"Wisdom begins in wonder" – Socrates
Tag: Civil Engineering
Model Predictive Control for HVAC
01/20/18
“How can we implement Model Predictive Control for HVAC?”
Model Predictive Control has been applied to all sorts of situations, whether it be self-driving cars or autonomous building systems. So logically, something such as HVAC systems is another area of interest. Model Predictive Control for HVAC takes in parameters of such as heat and humidity and combines it with theoretical principles to have powerful predictive capabilities.
Vehicle to Building Integration
01/08/18
“How can we integrate electric vehicles with buildings energy systems?”
With the ascent of building integrated renewable energy, the need for storage is now more important than ever. However, current forms can be quite expensive and difficult to implement. So how can we use our engineering mindset to think outside of the box for this problem? Well, many people now own electric vehicles, which have onboard batteries. So what if we were to connect these batteries to homes, enabling a quick and portable storage solution for renewable energy? Well, this technology is known as Vehicle to Building Integration, and will be a hot topic in the coming decade. V2B is very similar to Vehicle to Grid Systems, except that they work with buildings instead of grids
Building Heating Loads
01/06/18
“What are the heating requirements of buildings?”
We know that the electricity needed by the building represents its energy load, but electricity is often not the only thing that a building requires. Furthermore, said building will also need heating and cooling. So how can we represent this in a quantitative fashion? Well, taking inspiration from energy loads, we can use a building energy load to show the information for heating or cooling in a building. The building energy load can be regulated through the use of an HVAC system.
Building Energy Loads
01/06/17
“What exactly draws energy in a building?”
The vast majority of people (in the developed world) spend the vast majority of their lives within a building. Whether it be the hospital they were born, the house they grew up in, or the school they attended, they were in some sort of edifice. And being modern society, we also use electricity within these buildings. And if we were to summate all of the energy-using technologies inside a building, then we would obtain the Building Energy Load. People are billed for how high their energy load is, so the less energy used the more money will be saved. Building Energy Loads also illustrate how important HVAC technology is since typically half of the energy supplied to a building is taken up by heating and cooling needs.
BACnet
01/02/17
“What is the communications protocol for building automation systems?”
Building automation systems are amazing for optimizing building energy systems. However, in order to operate, they need their own communications protocol. So how can we use our engineering mindset to solve this problem? Well, after many years of research, the good engineers of ASHRAE have been able to develop a protocol known as BACnet. BACnet stands for Building Automation and Control network and is the standard for all BAS systems.
Zone Valves
01/01/18
“How can we control fluid flow in a hydronic heating system?”
Hydronic heating systems are famous for their use of liquids to control heating. And many of these systems are taken further by dividing the volumes they cool into multiple zones to keep multiple areas at different temperatures. However, how can we actually implement this? Well, we can accomplish this using a little piece of technology known as a zone valve. Zone valves can regulate the flow of water into multiple areas, allowing for a truly zoned system.
Night-Sky Cooling Systems
12/31/17
“How can we use the nighttime chill to cool a building?”
Traditional HVAC systems have brought wonders to human civilization, but sometimes as engineers we would like to reinvent the wheel. To begin, everyone knows that the nighttime has its own coolness. So what if we were to take advantage of this by applying a liquid coating to the roof of a building, let the night chill cool it down, funnel it through gutters to a thermal storage, and then use it through the day? Well, this is the fundamental idea behind Night-Sky Cooling Systems. This method offers a low infrastructure low-cost, and low-energy alternative to traditional HVAC systems. That being said, Night-Sky Cooling Systems also consume large amounts of water and are heavily dependent on a cool night sky to keep them running.
Ventilation
12/29/17
“How can we keep a building’s air fresh?”
Buildings are great for enclosing an interior space. However, if there is no contact with the outside, then the air inside will become trapped and polluted. So how can we make sure that fresh air is continually supplied without overcooling the building? Well, we can use something known as ventilation, that allows some air to pass in and some to pass out, creating a continuous cycling of air. Ventilation is a fundamental part of the built environment and has become of the most important standards.
Direct Digital Control
12/26/17
“How can we control a building automation system?”
Building components can consume quite a bit of energy. However, this energy usage can be mitigated greatly if devices were able to obtain data from the surrounding environment and communicate it to one another. This IoT-like technique is known as Direct Digital Control, and can be a great investment by increasing productivity while lowering utility costs, occupant complaints, and maintenance fees.
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