-off exists between the extra
initial cost and the periodic testing cost. Some building
owners may desire more frequent testing to maintain

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TECHNICAL FEATURE
a higher level of safety. FIGURE 5 Networked fire and smoke control system architecture.
Life-safety dampers in
many buildings do not Damper and Damper Mounted Controls
have periodic testing per- Network Smoke
Primary Secondary
Connection Detection, etc. Input-Output Actuator
formed. Remote testing Sensors, etc. Module Sensor Sensor
165°F 250°F
can greatly increase the FSCS Graphic Panel COM
percentage of dampers Damper X
to be periodically tested. Open Smoke Control
System Panel
Where dampers are hid- Auto Sensors are
Manually Reset
Close
den or difficult to access Position Indication Status Switches
Open
remote testing offers the Damper Open
benefits of ensuring test- Fire Alarm Panel
Closed
ing as well as reducing
Damper Closed
the cost of that periodic Fault
Sensors, etc.
Hot
testing—for example in
hospitals, when ceiling
containment must be maintained or lifts required to FIGURE 6 Remote testing panel hard wired to combination fire and smoke damper.
access the damper. (Photos courtesy Pottorff)
Figure 6 shows a cost-effective method of remote testing Local Test Switch and Position Indication
containment dampers. While the damper itself is usu-
ally in a duct and requires penetrating both the ceiling Smoke Relay 165°F
and duct for visual access, a local momentary override COM
switch and position indication light panel can be uti- Test Switch
lized. The switch assembly is available from the damper Hot Actuator
manufacturer and should be ordered with the damper. Position Indication
The assembly can be key switch protected from tamper- Status Switches
ing and/or located where convenient for maintenance Hot
Open
but out of public access. COM
Electrical power drives the damper open via the Closed Combination Fire and
actuator; the Open light is illuminated. The test switch Smoke Damper
breaks the power causing the actuator to spring closed;
the Open light goes off and when the damper closes,
the Closed light illuminates. Releasing the test switch
returns the damper to the open position and the lights
reverse. A smoke damper would use the same method
and the wiring would be the same except there would be
no 165°F (74°C) primary heat responsive device.
The use of a central controller for testing has wiring
similar to that shown in Figures 5 and 7. Momentary Keyed
Summary Chapter 7 will require additional controls and wiring to

Remote testing of life-safety dampers is permitted in allow remote testing.
the 2019 NFPA standards that regulate actuated fire and The most common existing methods for actuated con-
smoke dampers. Existing controls applied to smoke control of smoke and combination fire and smoke dampers
trol system dampers installed per IBC and IFC Chapter 9 are described.
already provide methods for remote testing. However, Damper open and closed position verification upon
containment dampers installed per IBC and IFC command is the proof required. Two methods for

TECHNICAL FEATURE
remote testing are discussed. FIGURE 7 Remote testing using building automation. (The visual display is often shown on the workstationÕs screen.)
One, a local test switch with
position indication lights can Building Automation Panel Used for Damper Testing
Damper N
be installed. Or two, use of the
fire alarm or building automa- 120V ac or Actuator
Visual Display 24V ac/dc
tion system to remote test. 165°F
Damper N N or COM
Sensors, etc.
References Auto
1. NFPA 80-2019, Standard Test
for Fire Doors and Other Opening Open Building
Protectives. National Fire Protection Automation Panel
Association. Position Indication
Closed Damper Open
2. NFPA 105-2019, Standard for the
Installation of Smoke Door Assemblies and Fault
Network
Other Opening Protectives, ibid. Connection
3. ICC. 2018. International Hot Damper Closed
Building Code. International Code
Council, Inc. www.iccsafe.com.
4. International Fire Code 2018.
ibid. 7. UL 864 Control Units and Accessories for Fire Alarm Systems,
5. Chart taken from Felker, L. 2014. “Codes and damper testing.” 2003 with revisions dated Feb. 17, 2010, Underwriters Laboratories,
ASHRAE Journal 56(10). UL, Northbrook, Illinois 60062-2096, www.ul.org UUKL is the
6. Building Safety Journal, Dec 2016, Feb 2017, April 2017. ICC, category listing for the smoke control requirements contained
op.cit. within UL 864.
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The U.S. Air Force’s Approach to HVAC Education
Developing Field
Competence
BY MILES RYAN, P.E., ASSOCIATE MEMBER ASHRAE; JOSHUA DILL, P.E., ASSOCIATE MEMBER ASHRAE
An engineer who is as comfortable in the field as they are in the office is someone
you want on your team, especially if your team operates and maintains facilities.
Developing this competence can take years of experience, but appropriately focused
training early in one’s career can provide junior engineers an extremely valuable head
start. This is especially critical in the U.S. Air Force due to the high-turnover nature
of our personnel system and the typical project procurement methods implemented.
Engineers in the Air Force operate and maintain over 47,000 facilities across the globe
and field competence is critical to ensure the effective and efficient operation of all
those building systems. With these facilities spread across 183 locations, providing
service-wide professional development is particularly challenging. Many readers are,
in some capacity, involved in providing HVAC education. The intent of this article is
to demonstrate some of the innovative techniques used at the Air Force Institute of
Technology’s Civil Engineer School to kick start that path toward field competence.
The Students Military engineers are quite mobile, typically moving to

The professional community within the Air Force a new duty location every few years. Military engineers’
entrusted to maintain and operate its facilities are the frequent moves are intended to develop their breadth of
Civil Engineers. They consist of both military and civil- experience, to prepare them to someday lead a squad-
ian personnel, and at times are augmented by contrac- ron or even larger unit. While civilian engineers do not
tors embedded within a base’s Civil Engineer Squadron. move as frequently as their military counterparts, many
Miles Ryan, P.E., is a commissioning engineer at Questions & Solutions Engineering in Chaska, Minn. As a captain in the Air Force Reserves, he serves as a mechanical systems
instructor at the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Capt. Joshua Dill, P.E., is the deputy base civil engineer at Portland Air National
Guard Base, Portland, Ore., and is a former mechanical systems instructor at AFIT.

SOLVING PROBLEMS
often depart after a few years of experience TABLE 1 Current mechanical systems course offerings.
for the private sector or government posi-
tions in more desirable locations. Of those COURSE NUMBER COURSE TITLE TARGET AUDIENCE DURATION DELIVERY METHOD
civilians that make the Air Force a career, the WENG 460 Introduction to Mechanical 4 weeks Distance Learning
high performers often rise quickly through Mechanical Systems Engineers (On-Demand)
Energy Managers
the ranks into more managerial positions. The
HVAC Technicians
combination of these factors creates a revolv-
Controls Technicians
ing door of talent where the engineers relied
on the most typically have less than four years WENG 560 Fundamentals of HVAC Mechanical 6 weeks Distance Learning
Design and Analysis Engineers (On-Demand/Live)
of experience.
Despite their limited experience, these WENG 561 Applications of HVAC Mechanical 1 week In Residence
Design and Analysis Engineers
junior engineers are given significant respon- (Capstone)
sibility. They often oversee several simultane-
ous projects totaling millions of dollars. They WENG 563 HVAC Control Systems Mechanical 5 weeks Distance Learning
Engineers (On-Demand)
help define the owner’s project requirements Energy Managers
and ensure those requirements are adhered HVAC Technicians
to throughout the often-outsourced design Controls Technicians
process. They will be the continuity bridge
between design and construction, as design-bid-build occurred in recent years. Table 1 shows the current course
is still the standard project delivery method for large offerings in the mechanical program. The only in-resi-
facility sustainment, restoration and modernization dence course is WENG 561: Applications of HVAC Design
projects. It is these junior engineers who provide the and Analysis. The remaining courses are distance learn-
contracting officer the technical review and approval/ ing, which use a variety of technologies to improve their
rejection recommendation on construction submittals, effectiveness. Several of those technologies are detailed
as the Air Force rarely pays for such services from the in the article.
engineer-of-record. They will be the liaison between the WENG 460, WENG 563 and portions of WENG 560
construction and occupancy phases of a project, since have their content delivered through pre-recorded, on-
it is their squadron who acquires the responsibility of demand lessons. This provides flexibility to the instruc-
operating and maintaining the facility after the project tors who are balancing other teaching and consulting
ends. Placing this much responsibility on such junior commitments, deployments and instructor turnover
engineers is, admittedly, not a recipe for guaranteed (teaching assignments for military instructors are
success. Therefore, it is vital these engineers are given typically only three years in duration). It also frees up
all the tools available to foster their development and instructors’ time for more impactful interactions with
ensure their success. students, whether through phone calls, online discus-
sion boards or live help sessions. However, there are
The Program challenges to these pre-recorded lessons, primarily in
The Civil Engineer School’s mission is to support the keeping the content up-to-date.
Civil Engineers operating air bases throughout the Though the science governing mechanical systems
world. Over 75 different continuing education courses doesn’t change, Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) docu-
are taught to over 10,000 students each year on a wide ments, the codes and standards those UFCs reference,
range of topics. The remainder of this article will discuss and Air Force policies are constantly changing. Thus,
the suite of courses that provide HVAC education. recent shifts in the online platforms used for lesson
Possibly the greatest obstacle in reaching students is delivery primarily have been to allow for real-time
that they reside at air bases across the globe. Tightening changes to the content. If it is realized half-way through
budgets limit the amount of opportunities to fly students the course that a lesson contains out-of-date informa-
to the school to attend in-residence courses. Thus, a shift tion, the platforms now used allow for instructors to
to more distance learning course delivery methods has make edits and push updates to the versions being

SOLVING PROBLEMS
viewed by students in a matter of minutes. For example,

PHOTO 1 AFIT’s broadcast studios allow for live streaming instruction.
the Air Force prohibition on variable refrigerant flow
systems in January 2017 came right in the middle of an
offering of WENG 563, which has a lesson on the tech-
nology.1 Instructors were able to quickly make edits and
ensure all students received the most current guidance
governing the use of that technology. Previously, the
editing process was so laborious it was often pushed off
until the end of the course offering (i.e., after all the stu-
dents received incorrect information). The streamlined
PHOTO: MIKE SHEARER

editing process has further freed up instructors for more
valuable interactions with the students.
Another major undertaking in recent years has been
automating the grading process for these distance learn-
ing courses. One criticism of this approach is it limits the models discussed later in this article, to help improve
instructor’s ability to assess how well the students are student comprehension. A team of broadcasting profes-
comprehending the material. For example, short answer sionals is present to assist the instructors in maximizing
test questions provide greater insight into student com- the effectiveness of the technologies incorporated.
prehension of a topic than multiple choice questions.
However, automated grading provides instructors sub- Mechanical Room Familiarization
stantially more time for teacher-to-student interactions, One theme carried throughout the three more
and we find such interactions to actually be more effec- advanced courses is building student confidence in
tive in gauging student comprehension. navigating a mechanical room. Entering such a space
Students experience increased instructor interaction can be intimidating for junior engineers, especially if
in a variety of ways. First, each distance learning course they don’t have a mentor on site to assist. We strive for
offering has its own online discussion forum. Pre- our students to gain confidence in the field and to be
canned questions are posed to students daily (another hands-on with the systems they are entrusted to main-
fully automated process) to get a feel for their level of tain. Gaining this familiarity is deemed so important
understanding of the material they have been exposed that it cannot afford to be put off until the single in-
to. The ensuing conversations not only allow for teacher- residence course we offer, WENG 561. Hence, a variety
to-student learning, but student-to-student learning of technologies are used to incorporate mechanical
and networking as well. room familiarity into the distance learning course
Second, live help sessions are incorporated into these offerings as well.
courses through several delivery methods. Virtual con- We start by embedding videos from within mechani-
ferencing, which allows for two-way audio and visual cal rooms into the on-demand lessons in WENG 563:
(i.e., screen sharing), has been an effective platform to HVAC Control Systems and WENG 560: Fundamentals
revisit some of the more difficult concepts discussed of HVAC Design and Analysis. Like most HVAC educa-
in the pre-recorded lessons. Help sessions are also tion, there are a lot of schematics used in presenting
delivered through live broadcasts from one of The Civil the lesson material, but supplemental videos show-
Engineer School’s two broadcast studios (Photo 1). These ing what those schematic components physically look
broadcasts can be streamed via satellite (effective for like has been extremely valuable. For example, WENG
students in austere locations with limited internet con- 560’s lesson on primary equipment has embedded
nectivity) or directly to individual students’ desktops. videos distinguishing between air-cooled and water-
Depending on the streaming method the students cooled chillers, and how these are connected to the
choose, they can ask live questions audibly or through larger HVAC system. More nuanced discussions are
text. The green screens are compatible with many addi- supported by these embedded videos as well. Such an
tional technologies, such as the virtual mechanical room example comes from one of the more advanced lessons

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in WENG 563 on Low DT FIGURE 1 Schematics detailing incorrect/correct piping arrangements.

Syndrome. The lesson dis-
Parallel Flow Arrangement Counter Flow Arrangement
cusses the common mistake
of piping-in coils in a par- Chilled Water Coil Chilled Water Coil
allel-flow arrangement as
Airflow
opposed to the more effec- T Airflow T
tive counter-flow arrange-
ment.2 That statement alone Controller Controller
may trip students up, so it
is supplemented with some Chilled Water Chilled Water Chilled Water Chilled Water
Supply Return
schematics (Figure 1) fol- Incorrect
Return
Correct
Supply
lowed by an embedded video
showing a correctly piped-in
cooling coil next to an incorrectly piped-in preheat coil PHOTO 2 Embedded video showing how to identify correct/incorrect piping of coils.
on the same air-handling unit (AHU) (Photo 2).
Many of the lessons in HVAC Control Systems discuss
common sequences of operation for HVAC systems at
length, and we like to show students how to quickly
identify when system deficiencies (either through incor-
rect installation or operation) are degrading system per-
formance. It is difficult to find a mechanical room read-
ily available with all the deficiencies being discussed to
improve student comprehension. The Air Force Institute
of Technology (AFIT) uses 3D computer models of vari-
ous mechanical rooms and equipment for just that pur-
pose (Figure 2).3 These models are editable and provide
instructors the flexibility to input select deficiencies
when needed to supplement a given lesson.
Since facility mechanical systems
typically span the entire facility’s FIGURE 2 Editable 3D computer model of a mechanical room.3
footprint, we needed a technology to
effectively show distance-learning
students how to go about locating
the components of a mechanical
system throughout a facility and
gain a better understanding of how
such systems are configured. To
do this, AFIT purchased a 3D cam-
era that allows for the creation of
self-guided, virtual reality models
of building mechanical systems
(Photo 3). This technology is often seen in the real estate seeing. Similarly, videos can be embedded within the
industry. Students access these models online, where models as well, allowing instructors to join the students
they work through various mechanical spaces that have at select pieces of equipment to provide more thorough
been captured to gain familiarization. Embedded text explanations. The models contain hot spots, which
boxes located on various devices within the virtual allow student to navigate through a wall or ceiling where
spaces, allow students to read more about what they are piping or duct penetrations exist. Students are then

SOLVING PROBLEMS
PHOTO 3 Virtual reality models of mechanical spaces allow students to navigate PHOTO 4 Foresight during design of the school house allows the mechanical room
entire mechanical building systems from their desks. to be an extension of the classroom.
PHOTO: KATY LEWIS

transported to the location the piping or duct is headed.
Through use of this feature, one homework assign-
ment in WENG 560 requires students to trace, and then
sketch a schematic of an entire chilled water system for adjustments have been made in recent years. The
a 54,000 ft2 (5017 m2) facility. Working through this real- courses are titled “design and analysis”, thus the course
world task in a non-threatening, virtual platform forces has shifted greater emphasis to the analyzing of HVAC
students to apply their education rather than passively systems. The principles used for both design and
absorb it. analysis of these systems are the same. Accordingly,
Mechanical room familiarization is further expanded we structure our lessons to teach the principles with
when students arrive on campus for WENG 561. Previous design examples, followed by student application
instructors, during the design of our school house in the of those principles through an analysis exercise. For
early 1990s, had the foresight to locate the mechanical example, in WENG 561 several lessons are dedicated to
classroom adjacent to a mechanical room. Large win- the design of a single-duct variable air volume (VAV)
dows in the wall separating the spaces and the ease of reheat systems. One lesson walks through the selec-
access between them allow for a didactic experience by tion process for a VAV box with hydronic reheat coil.
making the mechanical room an extension of the class- As stated before, students would rarely perform such
room (Photo 4). a task. Accordingly, the follow-on in-class exercise has
Students are taken on numerous tours throughout students perform a submittal review exercise in which
the many mechanical spaces across campus during the they are provided several submittal packages, are
week-long WENG 561 course. Most tours our guided, required to navigate provided design documents and
but students are provided opportunities to explore for then articulate their reasoning for approving or deny-
themselves. Several of the mechanical spaces have been ing the package. As mentioned earlier, recommenda-
outfitted with numerous placards to make these self- tion for submittal approval/rejection is well within
guided tours more effective. their responsibilities.
This application-based learning is incorporated
Applications Based Learning elsewhere. Here are several notable examples from
The historical complaint from students about the WENG 561 that have been received well by students.
continued teaching of our design courses (WENG 560 1. One lesson discusses the concept of pump curves,
and 561) is that we rarely perform in-house designs system curves, and operating points. After a review of
in the Air Force. The common rebuttal from instruc- these concepts, students are given the opportunity to
tors has been that part of an Air Force mechanical experiment with a pump trainer. The trainer consists
engineer’s job is to evaluate designs completed by of a constant speed pump serving a single loop piping
others, and the process of effective evaluation exhib- system with a calibrated balancing valve and a manual
its a higher level of learning than what it takes to ball valve that can be used to throttle the pump. The
design.4 To appease student concerns however, some students take differential pressure readings across

SOLVING PROBLEMS
the pump and estimate flow from the pump curve. PHOTO 5 The building automation trainer allows for greater comprehension of
They then compare that to an estimate generated from common sequences of operation.
measuring differential pressure across the calibrated
balancing valve. They can adjust the position of the ball
valve to throttle the pump to gain a better understand-
ing of changing system curves and the concept of “rid-
ing the pump curve.”
2. The lesson which discusses air system balancing
is followed by students assembling an airflow capture
hood, taking airflow measurements across the class-
room’s diffusers, and comparing those values to as-
builts of the space.
3. The lesson on air-side economizers discusses the
concept of damper and chilled water valve sequencing,
PHOTO: KATY LEWIS

as well as economizer high limits. The students are then
allowed to see this economizer sequencing and disabling
live, through the use of a building automation trainer.
The trainer represents an AHU with an actual modulat- adjust variables such as outdoor air temperature and
ing damper actuator and chilled water valve, along with discharge air temperature setpoint to see how the AHU
other devices, all controlled by a programmable digital responds.
controller (Photo 5). The trainer allows for students to 4. The students are taught how to leverage build-
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SOLVING PROBLEMS
ing automation systems (BAS) to more effectively Conclusion

troubleshoot their systems, a practice underutilized Due to the great responsibility junior engineers in the
in the Air Force. Students are first given a tour of the Air Force are often given, effective training early in their
Industrial Control Shop on Wright-Patterson Air Force careers is essential for their success. Developing their
Base, which monitors and controls over 240 buildings field competence has been the focus in recent adjust-
across the base. The students are then given in-class ments to the mechanical curriculum at AFIT’s Civil
exercises where they are provided scenarios accom- Engineer School. This article sought to detail how AFIT
panied by screen shots of the BAS graphics for an AHU has leveraged technologies readily available to both
and VAV box serving the space in question. They are capture and sustain these engineers’ interest in facility
required to determine the root causes of the perfor- mechanical systems.
mance issues. Homework for that evening consists
of students sifting through trend log data to identify References
system deficiencies that cannot be discerned in real 1. Department of Defense. 2017. UFC 3-410-01: Heating, Ventilating
and Air Conditioning Systems, Change 3.
time, such as sequence of operation insufficiencies,
2. Taylor, S. 2002. “Degrading Chilled Water Plant Delta-T:
which result in frequent freeze stat trips. The home- Causes and Mitigation.” ASHRAE Transactions 108(1).
work also exposes students to potential pitfalls in 3. Sellers, D. Facility Dynamics Engineering. SketchUp Models.
trending, such as aliasing.5 They are provided trend http://www.av8rdas.com/.
data for an unstable chilled water control valve at 4. Bloom, B., M. Englehart, E. Furst, W. Hill,D. Krathwohl. 1956.
Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: The Classification of Educational Goals.
different trend intervals to see how inappropriate Handbook I: Cognitive Domain. London: Longmans, Green and Co.
trending intervals can mask what is really occurring 5. Sellers, D. 2003. “Installation of Data Loggers: ‘Aliasing’ and
in the system. other pre-installation considerations.” HPAC Engineering (1):88–90.
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TECHNICAL FEATURE
Simulation of Efficiency
Improvements to an
Automatic Commercial
Ice Maker
BY HAITHEM MURGHAM, PH.D.; DAVID MYSZKA, PH.D., P.E.; KYAW WYNN, ASSOCIATE MEMBER ASHRAE
Automatic commercial ice makers (ACIM) produce a variety of ice types for use
in food service, food preservation, hotel, and patient care industries. Types of ice
include cubes (approx. 0.5 oz. [14 grams]), nuggets, and flakes. Over 70% of the ACIM
market are units that produce a batch of cube ice at regular intervals (Goetzler et al.,
2009). ACIMs are referred to by their nominal capacity, defined as the weight of ice
produced in a 24-hour period. All commercially available batch-type ACIMs use a
vapor-compressor refrigeration cycle. A freeze mode forms ice by passing water over
an evaporator grid, allowing some of the water to freeze, while the remainder of the
water falls to a sump and is recirculated with a pump. The ice layer gradually grows.
When a cube is fully formed, a harvest mode is initiated. A thin layer of ice is subse-
quently melted, releasing ice into a storage bin. Detailed operation of a batch-type
ACIM is described in the following section.
The U.S. Department of Energy (AHRI Standards, requirements. High-fidelity, engineering simulation
2016) has adopted new energy efficiency standards for models can assist designers in investigating strategies to
automatic commercial ice makers that produce 50 lbs to surpass the new energy regulations.
4000 lbs per day. Starting in 2018, the standard requires The batch-type ice maker operation exhibits entirely
a 10% to 15% reduction as compared to the previous transient behavior, as the operation continually cycles
Haithem Murgham earned a Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from University of Dayton and specializes in simulation of HVAC systems. David Myszka is a faculty member
at the University of Dayton whose research focuses on design and simulation of mechanical systems. Kyaw Wynn is a Senior Engineering Specialist at Emerson Commercial &
Residential Solutions in Sidney, Ohio.

TECHNICAL FEATURE
between the freeze mode and

A surface area W k compressor work
ice harvest mode. Bendapudi
d tube diameter ws effective contact width
et al. (2008) discuss various
f Darcy friction factor of the tube
approaches for transient simula- x ice mass fraction
k thermal conductivity Ik
tion of vapor-compression refrig-
L tube length
eration systems, which combines Greek Symbols
m number of elements in one
algebraic and time-based differ- Xtt Lockhart–Martinelli parameter
control volume
ential equations to simulate the ρ density
M mass
main components. Physics-based ω compressor speed
Nc number of elements along η volumetric efficiency
transient simulation models condenser tube
v
have been established several η d isentropic efficiency
NCV number of control grid volumes αW heat transfer coefficient
decades ago (Chi and Didion,
Ne number of elements along ∆ percent absolute value
1982, Macarthur, 1984). These evaporator tube
established models continue to NR number of rows in the Subscripts
serve as the basis for more recent formation grid
g evaporator grid/plate
enhancements such as hot-gas NTU number of transfer units I ice
bypass (Hoffenbecker et al., p pressure r refrigerant
2004) similar to that used during Pr Prandtl Number t tube
ice harvest mode, startup condi- Q heat transfer rate w water
tions (Li and Allleyne, 2010), and p sump water
R thermal resistance
alternative refrigerants (Ling et j evaporator tube element
Re Reynolds Number k grid control volume
al., 2015). The established tran- s ice thickness a air
sient models prepare the compo- t time f final
nent equations and provide an o initial
∆t simulation increments
algorithm to solve the complex through time e evaporator
nonlinear system. More recently, c condenser
T temperature
simulation platforms with robust d compressor discharge
U internal energy s suction line
numerical engines can assemble Va condenser fan volume flow sh evaporator super-heated
the component models and solve V volume su supply water
the underlying differential alge-
braic equations (Fritzson, 2014,
SimScape Mathworks, 2018). Qiao et al. (2012) demon- This article presents an enhanced model that extends
strated agreement between commercial simulation plat- the model of Murgham et al., compares the simulation
forms and the established transient models previously results to an instrumented ACIM, and uses the model
mentioned. for exploration of strategies to improving efficiency.
Varone (1995) developed an empirically-based, batch- The remainder of the article is organized as follows. The
type ACIM simulation model. However, design changes description of the batch-type ice maker operation is
necessary to conform to the new standards often described in Sections 2 and 3 presents the fundamental
exceed the bounds of an empirical model. Murgham ACIM model theory. Enhancements are described in
et al. (2016) presented a fundamental ACIM model Section 4. Section 5 presents the results and compari-
based on physics-based principles and generalized sons to an instrumented batch-type ice maker. Section 6
correlations. Governing equations for the components discusses the simulation results for strategies that aim at
and a strategy for linking the models are outlined. A improving ACIM efficiency.
modeling platform is used to calculate time-varying
system properties and aggregates performance results Conventional ACIM Operation
as a function of machine capacity and environmental A schematic of an ACIM is given in Figure 1, which con-
conditions. sists of two complementary systems: a water circulation

TECHNICAL FEATURE
circuit and a refrigerant FIGURE 1 Schematic of an ACIM that produces batches of cubes.
circuit. The water circuit Condenser
consists of a water sump
and circulation pump Refrigerant Condenser Fan
that distributes water Circuit
flow over the waffle-like
Water Circuit Hot Gas Valve
ice formation grid. The
grid serves as a mold, Ice Formation Grid
(Evaporator)
where ice cubes develop
and grow. The refrigerant
Expansion
circuit is a standard vapor- Valve Compressor
compression system that is
operable in a freeze mode Sump Heat Exchanger
and a harvest mode. As Circulation

Drain Water Fill
shown in Figure 1, the stan- Pump
dard vapor-compression
circuit includes a compressor, condenser, expansion 4. Upon reaching the prescribed ice weight, the ma-
device and an evaporator. A liquid-line/suction-line chine switches to the harvest mode.
heat exchanger is used to further cool the refrigerant 5. Most ACIM use hot gas harvest, in which hot refrig-
entering the expansion valve. In the freeze mode, the erant vapor is sent directly from the compressor to the
vapor-compression system freezes the water that flows evaporator to warm the evaporator and melt enough ice
over the ice formation grid that is attached to the evapo- to free the cube from the grid. Ice can be released when
rator. In the harvest mode, a hot-gas bypass valve diverts approximately 5% is melted during the harvest process.
the refrigerant exiting the compressor directly into the Once melting occurs on the interface between the ice
evaporator. The hot exhaust from the compressor melts and grid, the ice falls by gravity into the storage bin be-
a small amount of the ice in the formation grid so that low. During the harvest process the condenser fan is off
the ice cubes can be easily ejected into a storage bin and the water circulating pump is off.
located beneath the ACIM. 6. Water fills the sump and the system returns to the
The conventional ACIM operating process is described freeze mode as detected by evaporator temperature and/
in detail as follows (Westphalen, 1996). or time.
1. Supply water fills the sump, which contains up to
40% more water than required to make a given batch of Fundamental ACIM Simulation Model Theory
ice. The fundamental transient ice machine model is
2. The freeze mode is activated. The hot gas valve is described in Murgham et al. (2016) and is presented
closed, causing the compressor to pull refrigerant from below for completeness. Throughout the analysis, refrig-
the evaporator and push the flow into the condenser. erant properties must be determined. One approach
About 80% of ACIMs have air-cooled condensers, as is is to use a database such as RefProp (Lemmon et al.,
considered in this article. The condenser fan and water 2010). To reduce computation time, Laughman (2012)
circulating pump are commanded to operate during the demonstrated the use of look-up tables that store ther-
freeze mode. The pump circulates the water, passing it modynamic properties for selected refrigerants that are
through a manifold, which distributes the flow over the generated from a database. The look-up table approach
ice formation grid. is used in the ACIM simulation model.
3. The water temperature flowing over the formation 1. Input parameters are specified:
grid reduces and begins to freeze. Ice gradually builds Operating conditions include the temperature of the
up in the grid until a full cube is formed as detected by a ambient air Ta and supply water Tsu. Empirical equations
sensor measuring either the thickness of ice in the grid, are used to determine the density of supply water rsu at
sump water level, or compressor suction pressure. Tsu (Incropera, et al., 2006).

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TECHNICAL FEATURE
Compressor parameters FIGURE 2 Ice machine model operating in freeze mode.

include displacement
Environment Ta, Va
Vd, speed ω, volumetric
efficiency hv and isen- Condenser Heat Rejection: Q c
Condenser Outlet TC Condenser Inlet TC
tropic efficiency hd, or 10 I Subcool Saturated Tw, pc Desuperheat v
performance-based coef- md
ficients (AHRI Standard Condenser Mc, Vc

m v = 0
Harvest Valve: Ah = 0 Compressor
Outlet Ts
540, 2015).
Suction Line Heat Exchanger: Q s
Sizing parameters Compressor:
Vd ,ω, hv ,hd ,
include dimensions nec- ml or 10-coeffs
e
essary to determine the m
Saturated Tc, pc Superheat
volume of the condenser Expansion Compressor Inlet Ts
Valve: Al
Vc, evaporator Ve, connect-
Evaporator Outlet Te
ing tubes Vt, ice formation Evaporator Inlet Te Evaporator Mc, Vc v
Evaporator Heat Gain: Q e
grid Vg, and water sump Vp.
The total system refriger- Ice MI ,TI
ant volume Vr is calculated
from Vc, Ve, Vt, and Vd. The
mass capacity of ice MI that can be formed within the determine the temperature exiting the compressor Td,
f
evaporator grid during the freeze mode is calculated which includes shell losses to ambient air (Fisher and
using Vg and the density of ice. The mass of water in the Rice, 1983).
sump Mp is determined from rp and sump capacity. The air-cooled condenser heat rejection Q c is deter-
o
System design settings include the refrigerant charge mined by dividing the total volume of the heat exchang-

Mr and condenser fan volume flow Va . Settings for the er into Ndi discrete elements along its length and using a
condenser consist of fin style and geometry. Settings finite-volume method. Wang et al. developed appropri-
for the expansion valve are a desired evaporator super- ate models for the heat transfer correlations of fin and
heat Tsh, steady-state flow area, feedback gain, and time tube heat exchangers that depend on Va , fin material
constant. Design parameters for liquid-line/suction-line and geometry, including smooth (2000), corrugated
heat exchanger include the length of contact Ls, and (1999), wavy (2001) and louvered (1999). As outlined in
diameters of liquid and suction tubes. Ge and Cropper (2005), the effectiveness-NTU method
2. Simulation is initialized by filling the sump with is used with refrigerant properties to determine the
a volume Vsu of water supply at Tsu. It is assumed that refrigerant temperature Tc for each discrete element,
j
the startup temperatures of the evaporator Te , and j=1,…, Ndi. The refrigerant properties within the con-
o
condenser Tc , are in equilibrium with the ambient, denser is governed by a conservation of refrigerant mass
o
Te =Tc =Ta. A startup system pressure (evaporator and and energy along with pressure drop due to friction.
o o
condenser) Pe =Pc is determined by using refrigerant These equations are integrated to remove the spatial
o o
properties with Vr, Mr and Ta. dependence, resulting in a lumped-parameter, time-
3. The transient simulation begins with the freeze based, ordinary differential equation (Bendapudi et al.,
stage and time to. A schematic of the ACIM model oper- 2008). Transient system properties determined include
ating in freeze mode is shown in Figure 2. the condenser inlet temperature Tc , pressure pc, satura-
v
The compressor mass flow m d and power Wk is cal- tion temperature Tc , and exit temperature .
l
culated from physics-based equations (Stoecker, 1998) The expansion valve operates during the freeze por-
using Vd, ω, hv and hd, or from performance-based tion of the cycle. The valve restricts liquid flow m l and
coefficients (AHRI Standard 540, 2015). When using creates a pressure differential between the low-side
the coefficients, m d is adjusted for the compressor inlet evaporator and the high-side condenser. A one-dimen-
temperature Ts (Rice and Dabiri, 1981). An energy bal- sional, incompressible flow equation proposed is used to
ance on the vapor in the compressor chamber is used to model m l as a function of pe, pc, the effective valve flow

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TECHNICAL FEATURE
area Al, and the state of the FIGURE 3 Ice machine model operating in harvest mode.
refrigerant. For an orifice
Environment Ta, Va =0
or capillary tube expan-
sion valve, Al is fixed. A Condenser Heat Rejection: Q c = 0
m d = 0
thermal expansion valve
Condenser MC ,VC v Harvest Valve: Ah
(TXV) or electronic expan- m Compressor
Outlet Td ,pd
sion valve (EXV) provides
a feedback system (me- Compressor: Vd ,w,
Expansion hv ,hd , or 10-coeffs
chanical or electronic) Valve: Al = 0 m e
that alters the valve area Superheat pe
to maintain a certain level Compressor Inlet Ts
of evaporator superheat Evaporator Inlet Te Evaporator Me ,Ve Evaporator Outlet Te

v
Tsh=Tev–Te, where Tev is Evaporator Heat Loss: Qe
the temperature of the Ice MI,TI
vapor exiting the evapo-
rator. A steady state flow
area, feedback gain, and time constant, characterize the 6. The harvest cycle simulation will continue to incre-
dynamic response of the expansion valve (James and ment through time, tracking Te, pe, Tev, Td, W k, and MI.
James, 1987). Harvest is complete when a specified percentage of the
The liquid/suction line heat exchanger heat flow ice is melted.
between the compressor suction line at Tev and the con- 7. Supply water at temperature Tsu fills the sump. The
denser liquid line at temperature Tcl is determined from enhanced model described in the next section calculates
an effective contact width of the tubing ws ≅ pdl /4, Ls, the resulting sump temperature Tp .
o
and an appropriate heat transfer coefficient (Bergman, 8. The simulation returns to the freeze stage (Step 3).
Incropera, DeWitt, & Lavine, 2011). The simulation increments through time t follow-
An evaporator and water freeze model was rudimen- ing the outline presented above until a specified
tarily modeled by Murgham et al. (2016) to determine number of freeze and harvest cycles are encountered.
evaporator saturation temperature Te,, outlet tem- Implicit routines within the modeling environment
perature Tev, pressure pe, ice mass MI, and sump water (Mathworks, 2018) are used to solve a set of overall
temperature Tp. The enhanced evaporator and water algebraic and differential equations as needed such,
freeze models developed in this work are described in that Kirchhoff’s first and second laws are satisfied at
the following section. the nodes where components are connected. That is,
4. The freeze cycle simulation will increment through all through variables (mass flow rate and heat flow
time ti+1 = ti + Dt, tracking transient system properties rate) need to sum to zero and all the across variables
such as Te, pe, Tev, Td, Tc, pc, Tcl, W k, and MI. Once the ice (pressure and enthalpy) should be equal. Consistent
mass MI reaches the capacity of the formation grid , the with ACIM rating standards (U.S. Department of
f
harvest mode is initiated. Energy, 2015), the key aggregate measures of the ice
5. A schematic of the ACIM model operating in harvest machine’s performance are cycle time (duration of
mode is shown in Figure 3. An enhanced ice harvest freeze plus harvest cycles), energy use per 100 lb of ice,
model developed in this work is described in the follow- and energy usage during 24 hours.
ing section.
Hot-gas bypass valve is opened during the harvest Enhanced ACIM Model Theory
cycle, routing the compressor discharge line mass flow Enhancements are made to the model described above
directly into the evaporator. A one-dimensional, incom- to increase the fidelity and assess the effect of minor
pressible flow equation is used to model m d as a func- design changes. The primary advances include ice for-
tion of pe, pd, the effective valve flow area, and the state mation, water flow, harvest, and heat losses through
of the refrigerant. connection tubes, as described in the following sections.

TECHNICAL FEATURE
Ice Formation Model FIGURE 4 Schematic of an evaporator tubing coil (in black) and the ice formation grid divided into NCV = 56 control volumes (in
In Murgham et al. (2016), grey), having NR = 7 and NC = 8. Grid control volume k and evaporator element j numbering convention is shown.
the entire ice forma- k=1 k=NC
tion grid was treated as a j=1
kth Grid Control Volume
lumped system. The actual k=NC+1
ice formation process k=2NC
and interaction between
the grid and evaporator
is complex. The lumped Evaporator Refrigerant Element, jk
j=N
model lacks fidelity k=NCV –NC+1
k=NCV
e Evaporator Refrigerant Element, jk+1
to investigate design
parameters related to the
evaporator. The enhanced model discretizes the grid, transfer from the water in the ice formation grid to the
which allows more representative simulation of water refrigerant in the evaporator tube includes the inter-
flow and heat exchange with the evaporator tubing. faces through the water, ice, evaporator grid, tubing
The evaporator tubing is typically arranged as a single and refrigerant. The heat transfer in the kth grid control
layer of coils attached to the back side of the ice forma- volume is
tion grid. In modeling the ice formation, the grid is jk +1 1
Q ek = ∑ T − T  (1)
divided into a rectangular array of NCV control volumes, wk ek 
j = jk RTk  j
having NR rows and NC=NCV /NR columns. As illustrated in j
Figure 4, the evaporator tubing coils are shown in black where RT is the effective thermal resistance for the jth
and the formation grid control volumes are in grey. Note element inkjthe kth grid control volume
that in order to maintain symmetry between the control
volumes and the evaporator tube, NR is set to the num-
ber of rows in the evaporator coil. Also notice that con- j
(
RTk = m Rwk + RI k + Rg + Rt + Rr j ) (2)
trol volumes are numbered along the evaporator tube.
A lumped parameter approach is used for each control The number of evaporator elements within a grid con-
volume. Thus, the kth control volume has water mass trol volume is accounted by including m. The total heat
Mw , water temperature Tw , ice mass MI and ice tem- transfer to the ice formation grid is
k k k
perature TI . A grid control volume may include several
k NCV
ice cube pockets. Q e = ∑ Q ek (3)
k =1
As with the condenser, the refrigerant within evapora-
tor tube is divided into Ne discrete elements along the The individual thermal resistance components are:
length of the tube and a finite-volume method is used 1. Thermal resistance for convection heat transfer
to calculate heat transfer Q e . The refrigerant model from the flowing water
requires finer resolution than the ice, Ne >> NCV. Thus,
each grid control volume transfers heat with m=[Ne/ (
Rwk = 1 / α w A wk ) (4)
NCV] evaporator refrigerant elements, where [x] repre-
sents the integer nearest to x. Correspondingly, the kth The convection coefficient for the water flowing over
grid control volume has a volume of Vk=Vg /NCV and will the evaporator grid in each control volume is denoted
contain evaporator tube elements jk=[(k–1) m+1] through aW and Aw is the water surface area in contact with
k
jk+1=[(k)m]. Mass conservation, energy balance, and the ice for the same control volume. An average water
the momentum equations are satisfied in each control heat transfer coefficient is used in Equation 4 as the
volume. water thermal resistance is small comparing to the ice
At the start of the freeze mode, all grid control vol- resistance.
umes have the same water properties Tw =Tw∀k, 2. Thermal resistance for conduction heat transfer
k
Mw =Mw =rWVk∀k, and no ice mass, MI =0∀k. Heat through the ice being formed
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TECHNICAL FEATURE
RI k = sI k / ( k I AI ) (5)   
kr 2.22 
αrj =  0.023Re L0.8 PrL0.4 1 + 
di  j j 
X 0tt.98  (10)
  j 
The thermal conductivity of ice is kI, AI is the surface
area of the grid for one control volume, and SI is the ice
k
thickness in the kth control volume. Appropriate correlations were selected for the thermal
3. Thermal resistance for conduction heat transfer conductivities kt, kg, kI and heat transfer coefficients ar
through the grid and aw (Incropera, 2006).
Since heat is being exchanged with the water in the kth
Rg = s g / k g Ag( ) (6) control volume, water internal energy Uw will change
k
during each time increment
The thermal conductivity of the evaporator grid and
plate is kg, Ag is the surface area of the plate in each grid
Q ek ∆t
control volume, and sg is the effective thickness of the U wk (ti + ∆t ) = U wk − (11)
evaporator plate. M wk
4. Thermal resistance for conduction heat transfer
through the evaporator tubes The corresponding water temperature Tw is deter-
k
mined from water property lookup tables with Uw and
k
Rt = st / ( kt At ) (7) atmospheric pressure. Once the Tw reaches the freezing
k
temperature, a mass fraction xI of Mw will be converted
k k
where kt is the thermal conductivity of the evaporator to MI . The latent energy of water is used with Uw to
k k
tube, At is the tube surface area in each grid control vol- determine xI . The mass distribution in the grid control
k
ume, and st is the effective tube thickness. volume is
Thermal resistance for convection heat transfer to the
refrigerant within the evaporator tubes M I k = xI k M wk 0 (12)
Rr j =
m
α r j Ar
(8) (
M wk = 1 − xI k M wk 0 ) (13)
where Mw is the mass of water at the start of the freeze

k0
where the surface area of the refrigerant within the mode. The corresponding ice thicknesses SI increases as
k
th
k grid control volume is Ar, and the convection coef- the heat transfer from refrigerant to the water increases.
ficient for the jth refrigerant evaporator element is ar . The conduction through the ice is observed to be the
j
Single-phase heat transfer coefficient for the refrig- dominant resistance and it increases as the ice thickness
erant is calculated using Gnielinski correlation for increases.
Prandtl number 0.5 ≤ Pr ≤ 2,000 and Reynolds number In the physical ACIM, ice at the top of the grid is the
3,000 ≤ ReD ≤ 5 × 106 (Bergman, Incropera, DeWitt, & last to freeze. A sensor is placed towards the top to
i
Lavine, 2011). measure ice thickness and signal when the ice is fully
formed. In the simulation model, the freeze mode is
considered complete when all water is converted to ice,
αrj =

( )( )
k  f j / 8 ReDi − 1, 000 Pr j

 (9) Mw = 0∀k.
 j( ) (
di  1 + 12.7 f / 8 1/ 2 Pr 2 / 3 − 1
j ) 

k
Water Flow Model

Where k is the thermal conductivity, di is the tube To simulate water flowing over the ice formation grid,
inside diameter, and f is Darcy friction factor. the water properties in each control volume is passed
For the two-phase refrigerant heat transfer coefficient, to the next control volume in the same column. With
Dobson and Chato correlation (Bergman, Incropera, the grid numbering scheme outlined above, the set of
DeWitt, & Lavine, 2011) is used as shown below. Where control volumes in the cth column include Cc= [c, 2Nc–
Xtt is Lockhart–Martinelli parameter. c+1, c+2Nc, 4Nc–c+1, c+4Nc, …, NCV–Nc–c], for 1 ≤ c ≤ Nc. The

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TECHNICAL FEATURE
control volumes in the first row have TABLE 1 Comparison of summary results between experimental results and simulation model.
the same water temperature as the OPERATING CONDITION: Ta/Tsu
sump from the previous time itera-
100/110°F 90/70°F 70/50°F
tion, Tw =Tp, k = 1,…, NC. During the
k E S ∆ E S ∆ E S ∆
heat transfer analysis described in the
prior section, water thermal proper- Cycle Time (min.) 26.11 25.42 2.6% 18.3 17.44 4.7% 14.5 15.21 4.9%
ties are passed from a control volume Ice Per 24 hrs. (lbs.) 267.8 279.3 4.3% 393.4 393 0.1% 496.6 473.4 4.7%
to the next control volume in the same Energy Input Per 100 lb. (kWh) 8.86 8.61 2.8% 5.57 5.57 0% 4.09 4.24 3.7%
column. That is, at the end of each Energy Input Per 24 hrs. (kWh) 23.75 24.04 1.2% 21.93 21.7 1% 20.25 20.08 0.8%
time increment
Twr +1 (ti +1 ) = Twr (14) condenser is removed from the total simulation during
harvest. Within the condenser model, Tc , pc , and the
i i
where r and r+1 are adjacent members of the set Cc. state of the refrigerant are determined within each ith
The water mass in the sump after each time increment finite volume at each time increment. At the onset of
is determined by subtracting the ice mass MI and water harvest, the refrigerant mass trapped within the con-
k
mass in each control volume from the initial water mass denser is readily determined and subtracted from Mr
Mw in the sump Mp . when simulating the harvest mode.
k 0
NCV
M p (ti +1 ) = Mp − ∑  M wk + M I k  (15) Heat Loss in Connecting Tubes
0 k =1
The major heat loss in connecting tubes occurs in the
The water in the last control volume in each column uninsulated compressor discharge line. The fan airflow
is mixed with the water in the sump where the overall crosses the discharge line and cools it before it cools the
sump water temperature is condenser. Churchill and Bernstein comprehensive
equation is used to calculate heat transfer coefficient for
1  Ne 
T p (ti +1 ) =  Tp M p + ∑ Twk M wk  (16) the air crossing discharge line with outside tube diam-
M p (t + ∆t )  
k = Ne − Nc +1
eter do (Incropera, et al., 2006) as shown below.
Prior to the start of the subsequent cycle, a mass Msu of 

  Re 5/8  4 / 5
k  0.62 Re1D/o2 Pr1/ 3 Do  
water at a temperature Tsu is supplied to the sump. Since αa = a  0. 3 + 1 +    (18)
the amount of circulating water is constant for each freeze do  1 + ( 0.4 / Pr )2 / 3 
1/ 4
  282, 000   
   
 
cycle, the supplied water mass is equal to the mass of ice
produced MI in the freezing cycle. As the supply water
mixes with the remaining water in the sump, which will Results
equal for final temperature computed from Equation 14, A 500 lb (227 kg), instrumented ACIM was equipped
designated as Tp . The resulting temperature of the circu- with sensors to measure the operational characteristics
f
lating water at the start of the freeze cycle is of the machine. The instrumented machine was run at
various operating points defined by the ambient tem-
M suTsu + M I Tp f perature and the water inlet temperature. A summary
Tp = (17)
Mp0 of the experimental values (E) and the predictions made
by the simulation model (S) are given in Table 1. Also pro-
Harvest vided is the percent absolute value of error (∆) between
As the ice machine simulation switches to harvest the experiment and simulation.
mode, an alternate flow path permits refrigerant The key aggregate measures reported in Table 1 are
discharged from the compressor to flow through a the ice machine’s performance include the freeze and
bypass valve restriction and directly into the evapora- harvest cycle time, energy input per 100 lb (45 kg) of
tor, bypassing the condenser and expansion valve. ice, and energy usage during 24 hours. For these mea-
Accordingly, the refrigerant mass that is trapped in the sures, the model’s accuracy is within 5% for a variety

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TECHNICAL FEATURE
FIGURE 5 Graphical representation of the transient comparisons at 100/110 °F.
Condenser Outlet Temperature 110/100°F Condenser Inlet Temperature 110/100°F

140 250
120
Temperature (°F)
Temperature (°F)
200
100
80 150
60 100
40
20 50
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0
0 20 40 60
Time (Min.) Time (Min.)
Condenser and Evaporator Pressure
110/100°F Compressor Input Power 110/100°F
400 1,400
Compressor Power (W)

Pressure (psi)
300 1,200
200 Environment 1,000
100 800
Condenser
0 Expansion 600
0 20 40 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Valve Compressor
Time (Min.) Evaporator Time (Min.)
Evaporator Outlet Temperature 110/100°F

Ice 100
Evaporator Inlet Temperature 110/100°F
Temperature (°F)
160 80
Temperature (°F)
120 60
40
80
20
40 Water Sump Temperature 90/70°F
60 0
0 0 20 40 60
Temperature (°F)
0 20 40 60 50 Time (Min.)
Time (Min.)
40
30
20
0 10 20 30 40 50
Time (Min.)
of operating conditions. Figure 5 provides a compari- Thus, exploring strategies for improving harvest is
son of the transient response of pressures, tempera- warranted.
tures and compressor power at various locations on
the ice machine. Increasing Compressor Efficiency
First efficiency improvement strategy is increas-
Strategies for Improving ACIM Energy Efficiency ing the compressor efficiency. Typically, reciprocating
The enhanced simulation model is used to explore compressors are used in ACIMs, as is the case for the
strategies for improving the energy efficiency. The 500 lb (227 kg) batch-type ice maker described in the
improvement strategies focus on compressor efficiency previous section. Using current technology, compres-
and reducing energy during harvest. The primary com- sor efficiency can be improved 5 to 10% by replacing the
ponent of ACIM energy use is the compressor, which reciprocating compressor with a scroll, and/or adopt-
accounts for approximately 80% of energy input per 24 ing motor enhancements. A comparison in simulation
hours. The batch-type ACIMs discussed in this article results from 500 lb ACIM model with compressor effi-
use superheated refrigerant vapor discharged from the ciencies that are 5% and 10% higher than the production
compressor to release the ice from the evaporator grid model are shown in Table 2.
during the harvest cycle. This strategy is effective, but With a hot-gas harvest method, the refrigerant vapor
requires energy to reverse a portion of the freeze mode. temperature depends on the compressor efficiency.

TECHNICAL FEATURE
Higher compressor efficiency will TABLE 2 Comparison of simulation results between ACIMs using compressors with increased efficiency.
increase the system efficiency
OPERATING CONDITION: Ta/Tsu
during the freezing cycle, but it
decreases the vapor temperature 100/110°F 90/70°F 70/50°F
during the harvest cycle, increasing Compressor Efficiency 0% 5% 10% 0% 5% 10% 0% 5% 10%
Increase
the time to release the ice. The over-
all energy input decreases by 9.2% Freezing (min) 24.61 24.34 24.18 16.37 16.41 16.31 13.80 13.75 13.72
per ice mass, which is lower per- Harvest (min) 0.81 0.85 0.93 1.07 1.10 1.20 1.41 1.61 1.63
centage than compressor efficiency Ice Per 24 hrs. (lbs.) 279.31 280.54 281.33 393.1 391.1 389.7 473.40 468.67 469.05
increase 10%. It must be noted that Energy Input Per 100 lb. (kWh) 8.61 8.23 7.82 5.57 5.3 5.1 4.24 4.06 3.88
a cost premium is required
Energy Input Per 24 hrs. (kWh) 24.04 23.07 22.01 21.90 20.7 19.9 20.08 19.02 18.21
to realize these compressor
efficiency increases.
TABLE 3 Comparison of simulation results between ACIMs using ice formation grid heating coils of various capacities (in
Watts). Scenarios are presented with the compressor turned ON or OFF during harvest.
Auxiliary Electric Heat OPERATING CONDITION: Ta/Tsu
A second efficiency 100/110°F 90/70°F 70/50°F
improvement strategy Electrical Heater (W) 0 500 500 1,000 0 500 500 1,000 0 500 500 1,000
focuses on harvest and
Compressor Harvest ON ON OFF OFF ON ON OFF OFF ON ON OFF OFF
involves use of an electric
Harvest (min) 0.81 0.58 1.10 0.71 1.07 0.75 1.44 0.87 1.61 0.89 1.54 0.70
heater to assist, or replace,
Ice Per 24 hrs. (lbs.) 279.3 281.0 276.1 280.1 393.1 400.1 384.7 397.9 473.4 478.5 458.4 485.1
the compressor discharge.
Table 3 shows the simulation Energy/100 lb. (kWh) 8.61 8.66 8.35 8.38 5.57 5.58 5.28 5.30 4.24 4.20 3.95 4.21
performance results for the Energy/24 hrs (KWh) 24.04 24.34 23.03 23.48 21.90 22.13 20.12 20.91 20.08 20.10 18.11 20.42
500 lb (227 kg) ACIM model
FIGURE 6 Schematic of an ACIM with a waste heat reclamation circuit.
with various levels of electric
heat (in Watts) and the com-
pressor being turned ON or Condenser
Heating Tank
OFF during harvest.
The simulation results
Harvest Bypass
show that by turning the Ice Formation Grid
(Evaporator) Valve
compressor off and using
Expansion
an electrical heating coil to Valve Warm Liquid
Valves
release the ice during har- Warm Liquid
Circulation Pump
vest will decrease the har-
Sump
vest time by up to 19% and Compressor
Harvest Bypass Warm Liquid Circuit
decrease the energy input Water Valve
per 24 hr by 2.4% to 7.3%. Circulation Pump Drain Water Fill
Moreover, using the heating
coil will cause the harvest cycle to be independent from shown in Figure 6, where a warm-liquid circuit is added
the compressor, which allows higher efficient compres- to the existing refrigerant and water circuits shown in
sors to be used in this type of commercial ice machines Figure 1. A heating tank is inserted within the refriger-
to increase the overall system efficiency. ant circuit between the compressor and condenser. The
compressor discharge tube containing the hot refriger-
Waste Heat Recovery ant enters the heating tank and exchanges heat with
The third efficiency improvement strategy introduces a liquid, prior to entering the condenser to reject any
a warm-liquid to capture and reclaim a portion of the remaining waste heat. During the freeze mode, the
condenser waste heat. A schematic of this strategy is remainder of the system operates as the conventional

TECHNICAL FEATURE
ACIM. As the ice cubes are fully TABLE 4 Comparison of results between running the model using the waste heat recovery with running the model without
formed, the ice maker enters a the recovery unit.
harvest mode. A pair of harvest OPERATING CONDITION: Ta /Tsu
bypass valves redirect the flow
100/110°F 90/70°F 70/50°F
of the refrigerant from the ice
Recovery System No Yes ∆ No Yes ∆ No Yes ∆
formation grid to the water
Freezing Time (min.) 24.51 24.21 –1.2% 16.40 16.28 –0.7% 13.75 13.72 –0.2%
sump. Simultaneously, a pair
of warm-liquid valves open Harvest Time (min.) 0.80 0.41 –48.8% 1.07 0.60 –43.9% 1.61 1.38 –14.6%
and a circulation pump begins Ice Per 24 hrs. (lbs.) 279.30 286.50 2.6% 393.00 424.20 7.9% 473.40 505.41 6.8%
flow of the warm-liquid from Energy/100 lb (kWh) 8.61 8.24 –4.3% 5.57 4.78 –14.1% 4.24 3.88 –8.6%
the heating tank to a second set Energy/24 hrs (kWh) 24.04 23.61 –1.8% 21.70 20.29 –6.5% 20.08 19.67 –2.1%
of tubes that are formed within
the ice formation grid. Thus, the warm-liquid is used to Over all, there is almost no change in ice produced per
release the ice while the refrigeration system is used to day ±1%. Waste heat recovery strategy saves up to 8.6%
pre-cool the water that fills the sump. of the energy input per ice weight. The harvest time has
The results from the simulation model using 1 L dropped by up to 48.8% and freezing time by up to 1.2%.
(0.3 gallons) of warm liquid and 1 m (39 in.) of refriger-
ant coil within the heating tank are shown in Table 4. References
The results shows that using the heat recovery unit AHRI Standards 810 (I-P) & 811 (SI), (2016). Performance Rating
of Automatic Commercial Ice Makers, Air Conditioning, Heating, and
saves up to 48.8% of the harvest time and 8.6% of the Refrigeration Institute, Arlington, VA.
energy required per ice weight. As a result of decreasing ANSI/AHRI. (2015). Standard for Performance Rating of Positive
cycle time, the amount of ice produced per 24 hours is Displacement Refrigeration Compressors and Compressor Units,
Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration: Standard 540, Arlington, VA.
increased by 2.6% to 7.9%.
Bendapudi S., Braun, J., Groll, E. (2008). A Comparison of
Moving-Boundary and Finite-Volume Formulation in Centrifugal
Conclusions Chillers, International Journal of Refrigeration, 31(8), pp. 1437-1452.
This article outlined enhancements made to a tran- Chi, J., Didion, D., (1982). A Simulation of the Transient Performance
of a Heat Pump, International Journal of Refrigeration, 5(3), pp. 176-184.
sient simulation model of the operation of an automatic
Domanski, P., Didion, D., (1983). Computer Modeling of the Vapor
commercial ice maker. Governing equations for the Compression Cycle with Constant Flow Area Expansion Device, NBS Build
compressor, condenser, expansion valve, and connect- Science Series 155 National Institute of Standards and Technology,
Gaithersburg, MD.
ing tubing were adapted from prior research available in
Fisher, S. K., Rice, C. K., (1983). The Oak Ridge Heat Pump Models:
the literature. A discretized evaporator model was devel- Steady-State Computer Design Model for Air-to-Air Heat Pumps, ORNL/
oped to describe the heat transfer between the refrig- CON-80/R1. Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, TN.
erant and water flowing over an ice-formation grid. Fritzson, R. (2014). Principles of Object-Oriented Modeling and Simulation
with Modelica 3.3: A Cyber-Physical Approach, 2/e, Wiley-IEEE Press.
Simulation results from the model were compared with
Ge Y.T., Cropper R. (2005). Performance Evaluation of Air-Cooled
the experimental data of a fully instrumented, standard Condensers Using Pure and Mixed Refrigerants by Four-Section Lumped
500 lb (227 kg) capacity ice making machine, operating Modeling Methods, Applied Thermal Engineering, 25(10), pp. 1549-1564.
under various ambient air and water inlet tempera- Goetzler, W., Goffri, S., Jasinski, S., Legett, R., Lisle, H.,
Marantan, A., Millard, M., Pinault, D., Westphalen, D., Zogg, R.,
tures. Key aggregate measures of the ice machine’s (2009). Energy Savings Potential and R&D Opportunities for Commercial
performance include the freeze and harvest cycle time, Refrigeration, Navigant Consulting, Inc. Burlington, MA. Prepared
energy input per 100 lb (45 kg) of ice, and energy usage for U.S. Department of Energy.
during 24 hours. For these measures, the model’s accu- Li, B., Alleyne, A. (2010). A Dynamic Model of a Vapor
Compression Cycle with Shut-down and Start-up Operations,
racy is within 5% for a variety of operating conditions. International Journal of Refrigeration, 33(3), pp. 538-552.
The simulation model was used to assess strategies Hoffenbecker, N., Klein, S., Reindl, D. (2004). Hot Gas Defrost
for improving the energy efficiency of the ice maker. Model Development and Validation, International Journal of
Refrigeration, 28(2), pp. 605-615.
Increasing the compressor efficiency by 10%, decreases Incropera, F., DeWitt, D., Bergman, T., Lavine, A. (2006).
the energy input per ice weight by up to 9.2%. Harvest Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, 6/e, John Wiley and Sons.
mode become longer and freezing mode become shorter. James K. A., James, R. W. (1987). Transient Analysis of

TECHNICAL FEATURE
Thermostatic Expansion Valves for Refrigeration System of Standards and Technology, Standard Reference Data Program,
Evaporators Using Mathematical Models, Transactions of the Institute Gaithersburg, TN.
of Measurement and Control, 9(4), pp. 198-205. Ling, J., Bhanot, V., Alabdulkarem, A., Aute, V., Radermacher,
Laughman, C., Zhao, Y., Nikovski, D. (2012). Fast Refrigerant R. (2015) Transient simulation of heat pumps using low global
Property Calculations Using Interpolation-Based Methods, warming potential refrigerants, Science and Technology for the Built
Proceedings of the International Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Environment, 21(5), pp. 658-665
Conference, Paper 1344. Macarthur, J., (1984). Transient Heat Pump Behavior, International
Lemmon, E.W., Huber, M.L., McLinden, M.O. (2013). NIST Journal of Refrigeration, 7(2), pp. 128-132.
Standard Reference Database 23: Reference Fluid Thermodynamic Mathworks (2018). SimScape Users Guide, The Mathworks Inc,
and Transport Properties-REFPROP, Version 9.1, National Institute Natick, MA. Murgham, H., Myszka, D., Bahel, V.,
Rajendran, R., Knapke, K., Shivashankar,
S. & Wynn, K. (2016). Simulation Model of
an Automatic Commercial Ice. International
Refrigeration and Air Conditioning. Purdue:
Purdue University.
Qiao, H., Aute, V., Radermacher, R.
(2012). Comparison of Equation-based
and Non-equation-based Approaches for
Transient Modeling of a Vapor Compression
Cycle, Proc. of International Refrigeration and
Air Conditioning Conference, Paper 1205.
Rice. C. K., Dabiri, A. E. (1981) A
Compressor Simulation Model with
Corrections for the Level of Suction Gas
Superheat, ASHRAE Transactions, 87(2),
pp.771-782
Sonntag, R., Bonrgnakke, C., Van
Wylen, G. (2008). Fundamentals of Classical
Thermodynamics, 7/e, John Wiley and Sons.
Stoecker, W. (2008). Industrial Refrigeration
Handbook, McGraw-Hill.
U.S. Department of Energy (2015).
Energy Conservation Standards for Automatic
Commercial Ice Makers, EERE-2010-BT-
STD-0037, Office of Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy, Washington, DC.
Varone, A. (1995). Program FREEZE for Ice
Machine Product Development, US Department
of Energy.
Wang, C. C., Kuan-Yu, C. (2000). Heat
Transfer and Friction Characteristics of Plain
Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchangers, Part I: New
Experimental Data, International Journal of
Heat and Mass Transfer, 43(15), pp. 2681-2691.
Wang, C. C., Lin, Y. T., Lee, C. J., Chang,
Y. J. (1999) Investigation of Wavy Fin-and-
Tube Heat Exchangers: A Contribution to
Databank, Experimental Heat Transfer, 12 pp.
73-89.
Wang, C. C. (2001). A Comparative Study
of Compact Enhanced Fin-and-Tube Heat
Exchangers, International Journal of Heat And
Mass Transfer, 44, pp. 3565-3573.
Wang, C. C., Lee, C. J., Chang, C. T., Lin,
S. P. (1999). Heat Transfer and Friction
Correlation for Compact Louvered Fin-and-
tube Heat Exchangers, International Journal of
Heat and Mass Transfer, 42, pp. 1945-1956.
Westphalen, D., Zogg, R., Varone, A.,
Foran, M., (1996). Energy Savings Potential for
Commercial Refrigeration Equipment, Arthur
D. Little, Inc. Cambridge, MA. Prepared for
U.S. Department of Energy.

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ASHRAE TECHNOLOGY AWARD CASE STUDIES
Transforming an
Occupied Office Into a
Zero Energy Building
BY HIROAKI TAKAI, ASSOCIATE MEMBER ASHRAE; KOJI TANAKA, P.E.JP, MEMBER
PHOTO CREDIT SHINKENCHIKU-SHA ASHRAE; KAZUKI WADA, MEMBER ASHRAE; HIROKI KAWAKAMI, MEMBER ASHRAE
ASHRAE JOURNAL
FIRST PLACE | 2019 ASHRAE TECHNOLOGY AWARD CASE STUDIES
The office renovation provides spaces suitable for concentration and communication. It also allows occupants to share
office equipment, terminals and other facilities, reducing plug loads, air conditioning and lighting, while enhancing
productivity.
I n the Paris Agreement, Japan

promised to target a 40% reduc-
tion in greenhouse gas emis-
sions for business and other sectors
by fiscal year 2030 relative to fiscal
heat and solar heat; and wellness
control for providing an optimum
indoor thermal environment to sat-
isfy personal preferences.
The renovation also diversified the
year 2013. Japan’s national energy office environment to provide spaces
saving policies also target new public suitable for concentration and com-
buildings to be a zero energy build- munication. In addition, it allowed
ing (ZEB) by 2020 and for other occupants to share office equipment,
new buildings to be ZEB by 2030. terminals, and other facilities, reduc-
Because buildings with a gross floor ing plug loads and the like while
space of 10,000 m2 (107,639 ft2) or enhancing productivity. To cover the
less account for 98% of all small- and remaining energy consumption and
medium-sized office buildings in to be more resilient building, the ren-
Japan, achieving energy savings in ovation achieved energy generation
these buildings is an urgent issue to and storage by introducing photovol-
achieve the target reduction. taics and lithium ion batteries. Thus,
One existing building to be the renovation resulted in a building
renovated into a ZEB is TAKENAKA that exceeds net ZEB performance.
Corporation Higashikanto Branch
Office near Tokyo, which was reno- Energy Efficiency
vated while the offices were in use. Thermal Load and Energy Consumption
This marked the first time a net Achieving a drastic reduction
ZEB building in Japan was achieved in the thermal load on the exter-
while occupied. The renovation nal skin is an essential part of ZEB
achieved both a comfortable office renovation.
TAKENAKA Corporation environment and energy savings by
Higashikanto branch office introducing technologies including Communication Area
is the first zero energy high thermal insulation; natural
building in Japan to be ventilation and daylighting; radiant
renovated while occupied. cooling and heating and desiccant
The renovation achieved air conditioning using geothermal
both a comfortable office
environment and energy
Hiroaki Takai is a principal engineer of architectural envi-
savings. ronment, Koji Tanaka, P.E.Jp, is a group leader of mechani- Archive
Shelves Workplace Entrance
cal and electrical engineering, Kazuki Wada is a group
leader of architectural environmental engineering in the
R&D Institute, and Hiroki Kawakami is a mechanical and
electrical engineer with TAKENAKA Corporation in Japan. The office layout is divided into four areas.

2019 ASHRAE TECHNOLOGY AWARD CASE STUDIES
(Left) Vertical louvers that had been used before renovation were reattached to the outside surface after blinds and
single glass were installed to form a double skin. (Above) Daylighting is maximized through the renovated space.
(Right) Openings for natural ventilation are mounted at floor level.
May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr
Primary (Source) Consumption (MJ/m2·year)

Primary (Source) Consumption (MJ/m2·month)
Generation
2016 2017
40 400 418 417
0 0
–40 –400
417 403
–80 –800
–1200
–120 1,396
Consumption
–1600
–160 Generation (Before) Generation (Predicted) Generation (Actual)
Consumption (Before) Consumption (Predicted) Consumption (Actual) Before Predicted Actual
FIGURE 1 Total consumption of primary energy (May 2016 – April 2017) by month (left) and year (right).
Additional insulating material (13.1kBtu/ft2·yr), and the total

was installed in external walls and amount of energy generation is
the roof, and glass was replaced 417 MJ/m2·yr (13.5kBtu/ft2·yr).
with argon gas-charged low-ε glass.
Blinds and single glass as outer skin Direct Use of Geothermal and Solar Heat
were installed to form a double skin To minimize operation time of heat
on the outside surface. In addition, sources, a system was employed that
vertical louvers that had been used cools and heats by using geothermal
PV and solar heat system on the roof.
before renovation were reattached heat and solar heat. Specifically,
to the outside surface. The actual water flowing through ground water When the load exceeded the supply,
annual peak thermal load is small, pipes is cooled between 19°C to 21°C the necessary energy was secured by
only 60 W/m2 (5.6 W/ft2). (66°F to 70°F) by using geothermal auxiliary operation of a cooling or
Figure 1 shows details of monthly heat (underground temperature is heating heat pump.
and annual energy balance for 17°C [63°F]) and then directly sup- In one and a half years of opera-
the year. The energy produced plied to radiant ceiling panels for tion, the renovated building
and energy consumed by air con- cooling. In addition, hot water at obtained slightly more than 40%
ditioning and ventilation exhibit 45°C to 60°C (113°F to 140°F) sup- of its energy for cooling by directly
seasonal changes. The annual total plied by the solar heat system is used using geothermal heat, and almost
consumption of primary energy as a heat source for regenerating 100% of energy for regenerating
including electricity supplied desiccant (Figure 2). Solar heat is also desiccant by collecting solar heat.
through plug loads is 403 MJ/m2·yr used for ceiling radiant heating. Collected solar heat accounted for

slightly more than 21% of the heat energy for heating) Radiant Panel
(Figure 3). Dessicant Air Conditioner 2°F
Parking Space
IAQ and Thermal Comfort Ground 1°F
Level P
Indoor Temperature and Humidity P P
To provide occupants with a comfortable thermal envi- Heat Pump Heat Exchanger
ronment, a combination of radiant heating and cool-

ing for radiant control, desiccant air conditioning for
Depth 67 m
humidity control, and personal fan for airflow control Boreholes
was planned. During intermediate periods under a mild Closed Loop Circuit
comfortable climate, natural ventilation under auto-
matic control is used to the extent possible. FIGURE 2 Geothermal system (top) and
Figure 4 shows the average indoor temperature and during construction (right).
humidity values measured in the office in February,
May, and August. Temperature and
humidity were controlled in accor- 15 000
Heating Load
dance with ASHRAE Standard 55

10 000
-2013. In May, which is an interme- Heat Pump
Thermal Load (MJ/month)
diate period, natural ventilation is 5000 Geothermal

used and temperature and humidity 40%
varied over a wide range. 0
Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July Aug Sep Oct Nov
5000 2016 2017
Occupant Satisfaction Rate Heat Pump
Cooling Load
A thermal sensation survey was Solar Thermal

10 000 Solar Thermal For Regenerating
conducted for all occupants before 21% Desiccant
and after the renovation. The results 15 000 100%
show that in summer, the rate of sat-
FIGURE 3 Thermal load, including the percentage of the annual heat energy obtained by using solar thermal and geothermal.
isfied persons for thermal environ-
ment and air quality became higher
after renovation. velocity in the office is properly CO2 Concentration Control
controlled and occupants feel Indoor mechanical ventilation is
Air Velocities and Ventilation comfortable. achieved by using a variable air vol-
Openings for natural ventilation ume dedicated outdoor air system
were mounted at floor level, and air Personal Diffuser (DOAS)with desiccant. The unit con-
exhaust openings were mounted at In summer, occupants sometimes trols air volume to maintain the air
skylights. The openings are auto- feel hot after moving around, so a within standards for CO2 concentra-
matically controlled according to personal fan was planned to provide tion and indoor humidity.
detected indoor and outdoor envi- individual airflow. This personal fan
ronmental conditions, and each of uses a nozzle installed on the ceiling Radiant Thermal Control and Exergy Evaluation
the openings is also locally adjust- to create airflow toward an individ- We applied a high level of thermal
able by occupants. ual’s face. Each occupant can adjust insulation, sunshade blinds, and
In May, the natural ventila- the air volume from their computer used radiant cooling and heating
tion and night purging operating and smartphone. The flow veloc- to create a thermal environment
hours accounted for more than ity around the face is 0.5 m/s (98.4 in which the difference among
50% of the total operation hours. fpm) in medium mode and 0.8 m/s surface temperatures is small. In
The air change per hour was 10 (157 fpm) in high mode, providing a this way we improved the build-
or more in the daytime. Wind cool-down sensation. ing environment in terms of better

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human-body exergy consumption to

achieve an environment with mini-
— Feb × May Aug
0.016
mal thermal stress. 0.014
Humidity Ratio (kgH 0 /kgDry Air)

Aug. 0.012
Comparison of Human-Body Exergy 1.0 clo zone 0.010
2
Consumption Rates Before and After Renovation May
0.008
According to the surface tempera- 0.006
ture distribution (Figure 5), the tem- Feb
0.004
perature difference is small among 0.5 clo zone
0.002
the peripheral walls, the ceiling, and 0.000
the glass faces, and an ideal radiant 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
environment has been created. The Operative Temperature, °C
human-body exergy consumption FIGURE 4 Operative temperature and humidity in Aug., Feb., and May (ASHRAE Standard 55-2013 Graphic Method).
rate was reduced by the renovation.
Unsteady Analysis of Human-Body Exergy

Consumption
We analyzed the human-body
exergy consumption rate in summer
that occurs when workers walk out-
doors in the heat from the nearest
transit station before sitting down at
their desks.
During outdoor walking, exergy
consumption is large. When the FIGURE 5 According to the surface temperature distribution, the temperature difference is small among the peripheral walls,
the ceiling, and the glass faces.
workers enter the office, their exergy
consumption rapidly decreases.
Once the personal fan is turned on, metabolic rate and each worker’s
the body reaches a steady state in thermal environment was collected
a shorter time so the subsequent from each wearable devices and
exergy consumption becomes small. wireless sensors. And, the workers
described the thermal sensation
Innovation they felt by using their smartphone.
Wellness Control by Wearable Devices Comfort indexes were corrected
We experimented with automatic and learned on the basis of the col- Wearable devices for gathering individual metabolic rate.
control of airflow and radiant cool- lected information, and we used
ing based on the conditions of work- this to build a system that controls Ceiling DOAS with Desiccant
ers, which were measured with personal fans and the indoor tem- A super-compact humidity-
wearable devices. An increase in sat- perature settings. Results from conditioning air conditioner pro-
isfaction with the thermal environ- the questionnaire survey about vides low humidity in summer and
ment of the office has a significant wellness control system showed energy savings year-round. A new
effect on workplace productivity. increased satisfaction in the ther- desiccant block was devised and a
However, different persons have mal environment of approximately DOAS with desiccant that reduced
different levels of satisfaction in the 50% and productivity of approxi- its height was developed, so it can
same thermal environment. In the mately 25%, compared with per- be housed in the ceiling. The unit is
experiment, position information sonal diffusers manually adjusted equipped with a total heat exchanger,
of each worker is correlated to their by users. a cooling coil, a heating coil, and a

desiccant-regenerating coil and is capable of using geo- Exhaust

Flow-Channel-Switching Moisture Absorption
thermal heat and solar heat (Figure 6). and Desorption Equipment
Static Total
Heat Exchanger
Operation and Maintenance
Monitoring and Total Control by Cloud Computing
Since this building is small, there is no building man-
ager. A remote centralized monitoring system using
cloud computing makes it possible for a building man- Return Air
agement company to perform remote building monitor- Air Supply
ing and control. The system allows changing the appro- Outdoor Air
Outside Dimensions: 2,250 mm (W) × 1,050 mm (D) × 450 mm (H)
priate settings in real time, further reducing energy
consumption. The amount of energy consumption is FIGURE 6 Internal structure of outdoor air-handling unit for desiccant.
also visualized and displayed on Web screens and digital
signage to raise worker awareness. Other Lighting HVAC Plug Load Positive Energy
1400
Primary Energy Consumption (MJ/m2·yr)

Cost-Effectiveness 1200 71%
1000 Reduction
Comparison of Life-Cycle Cost
Simple payback from the energy benefits brought 800
about by the investment in renovation for ZEB will be 600
achieved in approximately 20 years. When the reduc- 400
30%
tion in personnel expenses brought about by improving 200 Generation
workplace productivity is also taken into account, pay- 0
back will be achieved in approximately 12 years. (200)
In cases where a new building model is used instead of Before Renovation After Renovation After Renovation
this renovation model, the time required for simple pay- (Reference Building) (Including PV)
back will drop to appropriately 14 years, and when the Primary Energy: 9.76 MJ/kWh
Reference Building is modeled by Japanese Web Program
time required for payback from improving workplace
FIGURE 7 Comparison of primary energy consumption before and after renovation.
productivity is taken into account, the payback will drop
to approximately eight years.
in the renovation work. This is extremely difficult to
Environmental Impact achieve even for new building construction.
Carbon Dioxide Emissions
The amount of annual CO2 emissions from the building Conclusion
was 25.8 ton·CO2/yr. Carbon neutralization was effectively This is Japan’s first project that renovated an occupied
achieved since the amount of CO2 reduction due to creat- building and converted it to zero net energy. It also cov-
ing energy through photovoltaics was 26.7 ton·CO2/yr. ers power consumption through plug load. This project
both achieved zero energy and brought about benefits
Energy Consumption and Energy Balance Before and After Renovation such as improved comfort, improved workplace pro-
Primary energy consumption was reduced by 71% for ductivity, workstyle innovation, a healthy office, and a
the reference building. Since energy generation was resilient building.
equivalent to 30%, a net positive energy building of 1%
was achieved (Figure 7). Bibliography
TAKENAKA Corporation. 2018. TAKENAKA’s Green Buildings.
Shukuya, M. 2013. Exergy: Theory and Applications in the Built
Reduction in Waste Discharge Environment.
By 100% recycling through reduce, reuse and recycle Springer. Kazanci, O., et al. 2016. “Theoretical analysis of the
activities, we achieved “a final disposal ratio of 0%” performance of different cooling strategies with the concept of cool
exergy.” Building and Environment 100(May):102 – 113.

School Design Exceeds

Net Zero Energy Goals
Designed as Maryland’s first net zero energy school, Wilde Lake
Middle School’s ultra-low energy performance, operational
reliability and design innovation exceeded project expectations
from start to finish.
PHOTO CREDIT DON W. SAVAGE BY MICHAEL P. SHERREN, P.E., LEED AP, ASSOCIATE MEMBER ASHRAE
ASHRAE JOURNAL
FIRST PLACE | 2019 ASHRAE TECHNOLOGY AWARD CASE STUDIES
T he 106,221 ft2 (9868 m2)

Wilde Lake Middle School
in Columbia, Maryland
exemplifies the Howard County
Public School Systems (HCPSS) com-
indicated an average site EUI of
54.9 kBtu/ft2·yr (623.5 MJ/m2·yr)
for K – 12 elementary and middle
school buildings. A 25.0 kBtu/ft2·yr
(283.9 MJ/m2·yr) site EUI goal was
heat sink for the school’s HVAC
equipment.
Energy modeling simulations were
performed to assist with balancing
the building’s annual heating/cool-
mitment to sustainability and 21st established for this project to eco- ing energy, maximizing ground tem-
century learning through environ- nomically justify the initial cost perature stability while minimizing
mental stewardship. The school was of the photovoltaic (PV) system ground temperature extremes. This
designed as a net zero energy (NZE) required to support the school’s energy balance allowed for an all-
building, representing a new era energy production demands. water geothermal heat pump loop
in educational design innovation. Achieving Wilde Lake Middle fluid, promoting improved heat
The resulting project’s measured School’s NZE goal required optimiz- transfer and lower piping pressure
energy performance exceeded the ing the building envelope, lighting, drop compared to traditional glycol-
goals established by the owner, and kitchen components prior to based fluid solutions.
design team and other key project focusing on the mechanical systems. Piping distribution was optimized
stakeholders. Through ongoing design team col- in both routing and size to minimize
NZE performance was achieved by laboration and multiple energy friction, allowing fluid distribution
gaining an in-depth understand- studies performed using simulation throughout the entire geothermal
ing of the anticipated occupant software, the school’s envelope was heat pump loop by a single 15 hp
behavior and building operations, life-cycle cost optimized with the (11 kW) pump, with a second pump
exploring interactions and rela- use of R-28.5 masonry cavity wall provided for N+1 redundancy (Figure
tionships between building system and R-25 insulated metal wall panel 1).
components, maximizing the overall construction. The solar heat gain Seventy-one extended-range heat
efficiency of these systems, and off- coefficient of the eastern, western, pump units were used for space
setting building energy usage with and southern glazing was reduced to conditioning within classroom and
renewable energy. Reliability, sim- 0.27, with exterior shading devices assembly areas (gymnasium, cafete-
plicity of operation, and long-term added as appropriate. ria, and media center). A majority of
maintainability were critical criteria Lighting power density was the school’s heat pump units were
for the school’s design. reduced to 0.39 W/ft2 (4.2 W/m2). equipped with two-stage compres-
Both occupancy-based lighting con- sors for improved energy efficiency
Energy Efficiency trol and building receptacle control during part-load operation.
While the school’s energy per- were implemented. Kitchen equip- Administration areas were pro-
formance was compared to the ment was designed to allow for the vided with space conditioning
LEED baseline building require- use of a Type II kitchen exhaust through a variable refrigerant flow
ments set forth in Appendix G of hood, reducing the amount of (VRF) system, complete with ceiling
ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, makeup airflow required. cassette room terminals and heat
the predicted energy use intensity This optimization process was recovery type water-cooled condens-
(EUI) served as the critical metric for important to achieve NZE, as it pro- ing units connected to the geother-
evaluating energy performance dur- vided a reduction in the required mal heat pump loop. Equipment
ing design. capacity and initial cost of the compressors were provided with
Energy performance data con- school’s mechanical and PV systems. two-position hydronic control valves
tained within the U.S. Energy Geothermal technology was used that automatically open and close
Information Administration’s 2012 to meet the school’s ultralow energy based on compressor operation.
Commercial Buildings Energy consumption requirements and The distribution pump’s operating
Consumption Survey (CBECS) included one-hundred twelve 400 ft speed varies based on actual system
Michael P. Sherren, P.E., is a mechanical principal/vice (121.9 m) deep vertical boreholes pressure, with an electromagnetic
president at James Posey Associates, located in Baltimore. that use the earth as a heat source/ flow meter and a modulating system

Modulating Minimum Flow Bypass airflow setpoints. DOAS supply and

Remote Piping DP
exhaust fans were equipped with
Differential Pressure Sensor variable frequency drives and air-
CSR flow measuring stations for main-
LS VFD taining a constant airflow differen-
DDC Flow Meter tial through fan tracking.
LR
F
(Minimum Flow Control) The operating airflow differential
(T-2) Geothermal (T-1) setpoint is automatically reset dur-
Locate Sensor Within
(T-2A) Heat Pump VFD (T-1A) Mechanical Room (Typ) ing periods of kitchen hood exhaust
Loop Pumps
(Typ of 2) CSR fan operation to maintain a posi-
DDC Panel
LS tive building pressure. Restrooms
LR
Educational Dashboard and other constant-volume exhaust
Borehole Loop Pipe (Typ) DDC Controller spaces were provided with airflow
measuring stations and automatic
FIGURE 1 Geothermal pumping system control diagram.
control dampers to maintain a con-
stant airflow rate.
bypass valve to maintain required first year energy use was 64% lower Classroom heat pump units were
minimum pump flow. than the Standard 90.1-2007 base- provided with multispeed fans and
Conditioned outdoor air was dis- line, corresponding to an annual two-stage compressors, allowing
tributed throughout the school by CO2 emissions reduction of 568 met- for improved room dehumidifica-
three centralized dedicated outdoor ric tons. tion and thermal comfort during
air system (DOAS) units. Each DOAS part-load operation. Each classroom
unit was equipped with an exhaust Indoor Air Quality and was provided with a dedicated heat
air energy recovery enthalpy wheel Thermal Comfort pump unit, and each office was
for preconditioning outdoor air, a Compliance with ASHRAE provided with a dedicated variable
two-pipe chilled/heating water coil Standards 62.1-2007 and 55-2004 refrigerant flow terminal, allowing
supported by a modular water-to- was incorporated into the proj- for individual room temperature
water heat pump unit for outdoor ect’s design to achieve good indoor control within each space. Heat
air tempering and two direct-drive air quality and thermal comfort. pump units serving high occupancy
supply and exhaust fans. Outdoor air supplied from the building spaces with increased activ-
The proposed design’s building school’s DOAS is preconditioned and ity levels were equipped with hot-
energy model simulation predicted delivered to a series of variable-air- gas reheat to accomplish humidity
an annual energy consumption of volume (VAV) terminal units. Each control while promoting good ther-
639,740 kWh and a resultant site EUI classroom or assembly area was pro- mal comfort.
of 20.6 kBtu/ft2·yr (233.9 MJ/m2·yr), vided with a dedicated VAV terminal Heat pump unit overhead supply
yielding a 46.3% energy use reduc- unit that automatically adjusts the air devices were selected for a rela-
tion compared to the Standard 90.1- outdoor air supplied directly to each tive air speed of less than 40 fpm
2007 baseline. heat pump unit based on room CO2 (0.203 m/s), and return air devices
Building energy performance levels. were positioned near the floor to
results measured by the commis- Pressure-independent VAV termi- achieve a zone air distribution effec-
sioning agent from February 2017 nal unit control was implemented tiveness of 1.0. Outdoor air require-
through January 2018 outperformed for the outdoor air distribution ments for heat pump units serving
energy model predictions, with system, with the operating speed of both classroom and corridor areas
an actual first year energy con- all DOAS supply fans automatically were calculated in accordance with
sumption of 428,300 kWh and a adjusting based on duct-mounted the Multiple-Zone Recirculation
resultant site EUI of 13.8 kBtu/ft2·yr static pressure sensor readings to System Requirements set forth in
(156.7 MJ/m2·yr). (See Figure 2.) This maintain required VAV terminal Standard 62.1-2007.

HIGHER STANDARD
ASH RA E 1 89 . 1
Energy Standard for Buildings
Ventilation for Acceptable IAQ
Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy
EC FANS
INTEGRATED
CONTROLS
ENERGY
RECOVERY
CORE
HEATING
COOLING
DEHUMIDIFICATION
ECONOMIZER UNOCCUPIED
BYPASS RECIRCULATION
MODE
Design green. Build green. Live green.
Read our white paper: 189.1: RenewAire.com

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Performance Green buildings:
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Thus the centralized DOAS system

160,000
design, coupled with CO2 controlled
140,000
individual room VAV terminal
Energy Consumed (kWh)
120,000
units, reduced the school’s installed
100,000
outdoor air equipment capacity by
80,000 25.2 cfm/person (11.9 L/s·person)
60,000 compared to similar HCPSS middle
40,000 schools.
20,000 This innovative system sizing and
0 Feb 2017 Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan 2018 design, together with appropri-
ate control strategies, provided
Standard 90.1-2007 Appendix G Baseline Predicted Energy Consumption Measured Energy Consumption increased operating efficiency while
FIGURE 2 Monthly building energy consumption comparison. reducing mechanical and electrical
equipment and infrastructure costs.
The design metabolic rate (met) innovation was achieved through The domestic hot water system also
used for classroom and office the use of a centralized ventilation provided an opportunity to develop
occupants was 1.2, with kitchen system. a creative application-based energy
occupants having an increased All three DOAS units serving the conserving design. Two commercial-
metabolic rate of 1.8. A 0.6 and 1.0 school were centrally located and grade electric heat pump water
clothing value (clo) was applied for interconnected through a pair of heaters generate domestic hot
the cooling and heating seasons, common supply and exhaust air water for both the kitchen area and
respectively. header ducts, allowing all three plumbing fixtures throughout the
While the gymnasium and fitness units to function as a single ventila- school. These water heaters were
lab areas have a time-weighted aver- tion system. The installed airflow positioned adjacent to cooling-
age metabolic rate of approximately capacity of this system was sized intensive spaces with high air-
3.0 and fall outside the purview to accommodate the “block” occu- conditioning demands. Water heater
of Standard 55-2004, the thermal pancy, or total number of occupants compressors produce domestic hot
comfort analyses performed for expected to simultaneously occupy water at a 4.0 COP, while simultane-
LEED compliance within these areas the entire school during typical use, ously providing between 2.5 tons
assumed a metabolic rate of 2.0 as well as the floor area component and 3.5 tons (8.8 kW and 12.3 kW)
(per LEED Interpretation 10279). An of minimum outdoor airflow rate. of cool dehumidified air per water
ASHRAE Standard 55-2004 comfort This centralized ventilation system heater to the school’s kitchen, main
chart analysis demonstrated that the “block” occupancy sizing approach electrical room, and AV/IT rooms,
school’s design indoor conditions took advantage of occupant diversity significantly reducing the cooling
of 76°F (24°C) cooling/50% relative and student movement throughout energy for these areas.
humidity and 70°F (21°C) heating the day, requiring only 23,400 cfm Water heaters were sized to oper-
fall within the allowable comfort (11 044 L/s) of installed outdoor ate between 14 and 16 hours per
range. air capacity to accommodate over day to meet the building’s hot water
750 students and 100 teachers (or demand, with any unused domes-
Innovation 27.5 cfm/person [13 L/s·person]). tic hot water stored in an insulated
Significant reductions in building Similar HCPSS middle schools storage tank.
energy use required an innova- that use multiple independent
tive approach to ventilation system ventilation systems required nearly Operation and Maintenance
design, as outdoor air conditioning 39,500 cfm (18 642 L/s) of installed Engineering solutions that focused
is a major energy use component outdoor air capacity for only 670 on sustainable building opera-
in Baltimore’s 4A climate zone. students and 80 teachers (or tions and ease of maintenance were
For Wilde Lake Middle School, 52.7 cfm/person [24.9 L/s·person]). essential toward achieving NZE. The

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school’s decentralized HVAC system

was comprised of 71 heat pump Double-Wall Supply Air Ductwork
units and 27 VRF terminals, provid-
LR
LS
ing a high level of energy efficiency Conditioned OA Ductwork
while eliminating the potential of
Automatic Flow Classroom Wall
a complete system shutdown due Control Valve
to equipment failure. The limited Min. 24 in.
physical size and availability of spare Two-Position Double-Wall
equipment allows for expedited Automatic Control Return Air Ductwork
Valve
replacement should a failure occur. Heat
Pump Filter Rack
Centralized HVAC system compo- Unit
nents such as the geothermal pumps
were provided with N+1 redundancy
Condensate
to maintain ongoing building opera-
24 in. Support Support Frame
tion in the event of failure. Frame Height
All major mechanical equipment
Return Grille
was located indoors, facilitating Floor 8 in.
improved maintainability and
reduced freeze potential for the FIGURE 3 Typical heat pump unit within support closet.
water-source heat pump units and
DOAS equipment. Classroom heat browser, along with displaying this
pump units and VAV terminal units information at the school’s interac-
were integrated into support clos- tive educational dashboard.
PHOTO COYLE STUDIOS LLC

ets (Figure 3) located near the areas Integration of the energy data pro-
served. vided by this system into the school’s
Doors for all equipment support educational curriculum has aided
closets were accessible directly from in early identification of operational The final PV system design resulted in a 633.5 kW solar
the corridor to allow for routine anomalies and system failures by array that produced approximately 821,618 kWh of elec-
maintenance access during normal building occupants, reducing trou- trical power during its first year of operation.
school hours without disrupting bleshooting and diagnostics time for
classroom functions or requiring building service personnel. savings provides a simple payback
after-hours maintenance. The use of approximately 9.8 years for the
of two-stage type compressors also Cost Effectiveness school’s initial $1.5 million PV sys-
extends compressor life while avoid- Energy reduction strategies for tem investment.
ing the increased initial cost and delivering a cost-effective NZE Due to community development
control complexity associated with school were evaluated based on an within the geographic area, the
variable speed compressors. annual energy cost and PV equip- school’s overall size, floor plan layout,
In addition to a centralized build- ment initial cost reduction basis, mechanical systems, and PV sys-
ing automation system, real-time with a 20-year equipment life used tems were sized to support HCPSS’s
monitoring of the building’s elec- for this evaluation. When compared increased student enrollment pro-
trical consumption and produc- with the Standard 90.1-2007 base- jection of over 750 students, which
tion was accomplished through 24 line building’s $133,850 annual exceeds the actual first-year enroll-
submeters. These meters provide energy cost, the school’s NZE design ment by nearly 20%. Therefore, the
students, teachers, and facilities yields a 20-year energy cost savings final PV system design resulted in a
personnel real-time access to HVAC, of more than $3.5 million based 633.5 kW solar array that produced
lighting, kitchen, plug load, and PV on a 2.75% annual electrical cost approximately 821,618 kWh of elec-
energy data through a standard web increase. This annual energy cost trical power during its first year of

Loss of our Founder and Friend
Norman Mason
It is with deep sadness that we inform you that Norm Mason passed
away on Friday, February 1, 2019. We have lost a great father, grandfather,
friend, mentor and confidant. Norm took great pleasure in being a problem
solver, characterized by always finding viable, practical and cost-effective
means to an end.
As Bob Jones (BBN) commented when he endorsed his book, Noise and
Vibration Control in Buildings, “If some things sound familiar in this book, it’s
because I learned it all from you. My sincere thanks for your invaluable contribution.”
He will be missed, but his legacy will endure forever.
MASON INDUSTRIES, INC.

An ASHRAE Supporter for 50 Years
operation. This production exceeded the building energy generation revenue while the student population con-
model simulation’s predicted annual energy consumption tinues to increase over the next several years.
by 181,878 kWh. This interim student growth timeframe has also pro-
Through a net-metering arrangement, surplus PV vided HCPSS the flexibility to transfer community activi-
energy production is continuously sold back to the local ties and other district-wide school functions to Wilde
utility company throughout the year, providing the Lake Middle School, decreasing the use of other higher
school district with a sustainable source of ongoing PV energy consuming district schools while maximizing the
energy cost benefit of the PV system.
Environmental Impact
The major environmental benefit of
a NZE building is its reduced carbon
footprint. The school’s 821,618 kWh
first-year PV system production
eliminated over 611 metric tons of
CO2 emissions. During that same
time period, the school’s energy con-
sumption resulted in only 319 metric
tons of CO2 emissions. Therefore, the
carbon reduction and environmental
impact of the school extends well
beyond the building footprint, with a
net positive 20-year CO2 reduction of
over 5,840 metric tons anticipated.
Conclusion
The school has helped reshape the
idea of what is possible for many
Maryland school systems. With
24 counties and over 1,400 public
schools, this school stands as an
example of environmental inno-
vation. However, innovation can
sometimes be met with resistance,
as new technologies often require
changes in the traditional process
approach. Wilde Lake Middle School
provides the ability for Maryland
school systems to evaluate these new
technologies first-hand, through on-
site observation and communication
with the school’s maintenance staff,
students and faculty. The positive
®
feedback generated from these
discussions will facilitate increased
innovation and the eventual con-
struction of future NZE schools.

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COLUMN ENGINEER’S NOTEBOOK
Stephen W. Duda
Selecting and Specifying

Airflow Measurement
BY STEPHEN W. DUDA, P.E., HFDP, HBDP, BEAP, FELLOW ASHRAE
Measuring airflow rates is an important part of most HVAC controls systems, and
this month’s column is intended to help designers and engineers select and specify
airflow measurement devices. At least three distinct non-proprietary types of airflow
measurement devices (often abbreviated AFMS for airflow measuring station) are
commonly applied in HVAC systems and are commercially available from multiple
manufacturers, so choosing which type and understanding the pros and cons of each
type is important.
It is also important to understand why we measure Key Selection Criteria
airflow rates, because sometimes the “why” influences A key theme in the list above is the measurement of
the choice of which type of AFMS to apply. Some com- outdoor air. Installing AFMS in unfiltered airstreams
mon reasons for measuring airflow rates in a general has the potential to create maintenance and control
HVAC system include: problems, because some AFMS types rely on very small,
• Continuous and ongoing proof of meeting code- almost pinpoint-sized orifices or tiny probes whose
required outdoor airflow rates, especially when code- effectiveness may be compromised over time by accu-
required rates are fixed or constant-volume but overall mulating dirt and dust. However, most air-handling
airflow delivery is variable volume; equipment is arranged to filter air downstream of the
• Energy conservation; i.e., ensuring during very hot point of mixing of return air with outdoor air, and
and/or humid weather and during very cold weather outdoor air needs to be measured upstream of the
that only the minimum code-required outdoor rates are point of mixing. So this leads to the dilemma of either
provided; and placing outdoor airflow measurement devices in unfil-
• Control of building pressure by measuring and tered airstreams, or adding another filter bank with an
comparing supply and return airflow rates, particularly unwanted first cost, maintenance cost, and energy cost
but not exclusively when applying outdoor air econo- penalty.
mizers.
Stephen W. Duda, P.E., is senior mechanical engineer at Ross & Baruzzini, Inc.,
This discussion does not apply to VAV boxes that have in St. Louis. He is a member and research subcommittee chair of TC 9.1, Large
their own unique airflow measuring requirements. Building Air-Conditioning Systems.

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Use of an AFMS downstream of a filter bank is prefer- are not precise enough as to require the complexity of
able but often not possible when measuring outdoor air- density adjustments.2 The standard allows either cfm
flow. When not possible or practical, the designer should or scfm to be used for compliance purposes, meaning
provide good access for cleaning the AFMS and make temperature or density compensation is acceptable but
sure the maintenance staff is aware of the situation, so not mandatory. To be most technically correct, engi-
they can make cleaning the AFMS part of their routine neers should be specifying measurement of mass flow
maintenance program. A more ideal solution would be or scfm/slps.
to find an AFMS whose performance is less impacted by
dirt or dust. Pitot Tube Array
Another important selection criteria may be AFMS The first type of AFMS I will consider is the pitot tube
performance over a widely varying airflow range. For array. It features multiple total- and static-pressure
example, if measuring building economizer relief air sensors positioned at the center of equal areas of the
as part of a building pressure control scheme, the relief station’s cross section, interconnected by averaging
air may vary from almost zero to full air-handling sys- manifolds. Based on known duct size, a transducer
tem capacity, and not all AFMS are rated to measure converts the pressure readings to an air velocity and
airflow rates that are an order of magnitude lower than then to an airflow rate.
design. In other words, some AFMS selected to measure The device itself has good accuracy under ideal con-
a peak of 20,000 cfm (9440 L/s) may not perform well at ditions, often quoted at ±2% of actual airflow when
2,000 cfm (944 L/s). tested according to AMCA Standard 610,3 over a veloc-
Finally, measurement accuracy, pressure drop, ity range of 400 to 18,000 fpm (2 to 91 m/s). But the
required duct straight lengths upstream and down- transducer (to convert pneumatic readings to a DDC
stream, and purchase cost are other factors that specify- signal) introduces an additional inaccuracy; even a
ing engineers need to consider. All three types of AFMS best-in-class 0.25% span transducer increases the over-
discussed in this column are rated for the ranges of tem- all device error to about 3%. And if the specifier is not
perature and humidity normally found in most HVAC careful, a very poor transducer could be substituted
applications, and therefore won’t be discussed further, which hurts accuracy significantly. Accuracy can be
but those temperature and humidity ranges should be improved by increasing the number of sensor locations
considered in other applications where unusual condi- within the array, and since the “sensor” is essentially
tions are encountered. just another hole in the tube, numerous sensor loca-
When dynamically measuring airflow for the purpose tions can be added and averaged to improve the overall
of proving compliance with ASHRAE Standard 62.11 reading.
ventilation rates, we should recognize that ventilation The output is a function of the square root of the
is fundamentally a function of mass flow, not volumet- velocity pressure, and velocities below 400 fpm (2 m/s)
ric flow. In other words, we care fundamentally about are so low that the device simply cannot distinguish
the quantity of outdoor air molecules brought into a airflows below this level. Thus, they are typically not
building; not the volume that those molecules occupy. recommended by their own manufacturers at applica-
Some types of AFMS actually measure true mass flow tions below 400 fpm (2 m/s), making them an unfavor-
inherently and then include altitude adjustment and able choice for VAV systems and air economizer appli-
temperature sensors to adjust the AFMS for density so cations with turndown to a low airflow. This situation
that they read in actual cfm (L/s); indeed many stan- can be mitigated somewhat by creating separate out-
dard engineering specifications require this feature. door air ducts for minimum flow and economizer flow,
But that is rather ironic—money could be saved by but that comes at added expense. Some manufacturers
just leaving that feature out entirely since Standard improve accuracy at lower velocities by using multiple
62.1 rates were originally derived based on mass flow transducers with different ranges and effectively stage
(expressed as standard cfm or scfm; in SI units stan- the transducers as velocity varies; with this technique,
dard L/s or sLps). But Standard 62.1 seems to more-or- reasonable accuracy is possible as low as 100 fpm
less acknowledge that the ventilation rates in its table (0.5 m/s).

An upstream filter is recommended because dirt can heated by a small electrical current. The probe works
plug the small orifices in the pitot tube, eventually ren- by sensing temperature in the active thermistor and
dering the device less effective, so this type may not be a comparing it to the temperature of the reference
good long-term choice in unfiltered outdoor air intakes thermistor—greater flow rates provide greater cooling
unless frequent maintenance is practiced. of the active thermistor and lesser flow rates provide
Long straight duct runs upstream (7½D – 7½ equivalent lesser cooling of that thermistor. Technically, the device
hydraulic duct diameters) and downstream (3D) are tra- measures the amount of power consumed to continually
ditionally recommended for best performance, because reheat the active thermistor to offset its cooling in an
the air velocity profile can be quite erratic near a distur- active airstream, and then converts that reading to a
bance. However, many pitot tube AFMS devices are sold mass flow rate.
with a honeycomb flow straightener or other devices It has a tested accuracy within ±3% of actual airflow
that reduces the necessary straight runs to 2D upstream when tested according to AMCA Standard 610, when
and 1D downstream. The pressure loss is typically not subjected to a velocity range of 150 to 5,000 fpm (0.8
more than 0.03 in. w.g. at 2,000 fpm (7.5 Pa at 10 m/s) to 25 m/s). The lower-end velocity range may make it a
without the honeycomb flow straightener, and not more good choice for VAV systems and outdoor air economizer
than 0.1 in. w.g. at 2,000 fpm (25 Pa at 10 m/s) with the applications with turndown to a low airflow. Because
flow straightener. this device is all electronic, there is no additional trans-
Pitot-type AFMS (and all other AFMS using differential ducer conversion error as there is with the pitot tube
pressure) require a temperature sensor to allow for mass device. As with the pitot tube array, accuracy can be
flow correction (i.e., to read in scfm instead of acfm). improved by increasing the number of sensor locations
With most manufacturers, this sensor is factory installed within the array. Unlike the pitot tube array, each sens-
and its reading is available to the control system, often ing point is an additional pair of thermistors, and add-
eliminating the need for another air temperature sensor ing numerous sensing points becomes very expensive
provided with the control system. in relative terms. Therefore, to remain competitively
This type of AFMS is also available in a configuration priced, thermal dispersion AFMS devices typically have
suitable for installation at the throat or face of a housed fewer sampling points than a same-size pitot tube array.
fan inlet cone, and may be a good choice for that appli- An upstream filter is recommended because accu-
cation because of its very high upper velocity range. mulation of particulate on the active thermistor acts
However, the impact on fan efficiency and noise due to as an insulator, eventually leading to false readings.
system effect must be considered. Additionally, thermal dispersion sensors are affected by
In summary, this device’s pros include good accuracy moisture in the airstream, because a droplet of liquid
at modest pressure drop; its cons are loss of perfor- moisture cools the active thermistor much more quickly
mance at low velocities (unless enhanced with mul- than does dry air, so the device will “think” moist air is
tiple transducers at added cost and complexity) and in traveling at a greater velocity than is actually the case.
unfiltered airstreams. I tend to favor this type of device Thus, you may need to avoid applying this sensor close
in higher-velocity and/or constant-volume systems, to an outdoor air intake where rain entrainment is pos-
in ducts with upstream filtration and reasonably long sible, or just downstream of a humidifier or cooling coil.
straight sections where I can get a reliable reading. Due to its nature, the thermistor also cannot detect flow
direction (the active thermistor will be cooled by air
Thermal Dispersion flowing in any direction), so avoid applying near a tur-
The next type of AFMS to consider is the thermal bulent air mixing box where backflow from one inlet to
dispersion type. That device consists of one or more another inlet is possible.
equally weighted and averaged sensor probes arranged As with the pitot tube array, straight duct runs for the
in a casing or upon a rod. Each probe contains two thermal dispersion device are recommended—a mini-
thermistors: one is a reference sensor that measures mum of 3D upstream and 2D downstream without a
the temperature of the airstream, and the other is flow straightener or 1½D upstream and ¾D downstream.
a temperature-dependent thermistor intentionally Some of these devices can be custom field-calibrated as

a work-around in turbulent airflow

(such as immediately downstream of
Redefine
Flexibility
an elbow or bad fitting) as a means
of allowing shorter straight duct
runs and/or avoiding the use of a
flow straightening device. The pres-
sure loss is about the same as the
pitot tube array, with and without
flow straightener, respectively.
As noted above, this type of AFMS
inherently measures mass flow so
no adjustment is needed to get stan-
dard cfm readings. However, most
manufacturers include tempera-
ture compensation to read actual
cfm since the thermistor is already
installed. But other than perhaps
for calibration purposes, the AFMS
should be configured to output
scfm.
This type of AFMS is also avail-
able in a configuration suitable for
installation at the throat or face of a
housed fan inlet cone. However, the
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above for pitot-type sensors. or industrial job—whether it’s water source or geothermal, rooftop
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The chief problems with measur-
ing incoming outdoor airflow rates

are (a) very low velocity in economizer systems when pressure drop device such as a perforated screen with,
not using economizer; and (b) the fact that outdoor say, a 0.2 in. w.c. pressure drop (50 Pa) at full design
air intakes are typically unfiltered until mixed with flow improves the range of measurement but drives up
return air inside an air-handling unit, after which it energy consumption compared to the first two options.
is too late to measure outdoor air. So this third AFMS On the other hand, using a perforated screen provided
option is a device for measuring outdoor air cfm right by the AFMS manufacturer does obviate the need for
at a louver or air intake without any straight duct and field calibration and allows for AMCA Standard 610
without any filter requirement. It consists of a differ- certification.
ential pressure sensor attached to either a louver or As with pitot-type AFMS, this AFMS uses differential
screen. It works off differential pressure, calibrated pressure so a temperature sensor is required if airflow is
against a known fixed resistance (i.e., its mounting to be measured as mass flow (scfm).
louver or screen). Any fixed resistance device such So this device’s pros include good performance at
as a louver or perforated screen has its own unique low turndown, in unfiltered airstreams, and with no
relationship between velocity and pressure drop. upstream straight duct; its cons include less accuracy
Measurement of differential static pressure upstream out of the box and a sometimes higher pressure drop
and downstream of that fixed resistance, compared than the other types discussed. I tend to favor this
with the known velocity/pressure drop curve for that type of device when measuring outdoor air flow rates
resistance device, yields an airflow velocity. at or near an intake where there is no opportunity for
Measured airflow is less affected by wind, moisture, upstream filtration. The accuracy out of the box is not
and dirt than other AFMS; it requires no upstream as good, but it still meets ASHRAE Standard 111 and
straight run; and it requires no upstream filter. Accuracy LEED, and the other devices studied in this column
is about ±5% of reading when tested according to AMCA may eventually lose their accuracy in this particular
Standard 610, so it is not as good as with the first two application due to buildup of particulate.
options out of the box, but ±5% still meets ASHRAE
Standard 1114 and LEED5 requirements. Its rated veloc- Conclusion
ity range is 150 to 1500 fpm (0.8 to 8 m/s), which cor- This column offers a quick overview of three available
responds favorably to the range of velocity normally technologies when selecting and specifying airflow mea-
encountered in an induced outdoor air intake. But this suring stations in building HVAC systems. There is not
may be too low on the upper end of range for fan-forced one correct answer for all airflow measurement applica-
supply, return, or exhaust systems but some manufac- tions; the proper selection varies with the application.
turers offer multiple sequenced transducers that extend One must consider the type of airflow (filtered, unfil-
the maximum velocity range. tered, outdoor air, supply air, etc.) being measured, the
This type of device relies on a pressure drop for flow range of air velocities anticipated, duct configurations,
measurement, and performance is improved when the and relative cost.
associated pressure drop is higher (such as through a A future column of mine may cover water, gas, and
perforated plate). But the trade-off is that higher pres- steam flow measurement devices.
sure loss costs the building owner money in terms of
operating cost long-term. So on one hand this device Notes
may be best applied directly on an outdoor air intake 1. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2016, Ventilation for Acceptable
Indoor Air Quality, Article 6.2 Ventilation Rate Procedure.
louver—which presumably would be necessary with or
2. See Footnote 3 to Table 6.2.2.1 of Standard 62.1
without airflow measurement, so no additional pres- 3. ANSI/AMCA Standard 610-06 (R2012), Laboratory Methods of
sure drop is realized—but lower pressure drop across Testing Airflow Measurement Stations For Performance Rating, Arlington
a louver oversized to avoid rain entrainment limits Heights, Ill.: The Air Movement and Control Association
International, Inc.
the device’s performance. If the louver only has a 0.05
4. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 111-2008, Measurement, Testing,
in. w.c. pressure drop (12 Pa) at full design airflow, Adjusting, and Balancing of Building HVAC Systems, ¶5.2.4.
there is not much of a range for the differential pres- 5. LEED v4 requires as a prerequisite ±10% accuracy for AFMS
sure device to work with. Introducing an additional controlling minimum outdoor air on VAV systems.

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COLUMN IEQ APPLICATIONS
Peter Alspach
A Case for Controllability

BY PETER ALSPACH, P.E., MEMBER ASHRAE
When I get in my car—a not particularly high-end car—I’ve got a plethora of thermal
comfort controllability options: three separate climate zones (driver, passenger, and
rear) and individual heated seats for the driver and passenger. I can then refine further
control through adjustable fan speed and air vent direction to further tune comfort
conditions. The front two passengers each have three methods of controlling for thermal
comfort (air temperature, air speed, and radiant/contact temperature), while the rear
two passengers share a thermal zone with some air speed control. All of this control is
provided for four occupants in a space with an interior volume of about 3 m3 (100 ft3).
Yet when I come to my office—brand new and striv- clothing. The designer then checks the expected com-
ing for LEED and WELL Certification—we have three fort of the occupant relative to the design setpoint
thermostats serving the open office floor plan housing for the season, typically the cooling setpoint for sum-
80 people. Luckily, we do have adjustable thermostats, mer evaluation and the heating setpoint for winter
although building management restricts their range. evaluation.
This difference in controllability is stunning when one This approach has several flaws when it comes to
considers the expense of construction, the amount of designing for and achieving thermal comfort for all
time we spend indoors, and the value of work generated the occupants, especially for the open plan offices that
in our indoor environments. dominate current workplace design:
In most building satisfaction surveys, thermal comfort 1. The full range of thermostatic dead band needs to
is consistently one of the top two areas of dissatisfaction be considered, with ASHRAE Standard 90.1 requiring a
(the other being acoustics), with little improvement minimum 2.8°C (5°F) between heating and cooling set
shown for sustainable buildings. What are we doing points.
wrong? What is driving this level of dissatisfaction? 2. Occupant activities are more diverse than can be
What can we do about it? expressed in a single metabolic rate assumption within
If we look at thermal comfort through the lens of the variance allowed by Standard 55 (±0.10 met).
ASHRAE Standard 55, some of the clues for thermal 3. Occupant clothing levels vary highly among indi-
dissatisfaction become apparent. One of the key viduals; in more casual work environments this varia-
tenets of ASHRAE Standard 55 is that of the represen- tion can be very significant and greater than the 0.15 clo
tative occupant. The representative occupant reflects variance allowed by Standard 55.
some average or assumed occupant that is occupying 4. Thermal variations within an HVAC zone, e.g., due
the space and includes assumptions about clothing to varying mean radiant temperature or simply non-
and activity levels. Most HVAC designers look at a uniform air mixing.
single representative occupant for each space, per- Peter Alspach, P.E., is the director of design performance at NBBJ in Seattle. He was a prin-
haps providing one or more seasonal variations for cipal at Arup in Seattle when he wrote this column.

Thermostatic Dead Band Impacts these factors can result in real loads well below the
Let’s look first at the thermostatic dead band. In a VAV box minimum turndown if the typical 30% to 40%
typical situation with a multi-zone VAV system, the of maximum rule of thumb is used. If that occurs and
heating setpoint may be 21°C (70°F) with a cooling there is no re-heat coil, the result can be zone tempera-
setpoint of 24°C (75°F). During summer conditions, tures below the heating setpoint. If a coil is present, then
perimeter zones under cooling demand will typically the result is wasted energy through re-heat and a zone
be maintained at the cooling setpoint. But what about maintained at the heating setpoint.
other zones on the same system and at other times of Regardless of the cause, the reality is that designers
the year? If an office building has one system per floor, need to consider occupant thermal comfort not just at
some perimeter zones may be in either dead band or in the setpoints but within the full dead band. The tem-
heating mode while another perimeter zone is in cooling perature swing of a zone over the course of a day through
mode (the common north/south or east/west situation). the dead band can, depending on the occupant charac-
Interior zones are a particularly interesting subject teristics, place occupants in and out of the comfort zone
with regards to temperature variations; many interior and ASHRAE Standard 55 compliance.
zones have two problematic design characteristics, no
re-heat coil and a relatively high minimum turndown. Occupant Activity Variations
The result for many interior office zones is over cool- Modern offices and workplace designs support a wide
ing, sometimes even below the heating setpoint. This variety of occupant activities that go well beyond the
occurs due to a few compounding factors; worst case or commonly assumed 1.1 met for a seated worker. In my
conservative design loads, low actual plug loads, and new office, just in the main workplace zone, we have
a real occupancy much lower than design. Combining standing desks, a treadmill desk, and under-desk cycling
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machines. With no private offices, occupants can be up thermal zone where the temperature is uniform
and about collaborating or sequestered away in a focus throughout the occupied area. The de facto approach
room. The met calculations for the range of possible for assessing uniformity, at least in cooling, is the use
activities runs the full spread allowed under Standard 55 of ADPI, with an ADPI of greater than 80 signifying
—a low of 1.0 (seated and reading) to a high of 2.0 (walk- acceptable thermal uniformity. To achieve an ADPI of
ing at 2 mph at a treadmill desk). Some occupants may 80 a space must have 80% of the occupied zone meeting
even be outside the range of the standard—meditation the acceptable parameters of an air speed of less than
rooms might see met rates (per Standard 55) as low as 0.35 m/s (70 fpm) and an effective draft temperature
0.8 and a vigorous treadmill or cycling desk user could between –1.5 and 1.0°C (–3 and +2°F) based on standard
easily exceed 2.0 met. If we look at the impact of those testing procedures. So even what we call uniform isn’t
metabolic rate variations in terms of how the operative uniform. Mean radiant temperature variations due to
temperature at neutral conditions (PMV = 0) changes, external envelope conditions and direct solar gains add
the metabolic rate variation impact across occupants further thermal variations into perimeter zones that
can be as high as 5°C (9°F) from 1.0 to 2.0 met. Taking undermine the notion of a thermally uniform zone. As
the treadmill/exercise desk out of the equation one an example, the prescriptive path of the direct incident
can still see met rate variations from 1.0 to 1.5 met in solar radiation calculations within Standard 55 shows an
a typical office setting – a minimum of three separate increase in mean radiant temperature (MRT) of 2.8°C
“representative occupant” calculations per Standard 55 (5.0°F) for occupants near the glazing with internal
(met = 1.1, 1.3, 1.5). This represents a neutral condition shading devices drawn.
range of 2.6°C (4.7°F). I don’t think there are too many The above cases clearly show the wide variations that
designers out there performing three separate represen- occur within a typical office HVAC zone. It is no wonder
tative occupant calculations for office space. Even if one that we get complaints—nailing down a single represen-
did the calculations, trying to find a control approach tative occupant in a spatially uniform condition is basi-
to keep everyone in their comfort zone and meeting cally impossible! So how does this bring us back to my
Standard 90.1 is a challenge. car? Well, my car allows for a lot of personal adjustment
of my thermal environment. I can vary the air tempera-
Occupant Clothing Variations ture, the air speed and location of air movement on my
Much like metabolic rates, a simple glance around an body, and the radiant temperature. Enough adjustment
office will show a wide variety of clothing ensembles and to get me to my happy spot and keep me there, even on a
insulation values. One representative occupant is not long drive. Swing me back to the office and you have the
reality. As an example, I did a visual survey of my office classic thermostat wars that nobody (well, maybe one
(located in Seattle in February) and found a clothing person…) is going to win.
insulation range from 0.48 clo to 1.0 clo. There were no What is the solution? I would say that the solution is
obvious gender biases; there were men and women at greater controllability by the occupants. The ideal is
or near both extremes and in the middle. The observed what the newest, high end cars have—heated and cooled
range is equal to the “classic” 0.5 clo for summer, 1.0 clo seats, adjustable air vents, and individual temperature
for winter assumptions of the Standard 55 Graphical zones. I would argue that a nice modern building should
Method. Yet, per Standard 55, this would require a at least be as good as a nice modern car! The cost is not
minimum of two representative occupant calculations, that far off—with office construction costs around at
one with a clo at 0.63 and one with a clo at 0.90, to cover $250-$300/ft2 and utilization about 150 ft2/person, each
the range of clothing ensembles observed on a single person’s space costs roughly the same as a new, pretty
day. Using a similar neutral condition impact analysis nice, car. That should surely buy the occupant comfort
approach as above, the full range impact on neutral and controllability equal to the vehicle they drive to
operative temperature is 3.1°C (5.6°F). work. We should take some notes from the automakers’
playbook and focus on the customers and their thermal
Thermal Variations Within a Zone needs and uniqueness. Give them what they want, and
Most conventional HVAC systems aim for a well-mixed they want control. Just ask.

COLUMN REFRIGERATION APPLICATIONS
Andy Pearson
The Big Easy

BY ANDY PEARSON, PH.D., C.ENG., FELLOW ASHRAE
If it were invented today it would surely be prohibited! It is flammable. It is highly

toxic. It is ethyl alcohol. The United States tried prohibition 100 years ago when the
18th amendment was ratified on Jan. 16, 1919. While it had undoubted short-term
medical benefits (reduced liver disease, reduced poverty, reduced violent crime),
these were soon reversed by the illicit trade in alcohol and within 15 years the 18th
amendment had been repealed by the 21st, ratified on Dec. 5, 1933.
There are some parallels between alcohol and ammo- The high heat content required to boil liquid ammonia
nia. They are flammable, they are toxic and yet people also means that it takes a long time to evaporate if there
seem to really like them—sometimes to the point of is a large liquid spill. This may seem like a disadvantage
apparent addiction. Despite an old-fashioned image but it makes the management of an accidental release
that harks back to a bygone era, ammonia is still an much easier than if it were more volatile. My old friend
extremely popular and effective refrigerant. For anyone Anders Lindborg once observed that there is a reason
slightly familiar with ammonia this is really puzzling— why fire chiefs choose to practice their emergency
why would you choose to work with something that response drills with ammonia but, despite its wide-
seems to be so unpleasant? Modern legislative require- spread availability, terrorists don’t favor it. It’s because
ments have made this puzzle even it is easy to get it back under control
more obscure; why would anyone Despite an old-fashioned image that harks back to (provided, of course, that you know
a bygone era, ammonia is still an extremely popu-
put themselves through the pain of lar and effective refrigerant. what you are doing).
an OSHA audit or expose their busi- Another way in which ammonia is
ness to the risk of adverse public easy stems from its solubility in water.
press in the event of an incident? Aqua-ammonia is sometimes used
The answer is “because it’s worth it.” as a secondary refrigerant as it has a
The fact is that, as a refriger- higher specific heat capacity and lower
ant, ammonia is very easy to work viscosity at low temperature than any
with. Several independent prop- other common brine or glycol. Inside
erties combine to make this so. It the refrigeration system this affinity for
takes a lot of heat to boil it—in this respect it is almost water makes ammonia easy. If there is a small amount
as unusual as water, which clouds our thinking about of water in the ammonia, the effect will be almost
heat content because it is so extreme. To boil a pound imperceptible but the same amount in an HFC plant
of ammonia under typical refrigeration conditions will spell disaster as it will freeze at the expansion valve
takes almost eight times more heat than to boil a typical and cause erratic and unreliable behavior. This is why
HFC. This makes it a big carrier of heat; it’s like filling HFC plants need well-maintained filter driers in the
a swimming pool from a well. Would you rather use a liquid line and ammonia plants don’t. It’s also why it is
child’s play pail or a proper 10-gallon bucket? Water highly undesirable for the suction pressure of an HFC
and ammonia are similar in this respect because they plant to drop below atmospheric pressure but this really
are both polar molecules, so the forces holding them doesn’t matter in an ammonia plant.
together are stronger that in non-polar molecules Ammonia: it really is the big easy.
like R-134a or carbon dioxide, and so more energy is
required to turn liquid into gas. Andy Pearson, Ph.D., C.Eng., is group managing director at Star Refrigeration in Glasgow, UK.

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Border Advertisements More...
are inserted in 8-point bold heading www.bcatech.com
and address type of 7-point body 407-
407-659-
659-0653
type at the rate of $125.00 per
column inch, includes heading and
address. Maximum length 5 inches.
Maximum width 2-1/8”. Prices are Green
net. Border classified insertions for
members are $65.00 per column BIM Energy Simulation
inch.
> Easy to learn and use GUI, similar
to AutoCAD®/IntelliCAD®
Classifieds are accepted in the FineGREEN utilizes a familiar CAD interface, which
makes you feel as if you already know it.
categories of Job Opportunities,
Rentals, Business Opportunities, > Full DWG and IFC Compatibility
and Software. FineGREEN can import any DWG file, as well as any 3D
IFC BIM architectural model from other programs like
Revit®, Archicad®, Vectorworks®, SketchUp Pro® or
Closing date: equivalent.
Copy must be received by the > Smart 3D BIM Model

classified department by the 3rd of FineGREEN allows the user to work directly on the real
3D ΒΙΜ model to perform both, geometrical and
the month preceding date of issue. intelligent/logical BIM operations within an open energy
simulation environment.
> EnergyPlus based Calculations

FineGREEN embeds the EnergyPlus (e+) calculation
Address: Send request for further engine (sponsored by DOE) ensuring reliability of results.
information to: 4M belongs to the e+ 3rd party interface developers.
> Seamless Integration with

ASHRAE JOURNAL FineHVAC and FineMEP
Vanessa Johnson FineGREEN belongs to the 4M BIM Suite including also
Architectural Design (IDEA) and Mechanical /Electrical
1791 Tullie Circle NE Services (FINE-MEP), within a collaborative environment
Atlanta, GA 30329
Phone 678-539-1166
Fax 678-539-2166
E-mail: vjohnson@ashrae.org
info@4msa.com, www.4mbim.com, www.4msa.com
CLASSIFIED ADS are ALWAYS PRODUCTIVE

Contact Vanessa Johnson, Ad Productions & Operations Coordinator
at 678-539-1166 for a quote.
M AY 2 0 1 9 ashrae.org ASHRAE JOURNAL 95

ADVERTISING SALES
Advertisers Index/Reader Service Information ASHRAE JOURNAL
1791 Tullie Circle NE | Atlanta, GA 30329
Two fast and easy ways to get additional information on (404) 636-8400 | Fax: (678) 539-2174
products & services in this issue: www.ashrae.org
Greg Martin | gmartin@ashrae.org
Associate Publisher, ASHRAE Media Advertising
Go to www.ashrae.org/freeinfo to search for products by category or Vanessa Johnson | vjohnson@ashrae.org
Advertising Production Coordinator
company name. Plus, link directly to advertisers’ Web sites or request
information by e-mail, fax or mail. NORTHEAST U.S.
Nelson & Miller Associates –
Denis O’Malley
5 Hillandale Ave., Suite 101
Stamford, CT 06902
(203) 356-9694 | Fax (203) 356-9695
*Regional sales@nelsonmiller.com
Company Page Company Page Company Page
AAON Inc ..................................... 86 Daikin North America LLC........ 90 PVI Industries............................. 91 SOUTHEAST U.S.
Millennium Media, Inc. –
590 Hickory Flat Road
AAON Inc ..................................... 21 Delta Cooling Towers................. 86 Rawal Devices Inc. .................... 83 Alpharetta, GA 30004
Doug Fix (770) 740-2078 | Fax (678) 405-3327
ABB LOW Voltage Drives...........11 ebm-papst Inc ............................ 87 Lori Gernand-Kirtley (281) 855-0470 | Fax (281) 855-4219
Reliable Controls.......................... 3 dfix@bellsouth.net; lg@lindenassoc.com
Aerco International Inc ............... 9 Ebtron...................................3rd Cvr
Reliable Controls........................ 91 OHIO VALLEY U.S.
Aerco International Inc ............. 88 Evapco.......................................... 92
LaRich & Associates – Tom Lasch
RenewAire .................................. 67 512 East Washington St.
AHR Expo Orlando 2020 ............17 Fuji Electric Corp of America .. 90 Chagrin Falls, OH 44022
tlasch@larichadv.com
A-J Manufacturing Co. Inc........13 Fujitsu General America Inc .... 39 Rotor Source Inc........................ 34 (440) 247-1060 | Fax (440) 247-1068
ASHRAE 2019 Annual Conference Fulton Management Services.. 69 Ruskin .......................................... 24 MIDWEST U.S.
Kansas.......................................... 61 Kingwill Company – Baird Kingwill; Jim Kingwill
Fulton Management Services.. 87 330 W. Colfax Street, Unit 102
Seiho International Inc ............. 51
ASHRAE Learning Institute...... 81 Palatine, IL 60057
Greenheck...................................... 7 (847) 537-9196 | Fax (847) 537-6519
ASHRAE Standard 55-2013...... 83 Sentech Corp .............................. 91 barry@kingwillco.com; jim@kingwillco.com
Greentrol Automation Inc ......... 47
ASHRAE Stakeholders’ Guide......92 Shortridge Instruments Inc. .... 34 SOUTHWEST U.S.
Harsco Industrial Patterson-Kelley Lindenberger & Associates, Inc. –
ASHRAE AEDGs.......................... 92 ....................................................... 41 Gary Lindenberger; Lori Gernand-Kirtley
Shuangliang Eco-Energy Systems 7007 Winding Walk Drive, Suite 100
ASHRAE eLearning .................... 93 Hisense ........................................ 43 ....................................................... 77 Houston, TX 77095
(281) 855-0470 | Fax (281) 855-4219
Krueger ........................................ 45 gl@lindenassoc.com; lg@lindenassoc.com
ASHRAE Certified HVAC Designer Stulz Air Technology Systems Inc
....................................................... 94 Mason Industries, Inc............... 71 ....................................................... 73 CANADA & WEST U.S.
LaRich & Associates – Nick LaRich, Tom Lasch
*ASHRAE 90.1 Portal................. 55 Mitsubishi Electric & Electronics 512 East Washington St.
Stulz Air Technology Systems Inc Chagrin Falls, OH 44022
Automatic Airflow Balancing ... 54 USA Inc........................................ 31
nlarich@larichadv.com
....................................................... 87 tlasch@larichadv.com
Belimo Aircontrols USA ............ 29 *Mitsubishi Electric Sales Canada (440) 247-1060 | Fax (440) 247-1068
....................................................... 55 Taco Inc.......................................... 5
Belimo Aircontrols USA ............ 88 KOREA
Munters Corp.............................. 88 YJP & Valued Media Co., Ltd – YongJin Park
Taco Inc........................................ 89
Berner International.................. 72 Kwang-il Building #905, Dadong-gil 5
Munters Corp.............................. 35 Jung-gu, Seoul 04521, Korea
Berner International.................. 87 The Whalen Company ............... 92 82-2 3789-6888 | Fax: 82-2 3789-8988
Munters Corp......................4th Cvr hi@YJPvm.kr
Bosch............................................ 89 Titus.............................................. 23
Niles Steel Tank ......................... 49 EUROPE & MIDDLE EAST
Bradford White Corporation..... 86 Steve Comstock
Niles Steel Tank ......................... 90 Tjernlund Products Inc ............. 88
32 (0)2 234 77 11 | comstock@ashrae.org
Buckaroos, Inc............................ 91
Panasonic Appliance Air Topog-E Gasket Co..................... 89
INTERNATIONAL
Cambridge Engineering............. 33 Conditioning North America..... 86 ASHRAE – Greg Martin
Tuttle & Bailey............................ 89 (678) 539-1174 | gmartin@ashrae.org
Carrier Corporation.................... 92 Parker Boiler Company............. 20
Control Solutions ....................... 90 Petra Engineering ...................... 59 Uponor.......................................... 75 RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING AND REPRINTS
ASHRAE – Greg Martin
(678) 539-1174 | gmartin@ashrae.org
Daikin North America LLC..CV2-1 PVI Industries............................. 25 Waterfurnace International...... 79

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ASHRAE Technology Portal

Search ASHRAE’s vast information archive

Remote Testing of Fire and Smoke

At Daikin, “Air Intelligence” is delivering

FEATURES 85 REFRIGERATION APPLICATIONS

2019 ASHRAE TECHNOLOGY AWARDS DEPARTMENTS

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Heat Motor Zone Valves Zone Sentry® Zone Valves

Fisair’s air dehumidifiers use an exclusive high-

efficiency and to decrease CO2 emis-

Steady Growth for dential market,” said Juan Madrid,

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Learn more at greenheck.com | 715-359-6171

Louvers Dampers Fans

Models EVH-501 and EHH-501

ENERGY PACKAGED MAKE-UP LAB

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AERtrim Dual Returns onAER

©2019 AERCO 800.526.0288 aerco.com

humidifiers capable of high-precision rela-

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M A Y 2 0 19 ashrae.org ASHRAE JOURNAL 11

GOLDEN, COLO.—ASHRAE President Sheila Hayter’s theme of

ers of energy (kWh), and goals were related primarily to

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USP 800 Compliance Made Easy!

816-231-5522 Find out how we can help

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Tools and Applications LETTERS

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JUNE SMACNA Annual Convention, Oct. 20–23, Aus-

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Orlando FEBRUARY 3-5

THE WORLD’S LARGEST HVACR MARKETPLACE

Remote Fire and Smoke

Building codes require periodic testing of life-safety dampers. Actuated damp-

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TABLE 1 Periodic testing requirements. FIGURE 1 Containment smoke damper wiring.

M A Y 2 0 19 ashrae.org ASHRAE JOURNAL 19

FIGURE 4 Smoke control system—re-openable combination fire and smoke damper.

Re-Openable Combination Damper

commonly a separate indication and override panel is

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AHRI Certified Performance

Contact your local AAON Representative about

Summary Chapter 7 will require additional controls and wiring to

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Conquest® condensing, gas-ﬁred water heaters are

The U.S. Air Force’s Approach to HVAC Education

The Students Military engineers are quite mobile, typically moving to

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viewed by students in a matter of minutes. For example,

PHOTO: MIKE SHEARER

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Commissioning at your Fingertips