heating, ventilation & air conditioning
Transcription
heating, ventilation & air conditioning
NEEN FACT SHEET Energy Efficiency: heating, ventilation & air conditioning (hvac) HVAC is typically responsible for around 40% of the energy consumption in a building. Frequently, this is the largest energy consuming type of equipment on a site and can therefore provide significant scope for saving energy and money. This fact sheet covers common types of HVAC and will guide you in the right direction to identify energy efficient HVAC initiatives. What is HVAC? HVAC is an acronym for heating, ventilation and air conditioning. It refers to all the different systems, machines and technologies that are used to regulate the temperature and air quality in an indoor environment. Energy Consumption of HVAC systems In many buildings HVAC is the largest energy consumer. Figure 1. Energy breakdown for a typical office space Why HVAC matters Efficient HVAC systems do more than just make an area comfortable; they can help to reduce running costs, improve the working environment, increase productivity and safety, improve aesthetics and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing the efficiency of your HVAC system is an effective way to cut energy consumption, generate financial savings and reduce your organisation’s environmental footprint - whether you are in an office, church, school or even a sporting facilities. Identifying your HVAC system Typically, the energy consumption within these HVAC systems are split as follows: The majority of smaller organisations will have HVAC in the form of split or window based systems, or plug in heaters of various styles. Figure 2. HVAC energy breakdown (%) For organisations that are located within commercial buildings, HVAC is often provided as part of a centralised system within the ‘base building’. In these scenarios, energy used by the HVAC system is often not contained within the energy bill and is instead charged back to the building owner and recovered in the form of leasing costs. Organisations in this scenario will typically have more limited control on the HVAC system. It may be necessary to collaborate with the building owner/manager to influence the implementation of any efficiency projects National Energy Efficiency Network Fan energy consumption is greatest, followed by energy involved in cooling (through a refrigeration compressor), heating, pumping and finally the energy required to reject heat in cooling towers (or condensers). Therefore, a reduction in the use of fans generally offers the greatest potential for saving energy. www.neen.org.au April 2015 Energy Savings through hvac There are two key areas where savings can be made: • Quick wins – areas that can be addressed at no or low cost almost straight away trategic – those areas which are more complex, or require S more capital investment • Quick wins • • • • Turn HVAC units off – Turn off systems when they are not required. Frequently systems are left running over weekends or overnight when no-one is there to feel the benefit. Utilise timer functions to ensure these systems are switched off Optimise temperature/humidity settings in each area – Set heat to the lowest temperature possible and cooling to the highest temperature possible. Use deadbands to ensure heating and cooling never operate at the same time. A deadband is a temperature range at which neither heating nor cooling is turned on – this should be around the ideal room temperature. The CIBSE Guide gives recommendations on ideal temperature set points for various building areas/activities. Minimise heat gain (in summer) – There are a number of heat producers in a typical building. These range from heat emitted from computers, screens and photocopiers to lights and even people. Switch off or use sleep mode for all unrequired equipment and cooling, so these systems will not need to work as hard to achieve set points. Minimise ventilation rates – Each air change (ventilation rate) requires fresh air to be either heated or cooled as appropriate. This consumes energy. Adjusting ventilation rates to suit occupancy and activity type reduces this requirement. Strategic opportunities The following are some of the most common types of energy saving projects worth considering. They are listed in order of complexity and size of HVAC system: Maintenance – Regular maintenance of existing (or new) systems is a critically important part of keeping HVAC systems as efficient as possible. Efficiency can decrease by as much as 40% if the appropriate maintenance is not carried out. Some examples of important maintenance are: keeping filters, fans and air ducts clear of dirt and other obstructions; tuning burners on boilers; checking refrigerant charge on cooling systems; keeping condensers or cooling towers clear of contaminant build-up; checking the condition of insulation on chilled/heated pipework and ensuring National Energy Efficiency Network that moving parts have the correct amount of lubrication, eg actuators/linkages on damper controls or bearings on fan motors. It pays to have qualified HVAC contractors service this equipment on at least an annual basis. Insulation/draught-proofing/shading – Minimising heat gain in summer and heat loss in winter makes perfect sense. Improved insulation can reduce energy requirements for heating/cooling by as much as 25%. In colder climates, draught proofing can reduce heating requirements by as much as 40%. Shading can be as simple as planting a tree or bush outside a window, which can help to reduce solar heat gain in summer by as much as 70%. Variable Speed Drives (VSDs) – The fans and pumps in an HVAC system generally do not need to run flat out all of the time. During these times, a throttle is normally used to limit the flow of fluid while the fixed speed motor runs at full speed. Devices called VSDs can slow these motors down to achieve the same effect, but saving energy in the process. Economy cycle – Installation of additional external temperature and humidity sensors, as well as motorised dampers and extra fans, can help to reduce air conditioning costs. An economy cycle on air conditioning systems uses outside air to cool down the inside of a building whenever the external temperature is cooler than it is inside. Upgrade cooling systems – If your cooling system is approaching 10 years old or more, it is likely to be inefficient. Advancement in cooling technology means that there are many systems on the market today that are many times more efficient. If you have an older system, it is worthwhile considering an upgrade based on energy savings (as well as a need to replace certain types of refrigerant gas, e.g. if you have a system that uses R22 gas, this must be replaced by 2015). Upgrade heating systems – Many older building heating systems consist of gas-fired water heaters (or boilers). Older systems generally have an 80% or less efficiency rating (meaning that 20% of the energy put into the heater is wasted). Modern boilers can achieve efficiency ratings of greater than 90%, meaning that 10% efficiency savings can be achieved. Cogeneration/Trigeneration – Cogeneration or trigeneration units are devices that generate electricity (usually from natural gas, but they can use different fuels such as biomass e.g. wood or animal waste). In the process of generating electricity, waste heat is produced. This can be recovered and used either as hot water (or steam) for heating systems, or can be converted (via a process called absorption) to chilled water and used in cooling systems. These units are currently very expensive but can lead to huge energy, cost and carbon savings. www.neen.org.au April 2015 Energy recovery ventilation systems – Ventilation systems are bad for efficiency as they take air that has been heated or chilled by the building systems and vent it outside, bringing in hot (in summer) or cold (in winter) air which then needs to be cooled or heated all over again. Energy recovery systems are available which use heat exchange technology to recover some of the thermal energy from outgoing air and transfer this to the incoming air. Ground-Source Heat Pumps – These devices use the thermal energy of the earth as a source for heating or as a heat sink for cooling. Below a certain depth, the temperature of the earth does not vary from season to season. This can be utilised by pump systems to either preheat, water or air for internal use. In summer, the indoor heat can be transferred via pipes and transferred or dumped into the ground, with cool air being carried back via water to the building. This saves energy and money. Heating, Ventilation and Cooling (HVAC) in small buildings – Heating and cooling in smaller buildings can cover a lot of equipment, but in the NFP sector, these are most likely to be individual units (heating and/or air conditioning) or locally controlled systems. If you have a number of individual heaters and coolers/air conditioners, it may be worthwhile replacing these with split reverse cycle air conditioning units. Due to the properties of the refrigerant gas, these can provide much more energy efficient heating and cooling. Evaporative cooling – If the site has relatively low humidity levels, then an evaporative cooling unit can be just as effective as a refrigerated air conditioner, but with much lower running costs. Evaporative cooling does not use the vapour compression of a refrigerant or absorption refrigeration cycles. Instead, it relies on the evaporation properties of water (something called “enthalpy of vapourisation”), which means that to achieve the same result, much less energy is consumed in the process. Some advantages of these systems are that they are less expensive to install, run and maintain - and there is no potentially harmful refrigerant used (only water). Some disadvantages of these systems are that they humidify the air (so can affect comfort), and their performance is limited by local humidity conditions (so they are not as effective in humid regions). Heat pumps – Heat pumps can also be an extremely efficient way to generate heat. They work like a reverse refrigerator, meaning that, due to the properties of the ‘refrigerant’ gas, you can get many times more ‘units of heat’ out from these than the ‘units of electricity’ you put into them. On average you get 3-5 times the heat energy out, compared to the electrical energy you put in. This makes them very efficient indeed, so if you have an older electrical element or resistance heater, then a heat pump would be a worthwhile investment. National Energy Efficiency Network HVAC Upgrade - Case study 15 Barry Drive, Canberra The three-storey office building at 15 Barry Drive in Turner is fairly typical of the low-rise office buildings found in Canberra. However, the 1980’s building had 20 year old systems which needed upgrading. A comprehensive investigation process ensued. This addressed the environmental performance of several building aspects, including the HVAC system. The investigation revealed the extent of the building’s aging HVAC technology and its obvious inefficiencies. A building services upgrade was slated for 2008. This included: replacement of (BMS) controls for the building monitoring system for the HVAC system and exhaust, modification of chilled-water valves, outside-air-intake modifications, return-air duct alterations and the installation of two variable speed drives for levels one and two. Also scheduled were air and water balancing, and the installation of new ceiling tiles to improve both insulation and the performance of the building fabric that separates the office space from the plant area. Following completion of the works, improvements in both energy efficiency and comfort were immediately noticeable. Useful links CIBSE Guide A, Section 1.3 Thermal comfort recommendations http://www.arca53.dsl.pipex.com/index_files/thermco2. htm Case Study - 15 Barry Drive, Turner, Canberra Information on HVAC, controls and building fabric upgrades https://www.airah.org.au/imis15_prod/Content_Files/ UsefulDocuments/CS_Barry_Drive.pdf Energy Efficiency Exchange Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning http://eex.gov.au/technologies/heating-ventilation-and-airconditioning/opportunities/ Australian Government, Department of Industry Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning http://industry.gov.au/Energy/EnergyEfficiency/NonresidentialBuildings/HVAC/FactSheets/Pages/default.aspx www.neen.org.au April 2015 for further information NEEN – National Energy Efficiency Network NEEN is a national initiative to promote open learning and collaboration amongst faith-based and not-for-profit community organisations, with the aim of increasing energy efficiency and establishing a positive energy future for the sector. What makes the NEEN initiative so powerful? NEEN provides small to medium sized community organisations with the resources to reduce energy consumption and the opportunity to connect and collaborate on a range of initiatives that foster a resilient, sustainable future for the not-forprofit sector and the communities they serve. An Open Invitation No matter where you are on your journey to achieve your sustainability goals, you’re welcome to join the NEEN community. Make the connection and discover a better energy future for your organisation. Acknowledgements This project was funded by the Australian Government – Dept of Industry – Energy Efficiency Information Grant Program. The Level 1 Energy audits and opportunities assessments were carried out by Energetics on behalf of the NEEN program. Disclaimer The information contained in this document is of a general nature only and does not constitute personal financial product advice. In preparing the advice no account was taken of the objectives, financial situation or needs of any particular person. Therefore, before making any decision, readers should seek professional advice from a professional adviser to help you consider the appropriateness of the advice with regard to your particular objectives, financial situation and needs. Government Disclaimer This Activity received funding from the Department of Industry as part of the Energy Efficiency Information Grants Program. The views expressed herein are not necessarily the views of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for any information or advice contained herein. Discover, Inspire, Engage, Transform www.neen.org.au National Energy Efficiency Network www.neen.org.au April 2015