HVAC System Analysis And Energy Audit

III. Results and DiscussionAnalysis of roof loadsIn order to see if the photovoltaic panels can be placed on the roof of theAthenaeum, the maximum roof load before failure needed to be found. Thecurrent load that is being applied to the roof was found first. There is an equationof load combination that was used with the most common loads (dead load, snowload, wind load). The first load that was found was the snow load. There is a mapof the United States, in Ram S. Gupta’s Principles of Structural Design, that hassnow load factors that cover all of the regions. A load factor is a factor thataccounts for deviations of the actual load from the nominal load. These loadfactors can be used in an equation to find the actual load and are also unit less.For the Rhode Island region, the snow load factor is 25. Since the area of theroof selected for PV panel installation is flat, no other factor has to beincorporated and the snow load of the roof remains 25.The wind load factor was found by using the same book that the snow load camefrom. When designing this load, a couple sub factors were taken intoconsideration. These sub factors are the location of the PA, importance factor,and height of the building. The importance factor can be broken down into fouroccupancy categories; low hazard to human life structure, normal structures, highoccupancy structures, and essential structures. Each category has two factorsthat could be used to find the wind load factor, winds less than or equal to 100mph and greater than 100 mph. Providence fits in the high occupancy structureand less than 100 mph. with all these considerations taken in, the wind factor thatwas used was 8.Next the dead load was found. This load is another factor like the snow and windloads, but this is based on what the roof is already supporting (i.e. the Liebertsystem and the gravel). Each object/ material’s weight is converted into theirdead loads and then added together. By figuring out what is exactly on the roof,a dead load of 15 was calculated. Using these load factors, they can be enteredinto equation 1 to get what the roof load currently is (64.4 psf). Furthermore, thebending moment for the current structure was calculated. Equation 2 was usedand solved for the bending moment (Wu). After Wu was found, it was multipliedby 12 to get our bending moment, which is 1536 psf.To find what the maximum load can be before failure, an assumption was made.The type of wood used in the beam is not known so southern pine was chosen.This type of wood has a reference design value in bending of 2050 psi. Using thisnumber, the adjusted reference design value (Fb’) was calculated with equation3.is the repetitive member factor andis the format conversion factor whichcan be found (pg. 100, Principles of Structural Design). Equation 4, with drepresenting the dressed depth of the section of beam was used to find . Afterenteringandinto the equation, Fb’ was found to be 4339.44 psi. Next the5

trial load was found by using equation 5; the number came out to be 94.53 psi.After determining the trial load, the adjusted reference design was multiplied bythe trial load to get an adjusted bending moment, which came out to be410207.26 psi. Now taking this moment and the current bending moment and setthem into equation 6 and solve for Wu. This number came out to be 267.06 psi.Finally, the max load of the beam was found by taking the new Wu and dividing itby 5 to get 89.02 psf.Eq. 1Eq. 2Eq. 3Eq. 4Eq. 5Eq. 6Please turn to Appendix A for the complete calculations.Heating system (redesign)The initial approach to the redesign of the boiler system for the ProvidenceAthenaeum was to assess the current system that is being utilized. The currentsystem is based off of a single natural gas-fueled hydronic boiler located on thebasement floor next to a utility closet on the western side of the Athenaeum. Thehot steam then exits the boiler to a single 7” cast iron pipe that leads to onecontrollable zone of heating throughout the building which then gravity feedsback to the boiler through the same cast iron pipe. Paired with the hydronic boileras a separate system a modern Liebert unit is located in the Archive room of thebasement, which controls the heating, cooling and humidity ratio for the Archiveroom as well as the Philbrick Rare Book room.The new heating apparatus proposed by our team is a multiple zone controlledsingle boiler hydronic system that dissipates heat by way of fin tube baseboardradiators. The first step in the redesign of the heating apparatus was to calculate6

the total heating load of the areas that will be addressed by new system whichincludes the entire building void of the two rooms controlled by the Liebert unit.Historical Value Adding Consultants collaborated with a graduate studentattending Roger Williams University who shared a 3D Revit model of theProvidence Athenaeum which was used to model and size the new heatingsystem that is being proposed. Using the Revit model the square footage of eacharea throughout the Athenaeum was calculated. Using a heating load of 30Btu/hr per square foot which is generally associated with low insulated buildingscontaining many perimeter windows the total heating load needed for each roomwas found and added together to generate a total heating load for the building.The total heating load was then multiplied by a pickup factor of 1.15 to calculatethe final heating load of approximately 320,000 Btu/hr that the new boiler wouldhave to satisfy. The square footage and heating load by room as well as the finalheating load can be found in Table B.1 located in Appendix B of this report.Using the final heating load calculated in Appendix B a boiler then had to beselected to meet required specifications. The boiler recommended by our team isthe LAARS NeoTherm 399MBH High Efficiency Hydronic Boiler or equivalent.This boiler operates with a 375,000 Btu/hr output with up to 96.5 thermalefficiency %. Three specifications that the NeoTherm boiler meets that are idealfor our system are that it is floor mounted, with zero clearance for tight installationmaking it suitable to be utilized in the same room as the old boiler and it acceptsexternal modulation signals which will be paired with a wireless control system.The specifications sheet for the LAARS NeoTherm boiler selected can be foundin Appendix C of this report.The next step of design was to select the individual comfort zones that would beaddressed throughout the Athenaeum as well as the control systems associatedwith each zone. Six heating control zones were implemented for a more comfortoriented design. The zone layout is depicted in Figure D.1 which can be found inAppendix D of this report. The zones were designed to utilize the currentbaseboard chaseways that at the moment house the 7” cast iron pipe from theold boiler system so as to maintain the current historical aesthetics of thebuilding. Each zone will include a Honeywell Wireless Thermostat which willcommunicate with a TACO ZVC-404 6 zone valve controller. The TACO zonevalve controller will then signal to TACO Zone Sentry zone valves located beforethe pumps in each zone loop, when a zone requires a heating load the valves willopen allowing hot water to flow throughout said zone. The specifications sheetsfor each of these components can be found in Appendix E of this report.The baseboard heating was next to be selected and sized for each zone. Afterlooking into leading manufacturers in baseboard heating out team chooseSlant/Fin Bare Elements fin and tube C-440 as the best choice for the system.The specifications sheet for the Slant/Fin C-440 can be found in Appendix F ofthis report. To then find the equivalent length of baseboard heating for each zonea supply temperature from the boiler had to be selected which for our system7

was 180 F. This supply temperature was used in conjunction with thespecifications sheet for the Slant/Fin C-440 to determine that the baseboard hotwater rating would output 1166 Btu/hr per foot length. Using the equation locateddirectly below the total equivalent length of Slant/Fin baseboard was calculatedfor each zone.Eq. 7The values for each zone can be found in the table included in Appendix G of thisreport. Once the length of baseboard heating for each zone was calculated thelayout of the piping system could be designed. The piping system runs from theboiler through the causeways housing the 7” cast iron pipe of the current heatingsystem to the baseboard heating in each zone, and then flows back to a singlereturn pipe to the boiler. The schematics for the baseboard heating and pipingcan be depicted in Appendix H of this report.Once the piping and baseboard heating schematics were set the pumps for eachzone loop were sized to overcome frictional losses through the pipe whilemeeting the minimum return temperature of 150 F. The first step in sizing thepumps was to solve for the flow rate in GPM of each zone, this was done bysolving the two simultaneous equations located directly below.Eq. 8The only variable that could be changed for the system was the velocity of thewater through the pipe as the pipe diameter is set at 1” by the physicalcharacteristics of the baseboard fin and tube. The velocities were modified untileach loop had a return temperature greater than 150 F, the minimum velocitywas set at 3fps as the Slant/Fin baseboard heaters were specified to thatvelocity. These calculations were performed and can be seen in the table locatedin Appendix G of this report. Now that set flow rates are established the pressuredrop due to friction for each loop could be calculated. Next each loop was brokendown into pipe runs to simplify the calculations. Each pipe run length wasquantified and pipe fittings associated with the run was counted. Then usingTable (3.15) located in Appendix I of this report the equivalent length of thefittings were calculated and added to the run length to find the total frictional runlength. Using the flow rate calculated prior for the loop a pipe size for each runwas selected to meet acceptable velocity range of 3-8fps using the equationlocated directly below.8

Eq. 9Using Figure (3.34) located in Appendix I of this report the pressure drop [psi] per100 ft of pipe was calculated. By multiplying the total frictional run length by thepressure drop per 100ft the total pressure drop in psi was calculated for each runand summed together to produce the overall pressure drop of the entire loop inHead Ft. The equation used can be found directly below.Eq. 10( )All calculations were performed and can be seen in the tables located inAppendix J of this report. For our system our team decided to use TACO inlinecirculation pumps for each loop. The pumps were sized using the TACO-HVACPump Selection App located on TACO’s website by inputting the flow rate [GPM]and pressure drop [Head Ft] for each loop. The TACO App would give a list ofrecommended pumps that meet the requirements of the loop, and then using thepump performance curves the pump best fitting our needs was selected. AllTACO pump specifications as well as corresponding pump performance curvescan be found in Appendix K of this report.Now that the piping diagrams are laid out and pipe sizes have been chosen theexpansion tank could be selected based upon the overall volume of the system.The total length of each pipe size used throughout the system was calculated.Then using the equation for volume of a pipe located directly below the volume ofwater was calculated for each pipe size and added together to find the overallvolume of the system which was converted into Gallons of water.Eq. 11These calculations were performed in the Table 1 located directly below.9

Table 1. Expansion Tank SizingExpansion Tank SizingPipe Size [in]0.7511.251.52TotalPipe Size tal Length [ft]158678.999128Volume [ft 3]0.4853.7030.8440.1470.175Volume [m 1.1021.30640.04Our team decided on recommending an AMTROL Hydronic Expansion Tankafter researching different brands. Using AMTROL’s sizing apparatus inputtingthe total volume of our system, the minimum operating temperature, maximumoperating temperature and pressure range the AMTROL AX-20V expansion tankwas chosen to best fit the needs of our system. The specification sheet for theAMTROL AX-20V can be found in Appendix L of this report.The last step in designing the system was to draw the schematics for the boilersystem. A meeting was held with William McCarthy the Manager of Mechanicaland Electrical Systems for Roger Williams University to consult on the designingof the boiler system schematics. He took it upon himself to educate us onstandard procedures and provided examples of similar system schematics. Afterthe meeting, using Revit the schematic for our personalized system was createdand can be found in Appendix M of this report.Once the system design was completed a cost analysis of the system wasperformed. A list of all components in the system and the quantity of each wasconstructed. Using an “RSMeans Building Construction Cost Data 2012 Ed” bookthe labor cost and hours for demolition of the old system as well as installation ofthe new system was calculated. By adding the total labor costs as well ascomponent cost a complete estimate was created for the implementation of thenew system. The estimation table for the new heating system can be found inAppendix N of this report. In conclusion the proposed new heating systemimplementation is estimated to cost approximately 85,000.10

Cooling and ventilation systemWindows and Determination of maximum cooling load:The determination of the maximum cooling load was the big factor in determiningthe appropriate equipment for the Athenaeum. The cooling load included both thesensible cooling load and the latent load. The factors that have an effect on thesensible cooling load are: Doors Exterior Walls Rooftop Skylights Solar Gains on External Surfaces Lighting gains Heat Gains from OccupantsThe factors that affect the latent cooling load are the factors that introducemoisture to the building such as: People Infiltration Forced AirUtilizing a modified Building Energy model the maximum cooling load wasdetermined for the Providence Athenaeum. The modified building energy modelis available via the digital appendix. The modified building energy model issimilar to what was presented in the fall of 2013, however this time cooling loadwas determined rather than heating. The factors that went into this buildingmodel consist of everything discussed in this section.The total cooling load is a sum of the energy required to maintain a temperatureof 75 degrees Fahrenheit within the building. This includes occupancy heatgeneration, light energy, solar energy, ventilation, infiltration, and external heatgains through the buildings shell. A few assumptions had to be made in order tocreate a building model, most of which were referred from ASHRAE guidelines.The max occupancy of 294 people was modeled with an average energygeneration rate of 118 watts/person. The reference data for the conditions inProvidence was Typical Mean Year – 2 data. The systems goal temperature orthe internal temperature of the building was modeled to be 75 F with an indoorhumidity of 55%; well within the ASHRAE standards. Calculations were thenmade for the total heat transfer of each factor in order to determine the totalmaximum cooling load. He required ventilation was calculated for the squarefootage standard and the occupancy standard. The occupancy standard dictated11

a higher requirement of 1500 cfm; so this is the design ventilation rate. For thedetermination of the peak-cooling load see Appendix O.Eq. 12These Q values were determined for every hour in our typical mean year data forour model and the maximum value for Qmax was 79 kW. About 51 kW of thiscomes from exterior temperature difference and solar gains through the exteriorsurfaces. The other 28 kW comes from latent heat sources; the OA ventilation,infiltration and occupancy heat gains. This translates to a total of 22.5 tons ofcooling required for the building, or about 427 square feet per ton. With a portionof the building already being cooled by the Leibert unit, the cooling load attributedto these spaces was not included for the rest of the design. Due to The physicallocation and low ceilings of the offices and the children’s room it is recommendedthat these areas retain their current means of cooling. This leaves us with asystem tasked with maintaining a total cooling load of around 12 tons for themain floor, mezzanine and ground floor levels.Components:The decision to determine which type of system should be recommend to meetthis cooling load was based on an examination of the available systems. Thereare many options for systems that could serve this purpose including: Split Systems Packaged-System Radiant CoolingThe factors that went into the final decision to utilize radiant cooling in the form ofchilled beams in parallel with a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) are.Early in the process, after the cooling load had been determined Justin Taylorhad a meeting with William McCarthy who is the mechanical, electrical, andplumbing supervisor at RWU. In this meeting many different types of systemswere discussed along with the advantageous and disadvantageous of each. Oneof the big advantages to using chilled beams comes in the form of soundreduction; due to having to transport less air then typical systems to achieve thesame cooling load ducts can discharge at lower velocities. The factors that wentinto the final decision to recommend radiant cooling in the form of chilled beamsin parallel with a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS)include: lower noise levels,less alteration to the building, and those discussed below.12

There are a total of sixteen advantages to the use of chilled beams discussed inthe ASHRAE 2000 Handbook; ithe ones relevant to our renovation are presentedas follows: “Comfort levels can be better than those of other conditioning systemsbecause radiant loads are treated directly and air motion in the space is atnormal ventilation levels.” “Supply air quantities usually do not exceed those required for ventilationand dehumidification processes” “A 100% Dedicated Outdoor Air System can be installed with smallerpenalties, in terms of the refrigeratio

building energy model was constructed using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that utilizes typical meteorological year (TMY) data to determine the average energy usage of the Athenaeum for a typical year. The model has been validated against actual energy usage and is used to identify and quantify energy savings resulting from design alternatives.