21AR311 Residential Building Services

Odd Semester, November 2024

Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning

(HVAC)
Ventilation
Ventilation is necessary in buildings mainly for the following
reasons:
• to provide fresh air for occupants
• to dilute and exhaust pollutants
• to protect the buildings against moisture in certain
climatic conditions
• to provide air for fuel burning appliances
• to provide cooling in summer.
Ventilation provision is thus related either to indoor air quality
(IAQ) or thermal comfort.
Ventilation
Ventilation - a means of changing the air in an enclosed space to:
• Provide fresh air for respiration : approx. 0.1 to 0.2 l/s per person.
• Preserve the correct level of oxygen in the air : approx. 21%.
• Control carbon dioxide content to no more than 0.1%.
• Concentrations above 2% are unacceptable as carbon dioxide is
poisonous to humans and can be fatal.
• Control moisture : relative humidity of 30% to 70% is acceptable.
• Remove excess heat from machinery, people, lighting, etc.
• Dispose of odours, smoke, dust and other atmospheric
contaminants.
• Relieve stagnation and provide a sense of freshness : air movement
of 0.15 to 0.5 m/s is adequate.
• Air infiltration can be achieved by natural or mechanical means. The
former partly achieved by background trickle vents in window
frames and by air gaps or undercutting to internal doors.
• Natural ventilation by these means is difficult to regulate in defined
quantities, therefore low energy use mechanical ventilation systems
are becoming quite common in new-built forms.
• Purpose ventilation which can be further divided into:
• Natural
• Mechanical
• Combination (hybrid or mixed mode ventilation).
• natural and mechanical
• fan assisted natural ventilation
• stack and wind assisted mechanical ventilation
Natural Ventilation
• The sources for natural ventilation are wind effect/pressure and stack
effect/pressure.
• Stack effect is an application of convected air currents. Cool air is
encouraged to enter a building at low level. Here it is warmed by the
occupancy, lighting, machinery and/or purposely located heat emitters. A
column of warm air rises within the building to discharge through vents at
high level
Warm
interior Cool
exterior
Natural Ventilation
• Stack effect can be very effective in tall office-type buildings and shopping
malls, but has limited effect during the summer months due to warm
external temperatures. A temperature differential of at least 10 K or 10◦C is
needed to effect movement of air, therefore a supplementary system of
mechanical air movement should be considered for use during the warmer
seasons.
• Ventilation and heating for an assembly hall or similar building may be
achieved by admitting cool external air through low level convectors. The
warmed air rises to high level extract ducts. The cool air intake is regulated
through dampers integral with the convectors.
Mechanical Ventilation
• Mechanical ventilation systems are frequently applied to commercial
buildings, workshops, factories, etc., where the air change
requirements are defined for health and welfare provision. There are
three categories of system:
• 1. Natural inlet and mechanical extract
• 2. Mechanical inlet and natural extract
• 3. Mechanical inlet and mechanical extract
• The capital cost of installing mechanical systems is greater than natural
systems of air movement, but whether using one or more fans, system
design provides for more reliable air change and air movement.
• Some noise will be apparent from the fan and air turbulence in ducting.
This can be reduced by fitting sound attenuators and splitters
With any form of recirculated air ventilation system, the ratio of fresh to
recirculated air should be at least 1:3. i.e. min. 25% fresh, max. 75%
recirculated.
Ventilation Rates
• Requirements for an acceptable amount of fresh air supply in
buildings will vary depending on the nature of occupation and
activity.
• As a guide, between 10 l/s of outdoor air supply per person can be
applied between the extremes of a non-smoking environment, to an
extract air rate of 36 l/s per person in a room dedicated specifically
for smokers.
• Converting this to m 3 /h (divide by 1000, multiply by 3600), equates
to 36 m 3 /h per person.
• Air changes per hour or ventilation rate is the preferred criteria for
system design. This is calculated by dividing the quantity of air by the
room volume and multiplying by the occupancy.
• E.g. 50 m 3 /h, 100 m 3 office for five persons: 50/100 x 5 = 2.5 a/c per h.
Habitable Room

• Habitable room : any room used for dwelling purposes, not solely a
kitchen, utility room, bathroom or sanitary accommodation (wc).
• Habitable rooms : rapid or purge ventilation should be capable of
producing 4 a/c per h for each room, plus a whole building ventilation
rate of not less than:
• Bedrooms 1 2 3 4 5
• Ventilation rate (l/s)* 13 17 21 25 29
• * Add 4 l/s per person where occupancy is greater than 2 persons per
main bedroom and greater than 1 person in other bedrooms.
• * The minimum acceptable rate for any dwelling is 0.3 l/s per m 2 total
internal floor area.
Kitchen and other rooms

• Kitchen, utility room, bathroom and sanitary accommodation (wc) : local

ventilation by intermittent or continuous mechanical means, i.e. an
extract fan capable of achieving the following minimum rates (l/s):
Kitchen and other rooms

• Kitchen (for food and beverage preparation), washrooms, sanitary

accommodation, photocopy and print processing rooms : local extract
ventilation by continuous or intermittent means as follows:
Room air delivery
• Chilled air can be. delivered to the space, either
in a mixing mode or a displacement mode.
• Mixing mode of air delivery - The air supplied
to the space is typically about 13°C at the design
cooling load. The air is jetted into the space such
that it mixes with air already in the space by
entrainment and when the air enters the occupied
zone it is at the appropriate temperature, speed
and RH for comfort. Air may be supplied from
the perimeter, the ceiling or even the
floor.

• Displacement air delivery - Air

is supplied to the space at a low
velocity such that it displaces the
air already in the space towards
the ceiling extract. Air is usually
supplied at the floor or through
low-level diffusers.
Air Conditioning
• Air conditioning is achieved by developing the principles of moving air in
ducted ventilation systems to include a number of physical (principles of air
expansions and condensation) and scientific (ionization, ozonization,
treatment) processes which enhance the air quality.
• The objective is to provide and maintain internal air conditions at a pre-
determined state, regardless of the time of year, the season and the
external atmospheric environment.
• For buildings with human occupancy, the design specification is likely to
include an internal air temperature of 19 - 23◦C and relative humidity
between 40 and 60%.
Terminology in air-conditioning design
• Dew point : temperature at which the air is saturated (100% RH) and further cooling
manifests in condensation of water in the air.
• Dry bulb temperature : temperature shown by a dry sensing element such as mercury
in a glass tube thermometer (◦C db).
• Moisture content : amount of moisture present in a unit mass of air (kg/kg dry air).
• Relative humidity (RH) : ratio of water contained in air at a given dry bulb
temperature, as a percentage of the maximum amount of water that could be held in
air at that temperature.
• Saturated air : air at 100% RH.
• Wet bulb temperature : depressed temperature measured on mercury in a glass
thermometer with the sensing bulb kept wet by saturated muslin (◦ C wb).
Air Conditioning
• The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning
Engineers (ASHRAE) definition of HVAC describes a system that must be
able to simultaneously control:
• • Temperature,
• • Relative humidity,
• • Air Speed and
• • Quality of air in occupied spaces
• These four factors generally overlay the factors that define thermal comfort
and indoor air quality—mean radiant temperature (MRT) being the critical
exception.
Air Conditioning
In the broadest sense, the term “air-conditioning” means that a quantity of
air is
• mixed with the required amount of outside (fresh) air;
• filtered to remove specified amounts of particulate and/or gaseous
elements;
• heated and/or cooled by an appropriate temperature control system;
• humidified or dehumidified;
• ionized, ozonated, or otherwise treated; or
• delivered to the conditioned spaces and distributed in a quiet, draft-free
manner.
Air Conditioning

• Analysis of air conditioning processes is required for

maintaining proper temperature and humidity in living space
such as residential, commercial, and industrial facilities. The
basic processes are as follows:
• 1) simple heating and cooling processes;
• 2) cooling with dehumidification;
• 3) heating with humidification;
• 4) adiabatic mixing of two air streams; and
• 5) evaporative cooling.
 Chilled Heat
Refrigeration
Air System Water Rejection
System
System System

Heat
Air Handler
Exchanger
Components
of HVAC

Heating Cooling
System System
 CAV VAV

Variable air volume (VAV)

Varying volume of air is supplied in response to the cooling load. As the
cooling load is reduced the volume of air is also reduced until a
minimum air supply is reached.
Constant air volume (CAV)
Air is supplied at a constant volume and the temperature of the air is
varied in response to the space cooling or heating load.

• Centralised System
• Packaged terminals air conditioning (PTAC)
• Unitary system (Split, window)

/ Active Climate Control Systems

Typical central system requires:
Air-handling unit (AHU)
Ductwork
Air supply and return devices
Chiller / Boiler
Exterior Condenser & Controls
Air-conditioning systems can be classified into a number of broad categories as
follows:
• Central systems or unitary systems. Central systems employ one or more air-
handling units (AHUs) which are served by heating and cooling equipment located
outside the conditioned area. In unitary systems, all the components required for
conditioning the supply air are housed in a single package. Cooling is provided by a
direct expansion coil housed in the package.
• Single zone or multi-zone systems. A single zone system serves only one zone in the
building. The spaces in this zone have similar load characteristics and the supply
conditions are controlled from a single sensing point within the zone. In a multi-
zone system terminal devices are used to control the supply conditions to individual
zones. Each zone is controlled from its one sensing and control unit.
• Constant air volume (CAV) and variable air volume (VAV) systems. In CAV systems,
the supply air volume to each zone is maintained constant. Variations in the load at
part-load conditions are met by varying the temperature of the supply air. In VAV
systems the supply air temperature is maintained constant. Variations in load are
catered for by varying the supply air volume flow rate
Unitary System

• A unitary air conditioner is an apparatus consisting of one or

more factory made assemblies that normally include an
evaporator, a blower, a compressor, and a condenser, designed
to be used together.
• The unit often performs heating as well as cooling functions.
• Examples window unit and split unit

Self contained air conditioner

Self contained window unit
Self contained split unit

Self contained multi-split unit

Unitary systems
• Unitary systems are the simplest air-conditioning equipment. They are factory
assembled units with all the components contained in a small number of
enclosures.
• The simplest types of unitary systems are through the wall units and split systems.
Advantages
• • simple to install
• • lower cost than central systems in providing individual space control.
Disadvantages
• • no humidification capability
• • higher energy usage than central systems for the air conditioning of large
buildings
• • limited air distribution capability within the conditioned space.
Applications
• • small buildings
• • commercial premises such as banks
• • hotel apartments.
Multi-split and variable refrigerant volume (VRV) systems
• In multi-split systems one external unit serves a number of indoor units. The
systems can be single zone or multi-zone.
• A limitation, however, is that if cooling is required in one area it is not possible to
provide heating in a different area served by the same system.
• This limitation can be overcome by the variable volume system (VRV) - provide
cooling or heating independently of the other units
Advantages
• • lower cost than central systems for single zone air conditioning
• • VRV units provide individual zone control.
Disadvantages
• • no humidification capability
• • units sited in indoor spaces may create noise problems
• • multiple units sited indoors may occupy valuable rentable space.
Applications
• • office and other commercial buildings
• • multi-tenanted buildings
• Localised systems are usually either fan coil units or heat pump units. They
can be located around the perimeter of a space or in the ceiling void.
• A space may have multiple units,
or one unit may supply a single
floor. They need access to
outside air, which can either be
supplied directly to the unit from
outside or be ducted separately
from a central unit which only
supplies ventilation air
requirements and not heating
and cooling requirements.
• Fan coil units are served by hot
and cold water systems that
supply the main heating and
cooling load.
Single Package System

• All four basic components of the refrigeration cycle are placed in a single
package or housing.
• Vertical single-package equipment is usually designed for inside-the-building
application.
• Vertical units are available for installation in the space for remote location;
especially where space and noise factors assume extra importance.
• Most AC units have water-cooled condensers, which can be used with either
city water or cooling tower water.
• When it is necessary to install a unit without ductwork, a plenum and grille
may be fitted to the unit for free air delivery.
• Commercial units are available in capacities to 50 tons and higher.
Single Package System

• All four basic components of the refrigeration cycle are placed in a single
package or housing.
• Horizontal single-package units are designed for both indoor and outdoor
installation, with the majority of units incorporating air-cooled or
evaporative-cooled condensers.
• The most common design has supply and return air connections located in
the same face with horizontal air flow.
• Horizontal units are manufactured in capacities from 2 to 20 tons with many
modifications for use in residential and light commercial applications.
Horizontal package unit

Vertical package unit

Single package year round unit

Roof mounted unit

Split year round unit w/ remote
condenser compressor Year round unit w/ remote condenser

Remote condensing unit application

Packaged systems
• These are larger capacity single zone systems, up to 100kW - to serve a single space
or multiple spaces within a zone - siting the system centrally and distributing the
supply air to the individual spaces through a duct distribution system.
• Each zone is served by its own packaged unit. Packaged systems can be mounted
indoors in basements, utility rooms, outdoors on the ground, or rooftop.
Advantages
• • lower cost than central systems for single zone air conditioning
• • units are available with complete and self contained control systems
• • can provide individual zone control.
Disadvantages
• • no humidification capability
• • air-cooled units should have access to outdoor air
• • units sited in indoor spaces may create noise problems
• • multiple units sited indoors may occupy valuable rentable space.
• Applications
• • office and other commercial buildings to provide floor by floor air conditioning
• • multi-tenanted buildings – each tenant served from a separate packaged system
Central air-conditioning systems
• Central systems employ one or more AHUs which are served by heating and cooling
equipment located outside the conditioned area.
Application
• for the conditioning of spaces which have uniform load.
• for precise control of the conditions within a small space.
Conventional central
Air conditioning plant
Air conditioning plant
for hot & dry climate

Air conditioning plant

for hot & wet climate
All-air central air-conditioning systems
• Air is the only medium providing both sensible and latent cooling in the conditioned
space. All cooling and humidification/ dehumidification is provided in the central
plant and the cold air is distributed to the various zones within the building.
• All-air systems may be classified into two major categories: a) constant volume
variable temperature systems (CAV) ; and b) variable volume constant temperature
systems (VAV).
Advantages
• • quiet operation and centralised maintenance
• • design simplicity – wide choice of zoneability and humidity control.
• • economy of operation – outdoor air can be used directly;
Disadvantages
• • duct clearance • complicated balancing • coordination at the design stage
Applications
• department stores, supermarkets, common areas in hotels, office buildings,
theatres, cinemas and hospitals.
• specialised applications for close control of temperature and humidity - clean
rooms, hospital operating theatres, computer rooms and textile factories
Equipment on the basis of load size

• Window AC or Conventional Split Unit - 0.5 to 3 TR

• Ceiling Suspended and Floor Standing
Package Units - 3 to 22 TR
• Condensing Units with AHU - 20 to 100 TR
• Chiller with AHUs and FCUs - 100 to 1000+ TR
Air-conditioning system selection and evaluation
• The main air-conditioning system selection criteria are:
• • capital cost
• • comfort criteria
• • energy use and running costs
• • maintenance, reliability and equipment life
• • appearance and room noise level
• • environmental issues
• • flexibility
• • space used for central plant and distribution.
• This list is not ordered in terms of importance and system selection should be based
on a carefully designed evaluation methodology. This is a method of ranking
priorities and using weighting factors, to compare alternative systems against a set
of criteria.
SOLAR HOT-WATER SYSTEMS
• PVWatt (this is a web-based tool for calculated
output wattage from PV installation)

• https://pvwatts.nrel.gov/?fbclid=IwAR2sNHW0lBJ_
Tp7SSaDjMY4Ai8rMCpZJwvpVZukqqSvyqpIgu4xGUf
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