EFFICIENTLY WARMER & COOLER

Energy Efficient HVAC Systems; Thermal Energy Storage, Underfloor Air Distribution, Chilled Beams, and Other Emerging HVAC Innovations for High Performance Buildings
Levin Nock and Clint Wheelock, 1Q 2011 (Pike Research)

"Most changes in the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) industry over the next 5 years will be designed to decrease energy costs. Because of rising energy prices and pressure to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, many building owners have begun to manage energy cost actively as an asset, rather than a fixed cost.

"Until recently, the largest energy cost in most commercial buildings was lighting. As a result, many energy efficiency initiatives have focused on lighting. This effort has reduced lighting loads to the point where the largest single energy use in most commercial buildings today is HVAC. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reports that 57% of the energy consumed in a commercial building is used for heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting (32% for HVAC and 25% for lighting). Thus, energy efficiency initiatives over the next 5 years are likely to focus increasingly on HVAC…"

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"Most building owners have more important things on their minds than saving energy. In order for innovative HVAC equipment to address the energy retrofit market in existing privately owned buildings, short payback periods are required to attract a building owner’s attention. Ideal payback periods are zero or negative – providing operational savings at zero or negative first cost to the building owner. While various HVAC innovations have a net-zero incremental cost for new construction and attractive payback for retrofits, this information is not yet widely known among design and construction professionals…

"In this report, Pike Research provides 5-year scenarios for the U.S. market for building energy management systems, thermal energy storage, underfloor air distribution, geothermal heat pumps and evaporative pre-cooling for RTU’s. While these technologies occupy a small portion of the present market, Pike Research expects their growth to continue. While displacement ventilation, active chilled beams, and HRV/ERV are also expected to continue their rapid growth in the United States, market scenarios are not included because of insufficient data. Additional technologies are explored, as well, particularly in cases where the near-term market in Europe and/or Asia might expand into the United States beyond the 5-year focus…"