Large Buildings Devote Teams to Energy Efficient Air Control Systems

by Robert F. Read My Articles, Learn More... Large office buildings as well as other buildings that contain large populations at any given point have to devote teams of people to analyzing and ensuring that the people in the building receive the appropriate amount of air. Most of this goes unnoticed by civilians but an entire industry exists dedicated to the maximizing efficiency while maintaining air control in large buildings all around the world. The shift towards more environmentally friendly systems has dictated a growth in energy efficient air control systems that have strict procedures to ensure that they qualify as energy efficient.

The methods of ensuring efficiency in air control differ from building to building but a study from Siemens outlined the various methods and their uses in the construction of energy efficient buildings. The study outlined every component of a building that could affect energy efficiency including structural materials but a large portion of the study was dedicated to the installation and use of air and heat control systems in a building. In the European Union, standards have been created to address the designing and use of things such as lighting, heating, hot water, cooling, and ventilation and air conditioning plants. The idea that efficiency begins in the design of the components is gaining more awareness as questions are raised on how individuals and organizations can reduce their carbon footprint.

Fortunately, companies like Phoenix Controls in the United States are making efficiency part of their mission statement in designing and developing new components for use in air control systems. These designs begin with fundamental concepts of energy efficiency such as the distribution of the appropriate amount of air based on demand, minimizing the loss of air as it is being transferred, highly efficient components, optimization of the synergy between components, different systems designed for different needs, and adapting the operation of the system to accommodate changing needs.

The concepts expand to address the end user in the buildings who are responsible for maintaining and administering the system. Their responsibilities include things like changing operating times to match building occupancy rates and setting up different climate levels for different rooms based on need.

The conclusion from the study was that systems should be directly designed with efficiency in mind because high-efficiency components are extremely difficult to retrofit in an already designed system. Furthermore, the cost of these energy efficient designs will significantly decline with more and more designers utilizing the concepts. For this concept to gain standardization in today's world of designing and constructing buildings, it needs to become a top need and request for building owners and partnerships that are funding the construction of these buildings.

Air control systems are categorized based on how they deliver heat and cooling to a room. There are three main categories which include the majority of air control systems. All-air plants, Air/Water plants, and Air/refrigerant plants. All-air plants require significantly more amounts of energy to deliver the same amount of climate control than air/water plants. Currently, a large percentage of buildings in the United States use all-air power plants as they are older designs that have been around for quite some time. As these buildings phase out and owners look to create new ones, efficiency should and must be factored into the design from the very beginning.

Energy efficient air control systems are also appealing to tenants and occupants of buildings. To them, the quality of the air control is not being compromised to make the system more efficient and they therefore have no reason to be against the inclusion of such measures in the design.

The first step for buildings to accommodate an energy efficient operation in their air control system is through the use of components constructed through efficient means and capable of functioning in a non-wasteful manner. This includes reducing heat capacity and using purer materials that conduct electricity more efficiently like copper for conduction and proper outer housing material that can mitigate the heat factor. Furthermore, the synergy in the system must be optimized such that all components work together with no single piece of equipment ends up fighting any other part for energy or work capacity.

Equally as important in an energy efficient air control system is the idea of the end user exhibiting knowledge when administering the system. Buildings that simply turn on the system without any thought to the distribution of the air or how the system is calibrated will not matter how efficient their air control system is. The bottom line is that efficiently designed systems must be paired with knowledgeable users who know how to best utilize the capabilities of efficient air control to maximize energy savings. This includes the proper documenting of air usage, occupancy rates, external and internal factors of the building, and many other things necessary to keep track off for the purposes of efficiency.

As buildings in major cities around the world get larger and larger, special attention needs to be paid in just what kind of carbon footprint these constructions are leaving in the Earth. The construction alone creates an extraordinary amount of waste per capita but it’s a necessary cost as many of these buildings serve a crucial purpose. Knowing, however, that these kinds of buildings create such large amounts of waste should be incentive enough for the designers to identify other areas that can be addressed to reduce the waste which include air control systems.

Without these kinds of measures being implemented, buildings will continue to see a huge waste of energy through their current climate control systems and it will be very difficult for change to take place. The technology exists to create a greener environment and the people with knowledge exist to make it happen in buildings all across the nation. The undecided factor is whether occupants and administrators of such systems are willing to take the extra step or put in the extra amount of work to assist today's society in eliminating energy waste.

Image by Eukalyptus

Sponsor Ads

• Ad Space Available - Rent it Now!

Created on Dec 31st 1969 18:00. Viewed 0 times.

Comments