HVAC Irving Woods Chicago | Expert Power Efficient System Designs

Don’t be confused by our NY-Engineers.Com is your best option if you are searching for Full Service Air Conditioning, Heating & Cooling (HVAC) Engineering Firm in Chicago Illinois. We’re not only an HVAC Contractor in or near Chicago but also a leading provider of Architectural Engineering Engineering services near Irving Woods Chicago. Contact us at 312 767.6877

Recently huge crowds have been stopping by the NY Engineers website searching for Architectural Engineering in or near the Chicago area. That is due primarily due to the reputation we have built in this types of projects. With that said, many building owners from Elmhurst to Worth, do not know that New York Engineers is also a top contender for anyone looking for HVAC Company in or near Chicago.

The pursuit of power efficient buildings involves cost effective HVAC system design. This will include systems for domestic water heating, architectural enclosure, HVAC, lighting, and vertical transportation. The loads for that HVAC systems should come primarily from 5 different bases including lighting (cooling), your building envelope (cooling and heating), ventilation (cooling and heating), equipment for program use (cooling) and occupancy (cooling).
The ventilation load will be a function of either the devices necessary so as to introduce it in to a space and control contaminant concentration or the amount of people that may fill the place. In virtually all climates from the southwestern and eastern parts of the united states, to reduce outter air flow will save energy whenever the outer air is either humid and warm or very cold.
Managing the ventilation rate will likely be based on occupancy which is referred to as a kind of demand control ventilation. This is a everyday sort of energy conservation tatic that is used for buildings with occasional or heavy occupancy. Having cooling and heating loads dropped as low as possible can be carried out by utilizing a very high performance building envelope, occupancy sensors, and high performance lighting that apply daylight response of lighting controls.

Chicago HVAC Engineers vs HVAC Technicians

When you’ve ever considered the difference between a HVAC Engineers versus HVAC Technicians, then keep reading:

Chicago HVAC engineers are the individuals who oversee the installation of air cooling systems both for residential and commercial buildings. They spend lots of their day in offices doing more impressive range supervision and arranging of installations but they do also visit job sites every so often.

But, HVAC technicians usually do a lot of the hands-on work that deals with repair and maintenance. A HVAC tech may work together with an engineer to complete some of the installation task, especially on smaller jobs. Generally speaking HVAC techs do a lot more travel and may spend considerable time identifying leaks, changing filters, doing recharges or decommissioning old and outdated systems which use old refrigerants.

HVAC engineers may have the chance to make more decisions about systems that are used, plus they are the folks that would offer advice about probably the most sensible refrigerants and which systems would be perfect for a larger building. In the industry, there is certainly some competition between ‘the suits’ and ‘the ones that get their hands dirty’, but both jobs do require a good familiarity with how air-con really works. As of late many people have been crawling our sites looking for HVAC Tech Chicago Il. Nevertheless, the goal of our company is to become the to go to firm for those searching for a HVAC Chicago and or any of our other services including Sprinkler Design Engineering services. We ask that everyone searching for more information about our Air Conditioning, Heating & Cooling (HVAC) Engineering Firm in Chicago Illinois checks out at our blog!

HVAC Engineering: Understanding Air Balancing in Ventilation Systems

Air balancing is a fundamental design skill in HVAC engineering. Depending on the intended purpose of each building area, it may require negative, positive or neutral pressurization. This is accomplished by adjusting supply and exhaust airflows: a higher air supply causes positive pressure, while a higher air exhaust causes negative pressure.

Although the ideal scenario would be to ventilate all building areas naturally, this is not possible in practice. For example, there is no way to use natural ventilation in areas that are completely surrounded by other rooms, as well as in underground levels. The purpose of ventilation can range from human comfort to facility safety: ventilation in residential and commercial settings is focused on delivering air of breathable quality, while industrial ventilation is often deployed to keep dangerous gases away from certain areas or below a certain concentration.

Indoor spaces are subject to many airflows, and they are normally measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM). We tend to think only about the outdoor air supply and the exhaust air, but consider there is also unwanted air escape (exfiltration) and air gain (infiltration). Unwanted air flows typically occur around the edges of windows or doors.

Poorly balanced ventilation systems often lead to air quality issues, according to HVAC engineering professionals. For example, negative pressurization may draw in pollutants from above the ceiling or from outdoors, and air may rush in suddenly when a window or door is opened.

Intake and Exhaust Air Calculation

Before air balancing calculations, it is important to know the required air supply and air exhaust. There are many valid procedures, as indicated by the following codes:

ASHRAE 62.1 – Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality
In the case of hospitals, ASHRAE 170 – Ventilation of Health Care Facilities

The total air supply is 60 cfm, while air exhaust is 150 cfm. Since exhaust is higher by 90 cfm, the result is negative pressurization. Increasing supply to balance airflow is acceptable, since the values provided in the code are only minimum values.

Assume all intake airflows are increased to the following values, in order to prevent negative pressurization:

Electrical room: 25 cfm
Corridor: 125 cfm
Storage: 25 cfm

This results in a total air intake of 175 cfm, which is higher than the 150 cfm of exhaust air. This causes cellar areas to be pressurized with respect to the trash room, preventing the spread of unpleasant odours. Since the airflow must be balanced at the end, the extra 25 cfm are released by exfiltration, but trash odour is confined to its intended location.

Troubleshooting Air Balancing Issues in HVAC Engineering

If a ventilation system suffers from air balance issues, do not immediately assume the cause lies in the fans themselves. Consider that system components such as dampers can be damaged, and also that air ducts can get disconnected. When in doubt, the best recommendation is getting a professional opinion from an HVAC design engineer.

When ventilation systems are equipped with variable frequency drives for fan speed control, air balancing is simplified. VFDs can adjust the rpm of both supply and exhaust fans, to match the ventilation load while keeping airflows balanced.

HVAC engineering is a complicated matter that is best approached by engineers that have specialized in this area of expertise.