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© 2002,
Architectural Energy Corporation.
All Rights Reserved.
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 Funded
by California Energy Commission's Public Interest Energy
Research (PIER) Program
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P1. Demand-Controlled Ventilation
Assessment > Conclusions
Conclusions:
- The completed research shows that office,
retail, and certain restaurant spaces are
good targets for DCV in the inland climate
zones. Certain institutional spaces with large changes
in occupancy, such as theaters, lecture halls,
auditoriums, and gyms, would also benefit
from DCV.
- DCV was not beneficial for modular school
rooms with adequate existing ventilation
because the occupancy profile is fairly flat
and does not change much during the school
year. Investigators found that the typical ventilation
rates for certain common HVAC units was less
than required by buildings codes. This result
was communicated to appropriate school officials.
Commercialization potential or commercialization
initiated:
DCV controllers are
available from HVAC
controls
manufacturers. The
results from this
project
will guide application
of DCV and promote
appropriate use of
the technology.
Recommendations:
Market Connection:
The results of this project will be cited
in a brochure prepared
as a deliverable
under
the Program Administration
Element. It will
be available on
the Commission
web site and
Architectural Energy
Corporation's web
site.
The brochure should
be sent to ASHRAE
and
AIA local chapter
presidents for
distribution
to members and
posting on local
chapter web
sites.
Articles for HVAC
trade publications
should
be prepared. In
addition to design
professionals,
contractors and
suppliers read
these publications.
Future Research:
The impact of DCV on comfort and productivity
has not been studied.
As interest in DCV
increases due to
high utility costs and building
energy code changes,
this topic should be
investigated to
provide designers and
owners with new
information.
Benefits to California:
Based on new data
regarding the characteristics
of California building
stock and statewide
energy use, the projected
benefits of this
project are updated
as follows:
Updated Baseline:
The DCV technology
evaluated in this
project
applies to packaged
air-conditioning
systems.
These systems are
prevalent in small
office
buildings, retail
stores, and miscellaneous
categories. The school,
hotel, and restaurant
categories have smaller
fractions of space
that are served by
packaged air-conditioners.
The total floor area
for all of these
categories
is about 3,109 million
square feet. The
Commission
data for Year 2000
shows that buildings
with
packaged air-conditioners
used 8,226 GWh
and accounted for
4,900 MW of peak
demand.
Assuming that 25%
of small office,
retail,
and miscellaneous
floor area, 10% of
school
floor area, and 5%
of hotel and restaurant
floor area could
be served with DCV
technology,
about 626 million
square feet would
be the
target.
Updated Outcome:
The research showed
that application
of DCV
to building spaces
with favorable occupancy
characteristics could
result in a two-year
payback or less for
a $900 per AC unit.
Assuming
that the average
utility rate is $0.15/kWh,
each unit would save
about 3000 kWh/year.
Assuming that total
packaged AC tonnage,
based on 400 sf/ton,
is about 1,564,000,
and that the average
installed unit size
is 7.5 tons, then
there are 208,500
units
available for application
of the DCV technology.
Electricity savings
would be about 626
GWh
and demand savings
would be about 373
MW
(assuming that demand
savings are proportional
to the usage savings).
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