Using the software e-QUEST, compute:
1. Plant Energy Utilization Summary
2. Monthly peak and total energy use
3. Monthly energy by end use
4. Energy peak breakdown by end use
For a modern two-story office building that is located in a city of your choice has a
building area 20000 sq.ft.
1. MENG 0418 Heating, Ventilating and Air
Conditioning
Fall 2015
Department: Mechanical Engineering
College of Engineering and Physical Sciences
Tuskegee University
Design of HVAC for a Modern Two-story Office Building
Group Members: Avery Augborne, Darryl Hollis,
Donell Hubbard, Asim Manual, Tyrin Thurmon,
Date: December 7, 2015
3. 3
HEATING, VENTILATING AND AIR CONDITIONING PROJECT
Avery Augborne, Donell Hubbard, Darryl Hollis, Asim Manual, Tyrin Thurmon
Tuskegee University
Mechanical Engineering Department
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this project was to design a two story office building with a fully
functional Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditional (HVAC) system located in Auburn, Alabama.
The system was designed to be cost effective while still being efficient in the amount of energy
that’s produced and used. E-Quest was the required software that computed the energy’s
utilization, monthly peak, and peak by end use. The simulation results showed that the electric
demand for the year would be 2442.5 kW and the gas demand would be 426.43 (
Btu
h
*000). The
building’s electric consumption amount was (58329.45 kWh*000) and the gas consumption
amount was 112.23 (Btu*000,000). Depending on the time of the year, the monthly utility bills
will range anywhere from $3,000.00 to $8,000.00. Along with the time of the year, the system’s
location should be an important component when designing it. Different sites will be equipped
with different standard conditions due to the fact that the weather is different all over the world.
Therefore, each design should be made specifically for the location of the system.
4. 4
INTRODUCTION
From residential to commercial, every building is designed with heating, ventilation, and
air conditioning (HVAC) components. For every building in order for individuals to feel
comfortable inside a building, HVAC components should be a necessity. Working on a location
in Auburn Alabama, a modern two story office building had to be design on E-Quest software.
The building had to be modeled as a single space environment with 20,000 sq∙ft. of area. The
front building face must face the west. While designing the office building, key concepts taught
in the class (Sensible heat, Latent heat, Heat transfer through composite walls, etc.) was revisited
and assisted in calculations. In e-Quest we were able to design our building through various
questions and commands that generated the general building specifications. Other required
specifications included the insulation type and the floor-to-floor height. When all the
specification was inputted, the software calculated the output through a simulation of the yearly
usage. Simulations included the plant energy utilization summary, monthly peak and total energy
use, monthly energy by end use, and energy peak breakdown by end use. Some of the
calculations that were used by the software were sensible and latent heat equations, where;
Sensible heat - hs= 1.1 q dt
Latent heat - hl= 4840 q dwlb
These equations determined the various factors the building needed in order to be
designed properly. For example, the total amount of energy used needed to be calculated for the
heating and cooling of the interior space. Keeping in mind the location of the system and the
time of year it was being designed, the software was able to generate cost and consumption of
the system.
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PROCEDURE
The following procedures were taken for inputs and criteria for the HVAC system in the
e-QUEST software. First the building structure settings were set to a two-story office type of
building that was set to be located in Auburn, Alabama. The building was set to 20,000 sq. ft.
and the building faced in the west direction. The building was then set as a single zone model.
The floor-to-floor height was set to 13 ft and the R-11 Mass roof was set to have a suspended
ceiling with a 4 ft plenum. The roof surface was set to 24 in OC and R-11 Batt insulation was
used. The ground floor was the over crawl space with 4 inch polystyrene insulation with a vinyl
tile finish. The floor was set to 6 in concrete and 4 sliding atrium doors were set and used with
appropriate dimensions. Then exterior windows were selected along with the suitable activity
area allocation scheduling. The cooling design temperature was designed for 72° F with a supply
of 66° F while the heating design temperature was set to 70° F with a supply of 110° F. The
heating/cooling system was then set to be a water loop heat pump and an economizer. Then one
electric chiller and one fuel boiler was selected for what the central plant utilized. The water
heating system was then set to use a 10 hp circulating –pump and was set to being off during
holidays and weekends. Using the software, the computation of the Plant Energy Utilization
Summary, monthly peak and total energy use, monthly energy by end use, and energy peak
breakdown by end use was conducted.
6. 6
RESULTS & DISCUSSION
Figure 1: The graphs and charts above shows the difference between the electric demand and the
gas demand throughout the year. Electric demand is highest in the summer time around July.
Inversely, the gas demand is lowest in the summer time around July, August and September.
7. 7
Figure 2: The graphs and charts above shows the difference between the electric demand and the
gas demand throughout the year. Although the graphs vary throughout the year, the electric
consumption is low in the beginning and end of the year and high in the middle of the year. The
gas consumption seems to stay steady throughout the year.
8. 8
Figure 3: the annual energy consumption by end use is displayed above. The graphs show the
difference between the electric use and fuel use. Although the water heating is only used only by
the fuel, more components are used by electric uses.
9. 9
Figure 4: The system that was designed using the E-Quest software. The building was a two
story office with a door on each side of the building.
10. 10
CONCLUSION
A building’s material, shape, amount of insulation, number of people, changes in energy
use during various times of year and a plethora of additional factors are all important when
creating a simulation of an HVAC system for a fully function building. The group was able to
apply key concepts learned during the course of the semester, including sensible heat, latent heat,
and theoretical calculations. The results show that electricity is used more during the summer
while gas is used more during the winter; which will result in higher utilities bills during the
summer versus the winter because the air conditioning system uses more electricity and costs
more than in the winter where both gas and electricity is being use. The charts for energy
demand and gas demand is similar to the charts for energy consumption and gas consumption.
Differences arise in the winter months were the electricity for space cooling in the electricity
consumption is a lot lower than what was in demand. The gas consumption particularly for water
heating in the summer months was higher than what is demanded for water heating in the
summer months. The energy responsive design is a creative process of integrating the
performance of interfacing systems. Therefore, the final analysis of the simulation’s
consequences of the building must consider the interactions between comprehensive and
affordable.
11. 11
REFERENCES
1. MENG 0418 – Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
2. https://tuskegee.blackboard.com/bbcswebdav/pid-611652-dt-content-rid-
754687_1/courses/MENG.0418.01.15FA/Introductory%20Tutorial_E-Quest.pdf
3. http://buildingsdatabook.eren.doe.gov/docs%5CDataBooks%5C2010_BEDB.pdf
4. https://www.nationalgridus.com/non_html/shared_energyeff_office.pdf
