Energy and Acoustic Performance Effects due to VAV Duct Design and Installation Practice Variations

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2008

Publication Title

HVAC and R Research

Volume

14

Issue

4

First page number:

597

Last page number:

613

Abstract

The energy efficiency and acoustic performance trends due to variations in the installation of ductwork after the variable air volume (VAV) unit are generally known, but the quantitative measure of those effects have not been documented through a comprehensive experiment. This study applied commonly found variations in ductwork installations in a full-scale experiment to determine the quantitative main effects of each installation variation. An orthogonal test matrix design of experiment was used so that each main effect was the mean main effect for that variation when exposed to all the other installation variations. It was found that for square diffusers, the energy required to distribute air post VAV unit could be more than doubled by variations in the installation. Sound levels were predicted to differ by nearly 16 dB for different installations at the same airflow rate. The main contribution of this research is that it provides quantitative results that can be used to make energy efficiency and sound-level reduction design and installation decisions and to predict the efficiency and sound levels of an installation.

Keywords

Air ducts – Installation; Air ducts – Noise; Energy consumption; Variable air volume systems (Air conditioning)

Disciplines

Acoustics, Dynamics, and Controls | Energy Systems | Engineering | Mechanical Engineering

Language

English

Permissions

Use Find in Your Library, contact the author, or interlibrary loan to garner a copy of the item. Publisher policy does not allow archiving the final published version. If a post-print (author's peer-reviewed manuscript) is allowed and available, or publisher policy changes, the item will be deposited.

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