Q. What are the specific aspects of consideration while designing and selecting a HVAC system for structures in the office segment?
Office design has changed over the years from being closed cubicle format to open plan designs. Design and planning of services has also evolved to suit the charging design of office spaces. There are a few key considerations, while selecting and designing air-conditioning systems for office spaces
Selection and design of the HVAC should be done keeping in mind the site location, orientation, facade design, occupancy, activity in the space throughout the day, materials and daylight into the space. Based on these the appropriate system should be selected and designed according to the available space.
While designing the air-conditioning system, other design factors that could help reduce HVAC load and costs are insulation of floors, walls, use of insulated/DGU glass with correct U-values. These could be part of the design to help reduce HVAC load and reduce solar gain into the building.
Once the system is selected, the design will eventually be based around the floor layout and ceiling heights that are available.
Q: What are the advancements and newer technologies adopted in the HVAC industry? How is it integrating the benefits of IoT?
HVAC, like other aspects of architecture, integrated with loT helps gather and analyze data about the environmental and operation conditions throughout the building to optimize its performance.
New/ smart technologies are constantly upgrading to help achieve energy efficiency and cost reductions in both consumption and operations. Building automation systems integrated with HVAC can help achieve the right thermal comfort, control humidity, eliminate odour and also help in maintaining indoor air quality levels. Multiple- zones can be created to independently control each space. A smart system can also do usage tracking and help optimize each zone as per data, thereby reducing energy consumption. Features like remote access, notification updates, etc further help in productive workplaces.
New innovations are constantly focusing on making systems smarter to make them more energy efficient while reducing cost.