Overview

Building energy systems are responsible for moving energy around in buildings through air, water, and refrigerant distribution systems to meet heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) needs of the occupied spaces. This course will train engineers and architects to design these HVAC systems based on the engineering foundation established in the previous course. Students will learn the design objectives dictated by occupant comfort and health, apply engineering principles to heat and mass exchangers, design both air and water distribution systems, and explore alternative methods for providing indoor environmental comfort to occupants.

Syllabus

Distribution and Delivery Systems Anatomy and Design Considerations

HVAC design begins in the building occupied zone. In this module, you will learn the anatomy and functional characteristics of both air and water distribution and delivery systems. The design of these systems is driven by occupant needs for comfort, health, and productivity. Our exploration of thermal comfort and acoustic considerations will inform the design, especially at the interface with the occupied zone.

Delivery of HVAC to the Occupied Space

In this module, you will explore the range of possibilities for achieving comfort, health, and productivity in occupied spaces. The possibilities include air delivery strategies for fully mixed zones and alternative displacement methods that involve intentional stratification, as well as radiant methods either as separate systems or integrated into the building structure.

Air Distribution System Design

Moving conditioned air around in a building is an exercise in fluid dynamics. In this module, you will understand pressure profiles in air distribution systems and layout and design air distribution systems using two common design methods. You will also understand how fans interact with duct systems, leading to application of engineering guidelines for their selection and operation.

Water Distribution System Design

As with air, moving hot and chilled water around in a building is an exercise in fluid dynamics. In this module, you will understand pressure profiles in water distribution systems and layout and design water distribution systems using a common design method. You will also understand how pumps interact with piping systems, leading to application of engineering guidelines for their selection and operation. Finally, you will compare and contrast performance benefits of air and water distribution systems.

Heat and Mass Exchangers

Heat and mass exchange are foundational processes in building energy systems. In this module, you learn about the functional characteristics of heat and mass exchangers, analyze their performance, and select heating and cooling coils for HVAC applications.

Final Assessment

This final exam comprehensively tests your understanding of all five modules of this course through a set of conceptual, equipment selection, and quantitative questions. Some of the conceptual questions will involve simple arithmetic calculations, while for the quantitative questions, you will need to employ your computational tools that you developed. Review these tools and have them ready before you embark on the final exam.