SD-95-03-4 -- Reducing Building Energy Costs Using Improved Operation Strategies for Constant-Volume Air-Handling Systems ✓ Most Recent

Maintains that building energy consumption can be substantially reduced after implementing improved operation strategies that are a scientific refinement of traditional operation and maintenance measures. Specifically, they involve resetting the cooling deck or heating deck temperature to achieve maximum energy efficiency without compromising indoor air quality and comfort. The improved operation strategies optimise system performance as a whole rather than focusing on the malfunction of individual components. Presents a study involving five medical and institutional buildings in Galveston, Texas, which shows that improved operation strategies can reduce chilled water and condensate costs by 517,800 dollars per year, or 19% of total building energy costs. States it seems that improved operation strategies are an alternative to converting constant volume systems to variable volume systems, especially if there are no retrofit funds available.

KEYWORDS: year 1995, Air conditioning, constant volume air conditioning, operations, efficiency, energy conservation