For this Senior Design Project, a hypothetical office building is proposed to be located in Helena, MT, and needs a complete heating, ventilation, and air condition system. This project includes the design of air handling equipment as well as hot water and cooling equipment. To reduce operational costs and environmental impact, the system will be as efficient as possible. To help increase the efficiency of the system, the building is designed with a solar wall. The solar wall draws air through a metal panel heated by sunlight to pre-heat the air before it enters the building’s air handling system. This reduces the amount of energy the heating system needs to produce to heat the building. In addition to a system to supply heating and cooling air to the building, a system to tie the solar wall into the building’s air system has been designed. The solar wall is connected to the system with an additional unheated outside air supply to provide a constant inlet air temperature. This requires a dampers between the two outside air supplies, as well as a control system to provide the correct mix of pre-heated and unheated air. This presentation will summarize the design components of the projects, as well as design criteria, constrains, impacts to society and the environment, and a summary of the sustainability aspects of the project.
