The impact of demand-controlled ventilation on energy use in buildings

Conference · Thu Jul 01 04:00:00 EDT 1999

OSTI ID:20030568

Braun, J E; Brandemuehl, M J

The overall objective of this work was to evaluate typical energy requirements associated with alternative ventilation control strategies. The strategies included different combinations of economizer and demand-controlled ventilation controls and energy analyses were performed for a range of typical buildings, systems, and climates. Only single zone buildings were considered, so that simultaneous heating and cooling did not exist. The energy savings associated with economizer and demand-controlled ventilation strategies were found to be very significant for both heating and cooling. In general, the greatest savings in electrical usage for cooling with the addition of demand-controlled ventilation occur in situations where the opportunities for economizer cooling are less. This is true for warm and humid climates, and for buildings that have low relative internal gains (i.e., low occupant densities). As much as 10% savings in electrical energy for cooling were possible with demand-controlled ventilation. The savings in heating energy associated with demand-controlled ventilation were generally much larger, but were strongly dependent upon the occupancy schedule. Significantly greater savings were found for buildings with highly variable occupancy schedules (e.g., stores and restaurants) as compared with office buildings. In some cases, the primary heating energy was reduced by a factor of 10 with demand-controlled ventilation as compared with fixed ventilation rates.

• Research Organization: Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (US)
• OSTI ID: 20030568
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
BUILDINGS
CONTROL SYSTEMS
ECONOMIZERS
ENERGY ANALYSIS
ENERGY DEMAND
THERMAL COMFORT
VENTILATION SYSTEMS