ASHRAE Winter Meeting 2010 - Day 2

Today was spent attending educational sessions are here some of the nuggets of knowledge that I will pass on to you:

• ASHRAE 90.1 - 2010 is being reviewed and is slated to exceed the 2004 version in energy savings by 30 percent.  However, preliminary data is coming in that in its current form the standard is saving only 11.4%.  The standards committee is confident that the goal will be reached and that they have a couple of large addenda that may make that possible.
• On the commissioning front, common places to look for improper operation include economizer operation, hot and chilled water resets, static pressure control, equipment scheduling, and lighting scheduling.  Despite how basic these may sound they are often not set and end up just falling through the cracks.
• Also on commissioning, when you start your project, and hopefully that's during the design, you might first read through the sequence of operations, then draw a system schematic, and finally graph equipment function interaction.  If you didn't follow me just then let me explain.  First the sequence should make sense, be completely testable, and have the proper set points identified. Next draw the system to help make sure that you understand the system, this will also help with the documentation for your LEED System Manual. Lastly create a graph with the Y-axis labeled 0-100% and the X-axis labeled with operating temperature range.  Now if you graph the sequence of the, say, HW Valve, CW Valve, and OA damper for air-handling units all in different colors you have just made a graphical representation of the sequence that may show scenarios that the written sequences just don't.
• Here was the thought question of the day: If you are restricted by the architect for mechanical room space because extra square footage is expensive, do you not run the risk of forever increasing the energy inefficiency of the system because of the severe duct and piping transitions?

Now its time to get some sleep and rest my puppies before I go to the AHR Expo tomorrow.