Measured Performance of a Varied Airflow Small-Diameter Duct System
In this study, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America team IBACOS built on research previously done in two new-construction unoccupied test houses-one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Poerschke and Stecher 2014) and one in Fresno, California (Stecher and Poerschke 2013). Specific traditional central air distribution systems were installed in each of these low-load homes. For this study, the cold-climate new-construction unoccupied test house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was modified to test the performance of a heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system with varied airflow and small-diameter ducts.
The main goal of the small-diameter duct system is to simplify the task of bringing ductwork inside conditioned space, particularly on the single-story slab-on-grade type of home that is prevalent in the South and Southeast. Guidance is provided here to homebuilders and HVAC contractors on cost and performance tradeoffs between the conventional duct system and the small-diameter duct system.
Comparisons were made between variable-capacity heat pump operation modes with three constant airflow rates to determine the ideal tradeoff between maximizing thermal comfort and minimizing fan energy consumption.
ASHRAE Standard 55 (ASHRAE 2010a) was used to set limit metrics for temporal temperature variation; Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) Manual RS (Rutkowski 1997) was used to set a limit on spatial temperature uniformity (room-to-thermostat uniformity). The small diameter duct system was able to meet the temporal temperature variation limits much better than the spatial temperature uniformity limits.
TO4 2.1.2: High Velocity Space Cond. Systems
Complete Metadata
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| description | In this study, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America team IBACOS built on research previously done in two new-construction unoccupied test houses-one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Poerschke and Stecher 2014) and one in Fresno, California (Stecher and Poerschke 2013). Specific traditional central air distribution systems were installed in each of these low-load homes. For this study, the cold-climate new-construction unoccupied test house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was modified to test the performance of a heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system with varied airflow and small-diameter ducts. The main goal of the small-diameter duct system is to simplify the task of bringing ductwork inside conditioned space, particularly on the single-story slab-on-grade type of home that is prevalent in the South and Southeast. Guidance is provided here to homebuilders and HVAC contractors on cost and performance tradeoffs between the conventional duct system and the small-diameter duct system. Comparisons were made between variable-capacity heat pump operation modes with three constant airflow rates to determine the ideal tradeoff between maximizing thermal comfort and minimizing fan energy consumption. ASHRAE Standard 55 (ASHRAE 2010a) was used to set limit metrics for temporal temperature variation; Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) Manual RS (Rutkowski 1997) was used to set a limit on spatial temperature uniformity (room-to-thermostat uniformity). The small diameter duct system was able to meet the temporal temperature variation limits much better than the spatial temperature uniformity limits. TO4 2.1.2: High Velocity Space Cond. Systems |
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"description": "In this study, researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America team IBACOS built on research previously done in two new-construction unoccupied test houses—one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Poerschke and Stecher 2014) and one in Fresno, California (Stecher and Poerschke 2013). Specific traditional central air distribution systems were installed in each of these low-load homes. For this study, the cold-climate new-construction unoccupied test house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, was modified to test the performance of a heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system with varied airflow and small-diameter ducts."
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"@type": "dcat:Distribution",
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"description": "Current engineering guidelines for forced-air space-conditioning systems use methodologies that were developed more than 50 years ago and based on the concept that buildings are dominated by externally driven shell loads. Significant advances in thermal enclosure performance suggest that traditional space conditioning systems should be rethought to better handle loads that are more strongly influenced by internal gains.
In a new unoccupied test house in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America team IBACOS assessed the performance of a commercial high-velocity small-diameter air distribution system. The purpose was to test how the system handled the room-to-room cooling and heating loads with respect to Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) Manual RS criteria for thermal uniformity and ASHRAE Standard 55-2010 criteria for temperature variation with time. The main goal for using the small-diameter (2-in.) duct system was to simplify the installation of ductwork inside conditioned space."
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The Pittsburgh lab house (the design labeled "My Design") was run as a Design analysis against the Building America benchmark (the design labeled "Reference").",
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| DOI | 10.25984/2204230 |
| identifier | https://data.openei.org/submissions/5492 |
| issued | 2016-04-27T06:00:00Z |
| keyword |
[
"ACCA Manual RS",
"BuildingAmerica",
"HVAC",
"airflow",
"building america",
"bulkhead",
"cold",
"comfort",
"hot dry",
"low load",
"new construction",
"residential",
"small diameter duct",
"static pressure",
"temperature",
"unoccupied house",
"variable capacity heat pump",
"varied airflow"
]
|
| landingPage | https://data.openei.org/submissions/5492 |
| license | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| modified | 2023-11-01T16:40:35Z |
| programCode |
[
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| projectNumber | FY14 AOP 1.9.1.19 |
| projectTitle | Building America |
| publisher |
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| title | Measured Performance of a Varied Airflow Small-Diameter Duct System |
