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DOE OSTI · 1215251

Low-Load Space Conditioning Needs Assessment

Puttagunta, Srikanth
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Abstract

Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment must be right-sized to ensure energy performance and comfort. With limited low-load options in the HVAC market, many new-construction housing units are being fitted with oversized equipment that creates system efficiency, comfort, and cost penalties. To bridge the gap between currently available HVAC equipment that is oversized or inefficient and the rising demand for low-load HVAC equipment in the marketplace, HVAC equipment manufacturers need to be fully aware of the needs of the multifamily building and attached single-family (duplex and townhouse) home market. Over the past decade, Steven Winter Associates, Inc. (SWA) has provided certification and consulting services for hundreds of housing projects and has accrued a large pool of data that describe multifamily and attached single-family home characteristics. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America research team Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB) compiled and analyzed these data to outline the characteristics of low-load dwellings such as the heating and cooling design loads.

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32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATIONair-source heat pumpsall-electric HVAC optionsBuilding AmericaCARBConsortium for Advanced Residential Buildingsconstruction typecooling capacitycooling loadsdwellingsequipment selectionheating capacityheating loadsHVAClow-loadmultifamilyover-sizedresidentialResidential Buildingsright-sizedspace conditioning loadsSteven Winter AssociatesSWA

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Puttagunta, Srikanth. 2015-05-19. Low-Load Space Conditioning Needs Assessment. https://doi.org/10.2172/1215251

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