Ventilation in commercial buildings

Technical Report · Fri Jun 22 04:00:00 EDT 1984

OSTI ID:6602008

The 173 buildings used as data points for this study were buildings audited during the period from January, 1981 through March 1984. Data reduction for the audits was done in keeping with the current Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) major commercial building type divisions for load forecasting: large office, small office, large retail, small retail, grocery, school, restaurant, hotel/motel, hospital, warehouses, multi-family housing, and others. The following conclusions were drawn with limitations. ASHRAE Design occupancies are generally significantly higher than actual building occupanices. Like most engineering standards, ASHRAE standards use a worst-case condition and add a factor of safety. Since designers meet code by designing a system where the quantity of outside air is calculated by the product of the required air flow per person times occupancy, the resulting nominal ventilation rates based on actual occupancy will also be significantly higher than the required per occupant ventilation rates. Actual ventilation rates are not equal to nominal ventilation rates in many buildings due to fan cycling, economizer operation, significant infiltration due to door opening, and general misdesign, misuse, or misoperation of HVAC equipment. (DMC)

• Research Organization: Seton, Johnson, and Odell, Inc., Portland, OR (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6602008
• Report Number(s): DOE/BP-278; ON: DE84015316
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
320102* -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Office Buildings-- (-1987)
320103 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- School
Municipal
& Other Public Buildings-- (-1987)
320104 -- Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization-- Commercial & Industrial Buildings-- (-1987)
APARTMENT BUILDINGS
AUDITS
BUILDINGS
COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
COMMERCIAL SECTOR
EDUCATIONAL FACILITIES
ENERGY AUDITS
ENERGY CONSERVATION
HOSPITALS
HOTELS
MEDICAL CENTERS
OFFICE BUILDINGS
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
RESTAURANTS
SCHOOL BUILDINGS
SURVEYS
VENTILATION