Chicago’s Michael A. Bilandic Building has 21 stories, one for each year since the previous retrofit. Recently, an open-minded project team paired modular chillers and hydronic gas boilers with pumps and VFDs to conquer some upgrade challenges, bring the mechanical system into the 21st century, and knock 15% off the tower’s measured energy use.
From sidewalks to hospital entrances and helipads, these systems are becoming a more common part of a project’s mechanical infrastructure. Examine differences between ASHRAE’s old and updated classifications, then review design considerations such as heat of evaporation, heat loss to the atmosphere, and back and edge losses. Tubing, spacing strategies, and controls round out the primer.
MEP designers need to re-examine energy wasteful DOAS
practices, which currently contribute to over-ventilation of occupied building space, and refocus on meaningful
decoupling of sensible and latent load control using dynamic outside air
management systems. Read more on the flexibility and possibility of the
author’s proposed solution in data centers, schools, and elsewhere.
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