Rightsizing of Rooftop HVAC Systems
| Authors: | Ery Djunaedy, Kevin Van Den Wymelenberg, Brad Acker, Harshana Thimmanna |
| Published: | March 17, 2010 |
| Links: | Pre-print pdf |
| Background: | Rooftop units (RTUs) are one of the most commonly used heating ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems for small commercial buildings. In Northern California (PGE 1997), they represent more than 2.3 million tons of air conditioning capacity, covering around 70% of the commercial cooling. In the Pacific Northwest, 34% of the commercial buildings are cooled with RTUs comprising an estimated 1.3 million tons (NEEA 2004).
Multiple institutions have conducted research projects to study the performance of RTUs. In the Pacific Northwest, studies have been carried out by the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance (NEEA), Portland Energy Conservation Inc. (PECI), and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). These studies and other research will be reviewed in Section 2. Most research has focused on the operation and maintenance issues associated with RTUs, not the design and sizing of RTUs as will be discussed in this paper. |