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» ASHRAE Design Competition Gives Students Hands-On Experience in Practical Design
ASHRAE Design Competition Gives Students Hands-On Experience in Practical Design

ATLANTA?The 2009 ASHRAE Student Design Competition, which encourages students to become more involved with their chosen major through practical design, saw the largest number of entries to date.

This year?s Student Design Competition featured a 15,650-square-foot office building with first floor parking, second floor retail and office space and third floor offices. Among the 32 schools that submitted entries, three in particular stood out as first place winners in the three categories that the Competition offers.

First place in HVAC System Design is awarded to Craig Allen, BrianSybesma, Chan Kim, William Raschefsky and Elyse Widin, of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Ca. Their faculty advisor is Jesse Maddren, Ph.D.

The students chose a ground-source heat pump with an energy recovery ventilation system for the building, citing the benefits of a GSHP?s minimal energy use and long life-span.

?The primary driving factors for the GSHP system were its low life cycle cost and minimal energy consumption,? the students wrote. ?Combining GSHPs with an energy recovery ventilator reduces the size of the equipment needed, thus lowering the strain on natural resources and keeping energy costs low,? they added.

First place in HVAC System Selection is awarded to Kelly Griffith, James Newman, Phillip Podlasek and Darren Rottinghaus, of Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan. Their faculty advisors are Fred Hasler, P.E. and Julia Keen, P.E.

The students also selected a ground-source heat pump, with each heat pump piped in a direct return loop, rather than reverse return, in order to save on the amount of piping used. The GSHP also utilizes variable frequency drives to control the hydronic pump, which would decrease the energy consumption of said pumps.

?The option is the most efficient and has the lowest environmental impact throughout the life of the building,? the students wrote. ?The [building] owner will be very pleased because of the system?s highly green design and the number of LEED points that can be achieved through its design.?

Perhaps this year?s large number of entries was due in part to the new Integrated Sustainable Building Design (ISBD) category, which encouraged collaboration between engineering and architectural students. Students who chose to participate in the ISBD category were asked to redesign the office building to their own local climate, with the ultimate goal being a zero-energy building.

First place in ISBD is awarded to Troy White, Edward Wood, Jaime Gonsalves and Ivan Fernandes of Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Their advisor is Filimon Tsionas.

The students designed an office building that would be made up of 5 percent recycled materials collected from abandoned buildings on the construction site. A solar wall, curtain windows and chilled beams would be utilized for heating and cooling. The building would also feature an open concept atrium, acting as a solar chimney to reduce the number of ducts necessary, and in turn the number of fans and energy needed to power them. Grey water collected in a green roof would be used in sinks, toilets and irrigation of landscaping.

?The design group feels that the product of this design problem has been greatly influenced by the solution methodology and the end product exceeds that of a more conventional approach,? the students wrote of their collaborative experience.

A representative from each winning team will be presented with their awards at ASHRAE?s 2010 Winter Conference, to be held in Orlando, Fla.

ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization of some 50,000 persons. ASHRAE fulfills its mission of advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education.

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» Product: Chillers
Aggreko?s lines of air-cooled or water-cooled chillers provide a wide range of convenient, effective water-cooling options. These units can be extended with air-handling equipment for HVAC applications. ...

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» Airflow Technology: Register Vent Booster Fan
The AirFlow Breeze Ultra is a register vent booster fan with remote control. It is a quieter and more powerful version of the original AirFlow Breeze, says the company. By using a built-in temperature sensor, the register booster fan quietly delivers warm or cool air to any area of the home that is consistently too hot or too cold.