Variable Air Volume System for Commercial Building and Energy Saving - Dissertation Example

Most of the VAV systems have two primary merits and the merits are due to the constant volume within the system. The system has a fan control capacity that is capable of reducing the amount of energy consumed through the fan. This energy which is used by the fans forms the total energy cooling requirements which are beneficial to the building (Etheridge & Sandberg, 1996). The Variable Air Volume system has a lot of dehumidification compared to the constant volume system because the constant volume system is capable of modulating the temperature of the discharge air. The attainment of the temperature for the discharged air constitutes the cooling load of the whole system. Within this system, the blowing rate for the air is greatly varied and in the case of Variable Air Volume with a single handler for air, the serving for various multiple zones can be achieved. The flow rate associated with each multiple zones when only one handler is operational is always varied. The Variable Air system has a terminal unit and this terminal unit acts as a VAV box that controls the airflow rate for the different zones. This box operates automatically with the help of the actuator. There is a direct connection between the central or local control systems with the VAV box and the control system at times is pneumatically controlled.
The use of Variable Air Volume (VAV) for many years has been able to provide quality indoor air thereby improving the quality of the surrounding environment. The quality of the surrounding air greatly affects the general environmental quality and therefore, the use of this system has been preferred in many buildings that belong to private individuals as well as companies. A lot of health benefits are attributed to indoor air quality since low-quality air contains microbes that are capable of affecting the occupants of the buildings (Chadderton, 2004). A lot of prevalence has been given to the VAV system compared to the CV system and this prevalence is attributed to the improved energy efficiency that these systems can offer. The motivation behind the introduction of these systems was based on their ability to save energy during their operating times as well as their low maintenance cost.
The selection of a proper VAV system strategy is very important for the various elements that will be incorporated in the design of the VAV system that can serve a building with 26 floors. Comfort is the major reason why most buildings install VAV and this comfort relies on humidity and temperature which create different comfort zones (Bradshaw, 2006). These zones are capable of providing comfort to different people based on their dressing and the nature of the work that they do in the office. Cooler conditions are always suitable for the kind of people who are associated with heavy work as well as wearing heavy garments. The ventilation of the indoor air must always be provided to commercial buildings to prevent stale air that makes the building unhealthy (Awbi, 2007). During the construction and design of buildings, the use of designed codes provides valuable information on the amount of fresh air that the building requires. This information from the codes is essential for the design of the well VAV system which is capable of meeting such demands.