Engineering Commons^™

Effects Of The 2022 California Building Energy Efficiency Standards On New Construction In San Luis Obispo County, Christopher Hoefer

Construction Management

California released the first Building Efficiency Standards, or Energy Code, in 1976 and has updated them every three years. These standards aim at limiting the amount of energy use and greenhouse gas emissions by buildings in the state. California claims that these standards have saved consumers billions on utility bills, but there is limited information on the upfront impact the Efficiency Standards have had on new construction. This study sought to evaluate the impact that the 2022 California Building Energy Efficiency Standards had on new construction in San Luis Obispo County. Interviews were conducted with local specialty contractors in order …

Residential Indoor Air Quality Study – Assessment And Mitigation, Giovanni Cerrato

Mechanical Engineering Theses

An increased awareness in residential indoor air quality (IAQ) has led to an increase in technologies that assist in improving IAQ. Two such technologies include Electro-static (ES) air cleaners and Photocatalytic Oxidizing (PCO) air cleaners. ES air cleaners remove particulate matter from indoor air, but are known to emit ozone, a contaminant, as a by-product. PCO air cleaners abate gaseous pollutants (i.e., Volatile Organic Compounds, VOCs); however, a lack of testing standards creates confusion about their effectiveness in improving IAQ in a real residential home. On the other hand, environmental variables such as temperature and humidity were found to affect …

Hvac Fan Cooling System Using Modicon M580, Ogbonnaya Okoronkwo Okorie, Nicolas Jens Fache

Electrical Engineering

A common problem that many devices have when operating is overheating. Whether it is operating at full capacity or idle, those devices that we use exert heat to some type of extent. The physical and electronic components of the device can only withstand so much heat before the component becomes damaged. This product provides a method of preventing overheating by being a cooling system for your device. A solution for preventing overheating of the components in these electronic devices is by having some sort of cooling system. Our product’s cooling system will be based on energy efficiency, which means that …

Portable Drinking Water Cooler And Dispenser, Gustavo Hernandez-Lerena, Erik Torres, Caleb Francis Parham, Terry Leung

Mechanical Engineering

This document serves as the comprehensive report for the testing and building for the Portable Water-Cooling System by team AquaCool. Team AquaCool is comprised of four mechanical engineers with a passion to help the agricultural industry in their efforts to keep the health of the workers at their peak. The four engineers who partook in helping the farm workers are as follows: Caleb F. Parham, Erik Torres, Gustavo Hernandez-Lerena, and Terry Leung. To reduce the risk of heatstroke and other unwanted effects from the harsh working conditions during summer, a small and portable system was built to help in the …

Hvac Hardware Modeling Using Programmable Automatic Controller, Panthil Ketan Patel, Lumanti Tuladhar

Electrical Engineering

The primary purpose of this project is to use the donated programmable logic controllers (PLC) from Schneider Electric to develop experiments for a future lab class at Cal Poly. Our goal as the first group working on this project is to develop an experiment where the PLC can control the HVAC system based on temperature and humidity sensors and user inputs to maintain a desired consistent temperature. The PLC will be controlled using Unity Pro XLS/Control Expert software for simulations. The overall purpose of the experiments will be to demonstrate the potential of the PLC to minimize manual intervention while …

The Design And Economic Optimization Of A Warehouse Refrigeration System, Hannah Talbot

Honors Theses

The purpose of this project was to design a cool warehouse refrigeration system for Acme Frozen Foods, Inc located in Newark, New Jersey. The refrigeration system was used to cool eighteen 300,000 ft³ refrigerated units (200 ft x 100 ft x 15 ft), each requiring 200 cooling tons of refrigeration at a level of 0 F. The scope of this project included determining the appropriate refrigeration cycle, selecting the most desirable refrigerant, and temperature ranges to optimize the performance of the system. This project also considered the economic cost of the power needed to run the refrigerated units and …

Methodology To Compare Performance Of Residential Hvac Systems Operating In Cooling Mode, Manoj Bhandari

Mechanical Engineering Theses

Residential HVAC systems are selected and installed based on the goals of the customer. For spec homes, the most common types of systems are traditionally ducted with standard efficiency. However, for custom homes, the recent trend has included high-efficiency HVAC systems that are often accompanied by air-tight home envelopes with highly thermally resistant foam insulation in the walls. Several high-efficiency systems are available in the market with the performance of these systems varying between the different manufacturers and the types of systems. The systems available in the market can be compared and ranked based on their thermal performance and energy …

Energy Analysis Of Heating, Ventilation, And Air Conditioning Systems, Erica Ferguson

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project studied Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems for commercial buildings. I completed an energy model Raleigh County Sheriff’s Department in West Virginia. This building’s HVAC has been completed by the consulting engineering firm: Scheeser Buckley Mayfield. I intern at this company, so they allowed me to use their original design as a basis for comparison. Load calculations, utility costs, energy consumption, and carbon footprint were derived from this energy analysis. The energy model compared three systems: variable air volume (VAV) with electric reheat, variable air volume with hydronic reheat, and variable refrigerant volume (VRV). Based on the …

Development And Application Of A Digital Twin For Chiller Plant Performance Assessment, Mihir Kale

All Theses

As the complexity of industrial equipment continues to increase, the management of the individual machines and integrated operations becomes difficult without computer tools. The availability of streaming data from manufacturing floors, plant operations, and deployed fleets can be overwhelming to analyze, although it provides opportunities to improve performance. The use of dedicated monitoring systems in the plant and field to troubleshoot machinery can be integrated within a product lifecycle management (PLM) architecture to offer greater features. PLM offers virtual processes and software tools for the design, analysis, monitoring, and support of engineering systems and products. Within this paradigm, a digital …

Decentralized And Centralized Optimal Control Of Hvac Systems, Ryan S. Montrose

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Utility service providers are often challenged with the synchronization of thermostatically controlled loads. Load synchronization, resulting from naturally occurring or demand response events, can damage power distribution equipment and reduce the grid's efficiency. Because thermostatically controlled loads constitute most of the power consumed by the grid at any given time, the proper control of such devices can lead to significant energy savings and improved grid stability. The contribution of this thesis is developing optimal control algorithms for both single-stage and variable-speed heat pump HVAC systems. Our control architecture allows for regulating home temperatures through selective peer-to-peer communication while simultaneously minimizing …

Dynamic Hvac Energy Management Using Commercial Building Occupancy Metrics & Neural Networks, Krishna Chaitanya Jagadeesh Simma

Civil Engineering ETDs

With the rise of technology use in buildings, it is now possible to collect data that can be used to improve building energy consumption. One factor that has significant impact on building energy consumption is occupancy. Recent studies have shown promising results in obtaining occupancy information from existing infrastructure such as WiFi router networks. However, these existing frameworks require additional investments through software upgrades, added infrastructure, computational resources, and may raise occupant privacy concerns. Additionally, with occupant thermal comfort statistics being lower than ASHAREA specified standards, a novel approach for indoor climate control is needed. To address the limitations in …

Sustainable Tiny Home, Abigail Jessica Jones, Vince John Bugni, Sean Robert Paddy, Cameron Michael Gross

Mechanical Engineering

As housing prices and environmental concerns continue to increase, many people are looking for cheaper and more sustainable ways to live. A solution to both problems is building homes with smaller footprints which incorporate renewable energy and water-reclamation systems. In addition, adding a roof pond system to the dwelling also reduces the need for heating and cooling. The roof pond system uses a water bladder on the roof which acts as a heat-sink and moveable insulation panels. This document contains the process for our final design along with results from testing the verification prototype.

Hvac Fan Control Using Modicon M580, Anthony Tyler, Kevin Shipp

Electrical Engineering

This project is the start of a lab experiment for the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Electrical Engineering department’s new lab focusing on Programmable Logic Controller's (PLCs). The primary focus is to create a lab where students control a Heating, Ventilation, and Air conditioning (HVAC) system controlled by the Modicon M580 PLC, donated by Schneider Electric. The experiment contains a heat source, which the PLC monitors with a temperature sensor, and a cooling source with multiple fans. Students will learn to use function block diagrams to program the PLC, controlling fan output and regulating the system temperature. The experiment specifications …

Active Noise Control Using Carbon Nanotube Thermophones: Case Study For An Automotive Hvac Application, Walker H. Nelson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The goal of this project was to reduce the overall noise levels emitted by the HVAC components in a vehicle’s cabin. More specifically, the feasibility of achieving this goal using two key technologies was investigated.

The first of these technologies, Active Noise Control (ANC), is a noise attenuation technique that relies on destructive interference that “cancels” unwanted noise. Typically used in situations where physical constraints prevent passive attenuation techniques from being used, ANC is known for its high size-to-effectiveness ratio. This benefit cannot be gained without a cost however; the complexity of ANC systems is significantly higher than their passive …

Hvac System Energy Audit For Leverett Elementary School, Connor Smalling

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Leverett Elementary School is located in Fayetteville, AR. The school needs significant upgrades to its infrastructure. The Fayetteville Public School District has voted to pursue an Energy Services Performance Contract (ESPC) in order to finance the desired upgrades to Leverett Elementary, among other schools in the district.

The scope of this thesis was to perform an energy audit on the existing heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system. By using an energy modeling software, eQuest, the building and the existing base system were modeled to determine utility consumption. Three different HVAC system alternatives were analyzed against the base system by …

Cal Poly Engineering East – Building 20, A Critical Analysis Of Mechanical Needs And Distribution Of Mechanical Resources, Rhea Bae

Construction Management

Older buildings on the Cal Poly campus need renovation, particularly with the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning (addressed as HVAC) systems in the classrooms. The HVAC units within the old buildings are obsolete, inefficient, and are most likely due for replacement. The Engineering East building, also known as Building 20, is an example of a campus building that requires a quality HVAC system. By upgrading the HVAC, the building conditions can be positively enhanced through better cooling and ventilation, allowing students in the labs and classrooms to have a better experience within the building. This paper details the methodology behind installing a …

Dehumidification Water Quality Analysis Of The South Texas Gulf Of Mexico, Erik Esteban Castillo

Theses and Dissertations

This project is to introduce a new methodology for environmental research that analyzes humidity from a water treatment perspective. This is done by using a household dehumidifier, which extracts the excess humidity in a given space, to harvest the samples. The dehumidifier was used outside to act as an Atmospheric Water Generator (AWG), which is the process of extracting water from the atmosphere. When AWG is placed near shoreline, then it's classified as a Desalinated Atmospheric Water Generator (DAWG) since it extracts distilled seawater water-vapors. The methodology for DAWG analyzed turbidity in the humidity on SPI, indicating to meet {<.15} TCEQ turbidity water quality standard. The turbidity also showed to have an adverse relation to weather conditions. There is an open market in research on this topic, where the methodology for DAWG can offer answers. This project identifies DAWG as being a sustainable source of potable water for a municipality.

Modeling Of Thermal Dynamics In Chevrolet Volt Gen Ii Hybrid Electric Vehicle For Integrated Powertrain And Hvac Optimal Operation Through Connectivity, Nehal Doshi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Integrated thermal energy management across system level components in electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) is currently an under explored space. The proliferation of connected vehicles and accompanying infrastructure in recent years provides additional motivation to explore opportunities in optimizing thermal energy management in EVs and HEVs with the help of this newly available connected vehicle data. This thesis aims to examine and analyze the potential to mitigate vehicle energy consumption and extend usable driving range through optimal control strategies which exploit physical system dynamics via controls integration of vehicle subsystems.

In this study, data-driven and physics-based models …

Impact Of Implementing A Dedicated Outdoor Air System In Parallel With A Multi-Zone Variable-Air Volume System On Energy Consumption, Thermal Comfort, And Life Cycle Cost, Khaled Alghamdi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Heating, Ventilating, and Air-Conditioning systems (HVAC) consume more than 40% of energy in commercial buildings, according to the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey in 2012. Therefore, efforts to reduce HVAC energy consumption would be significant in coping with energy-related issues. In that context and in order to enhance the indoor air quality without compromising for energy consumption, the concept of Dedicated Outdoor Air systems (DOAS) emerged.

The literature shows that the integration of DOAS with other HVAC systems has been studied widely, yet the impact of integrating DOAS in parallel with multi-zone Variable-Air Volume systems (multi-zone VAV) for an application …

The Effects Of Exhaust Vent Location On Thermal Comfort Inside The Residential Buildings Equipped With An Evaporative Cooling System, Armin Saraei

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Inlet and outlet conditions, Including size and location, have significant effects on the air distribution, temperature, humidity and thermal comfort in the buildings. In the current study, various strategies are presented for exhaust air vents and the effects of inlet and outlet vents locations are evaluated on providing thermal comfort in the residential and industrial buildings. To provide thermal comfort, three key factors need to be investigated based on ASHRAE standard 55- 2013 as follows: Comfort Zone, Thermal Sensation and Draft Rate. Flow distribution is studied as well in order to investigate the strategies, which make more vorticity in the …

Kettle Cooling And Sustainability Project, Nico Degiorgio

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

A particular frozen food processing facility uses a once-through cooling process to bring their kettle-cooked product’s temperature down from nearly boiling temperatures to the eighty degree Fahrenheit range. This process is water intensive and facility managers are seeking to reduce their potable water consumption. Sales engineers from Air Treatment Corporation, an HVAC&R manufacturers’ rep, initiated a number of meetings to propose heat rejection solutions and illustrate their associated payback potentials.

This report contains methods of analyzing a food production process, the technical sales process, thermodynamic principles, refrigeration technologies, and the application of technical knowledge to provide a long-term, system solution. …

Optimization And Performance Study Of Select Heating Ventilation And Air Conditioning Technologies For Commercial Buildings, Rajeev Kamal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Buildings contribute a significant part to the electricity demand profile and peak demand for the electrical utilities. The addition of renewable energy generation adds additional variability and uncertainty to the power system. Demand side management in the buildings can help improve the demand profile for the utilities by shifting some of the demand from peak to off-peak times.

Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning contribute around 45% to the overall demand of a building. This research studies two strategies for reducing the peak as well as shifting some demand from peak to off-peak periods in commercial buildings:

1. Use of gas heat …

Evaluating The Performance Of Passive Chilled Beams With Respect To Energy Efficiency And Thermal Comfort, Janghyun Kim

Open Access Dissertations

Existing modeling approaches for passive chilled beams determined from tests on individual chilled beams in a laboratory are not adequate for assessing overall energy usage and occupant comfort within building simulation programs. In addition, design guidelines for passive chilled beam systems are needed for identifying appropriate applications and optimal configurations. This thesis includes (i) extensive experimental studies for characterizing the performance of passive chilled beams, in both laboratory settings and in field studies, (ii) development of passive chilled beam performance prediction models, (iii) integration of these models into building simulation models/tools and (iv) use of building simulation for overall assessment …

Parameter Estimation For Hvac System Models From Standard Test Data, Hannah Luthman

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Nearly all cooling systems, and an increasing proportion of heating systems, utilize the vapor compression cycle (VCC) to provide and remove heat from conditioned spaces. Even though the application of VCC’s throughout the building environment is ubiquitous, effective and accessible models of the performance of these systems remains elusive. Such models could be important tools for VCC designers, building designers and building energy managers as well as those who are attempting to optimize building energy performance through the use of model-based control systems.

Strides have been made in developing lumped parameter models for VCC’s. In spite of these contributions, widespread …

A System For Monitoring And Managing Indoor Air Quality And Environmental Conditions, Ali Ibrahim

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The quality of indoor air depends on different types of pollutant sources existing in a semi-enclosed environment. The sources can be biological, chemical, or toxic pollutants. These sources can cause health issues and discomfort for occupants. One of the indicators of poor indoor air quality is Carbon Dioxide (CO₂). CO₂ can be used to indicate the indoor air exchange rate. The lack of air exchange means higher levels of CO₂. High levels of indoor particulates can also be an indication of poor air quality. Due to the lack of fresh air, air circulation, and air …

Solar Cal Poly Active Hvac Project, James Cornish, Jake Cosmo, Patrick Weston

Mechanical Engineering

For this project, the goal was to conceptualize, design, test, and implement an active HVAC system to be used in the Solar Cal Poly house competing in the Department of Energy’s 2015 Solar Decathlon. With many house iterations, it was decided to use a split system with an outdoor heat pump and indoor air handler, paired with a HRV for ventilation. Through system modeling using Design Builder and Energy Pro 6.5, the cooling load of the house was determined along with the cooling schedule. The foreseen safety precautions and limited construction time guided the entire project, along with the active …

Investigation Of Distributed Model Predictive Control For Economic Load Shifting In Building Hvac Systems, Peter Kinsella

Theses and Dissertations

One of the major challenges that building owners and operators face is maintaining a low cost of operation. In certain markets within the U.S., electrical cost varies throughout the day; it is higher during times of peak demand. This leaves the customer the incentive to cut back electrical use during peak demand periods. Since 40% of the peak electrical demand is due to the operation of the building HVAC system alone, the opportunity exists for shifting the building cooling load to off-peak hours. This can be done by pre-cooling the space, thereby using the building mass as a sort of …

Net Zero Residential Design For Solar Calpoly, Bryce Reiko Willis

Master's Theses

The Department of Energy (DOE) confirmed Team Solar Cal Poly from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, as a competitor in the 2015 Solar Decathlon in February 2014. The Solar Decathlon is a biennial collegiate competition to construct a net-zero home and operate it for a week of “normal use”. Solar Cal Poly needed assistance with passive and active HVAC systems for the design, and thermal load models. The competition will take place in Irvine, CA [33.67⁰, 117.82⁰ W] from September 27 – October 3, 2015. After the completion, a potential final location for the house will be Santa …

Hvac Lab, Adrian Leon, Wes Allen

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Department was donated a fume hood so that it could be used for educational purposes in the lab. The fume hood was not fully set up and only ran in a constant volume mode; the fan ran at full speed with no feedback to reduce air flow. A fume hood can be opened or closed using the sash; air flowing through the sash opening must always be above a certain speed. As the sash is closed the opening grows smaller and the speed of the air increases. Two additional modes of …

Upgrading Unlv's Astm E477 Test Facility To Meet The Current Standards Of Astm E477, Ronn Fojas

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

A by-product of Heating, Ventilation, and Air-conditioning (HVAC) systems is noise that is produced by fans, compressors, and other related equipments and the noises from the turbulence that is created by moving air. Sometimes, it is impractical to modify the sources of the noise, which requires designers to modify the path of the noise, the duct system. These modifications might include installing an in-duct silencer or acoustical lining on the inside walls of the ducts. The testing and the precise quantification of the performance of these silencers and duct linings are necessary for any designer to be able to make …