Building America Case Study: Low-Load Space-Conditioning Needs Assessment, Northeast and Mid-Atlantic; Technology Solutions for New and Existing Homes, Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE)
With limited low-load options in the HVAC market, many new-construction housing units are being fitted with oversized equipment - thus facing penalties in system efficiency, comfort, and cost. To bridge the gap between currently available HVAC equipment and the rising demand for low-load HVAC equipment in the marketplace, HVAC equipment manufacturers need to be fully aware of multifamily buildings and single-family homes market needs. Over the past decade, Steven Winter Associates, Inc. (SWA) has provided certification and consulting services on hundreds of housing projects and has accrued a large pool of data. CARB compiled and analyzed these data to see what the thermal load ranges are in various multifamily apartments and attached single-family home types (duplex and townhouse). In total, design loads from 941 dwellings from SWA's recent multifamily and attached single-family work across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic were analyzed. Information on the dwelling characteristics, design loads, and the specifications of installed mechanical equipment were analyzed to determine any trends that exist within the dataset. Of the 941 dwellings, CARB found that only 1% had right-sized heating equipment and 6% of the dwellings had right-sized cooling equipment (within 25% or less of design load).
- Research Organization:
- National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Energy Efficiency Office. Building Technologies Office
- OSTI ID:
- 1215252
- Report Number(s):
- NREL/FS-5500-64207; DOE/GO-102015-4671
- Resource Relation:
- Related Information: Work performed by Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), Norwalk, Connecticut
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Low-Load Space Conditioning Needs Assessment
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Related Subjects
Residential
Residential Buildings
CARB
Building America
Low-load
Multifamily
Dwellings
SWA
Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings
Steven Winter Associates
All-electric HVAC options
Air-source heat pumps
Construction type
Heating loads
Heating capacity
Cooling loads
Cooling capacity
Right-sized
Over-sized
HVAC
Space conditioning loads
Equipment selection