Wet Bulb Temperature and

Its Impact on Building Performance

By: Kurmit Rockwell, PE, CEM, LEED AP
and Justin Lee, PE, LEED, AP BD+C
Energy Solution Services, AtSite, Inc.

What is Wet Bulb Temperature?

Wet bulb temperature is an indication of the amount of moisture contained within the air. Wet bulb
temperature differs from the temperature you feel when you go outside. The temperature you feel is called
Dry Bulb temperature, and is independent of the moisture content of the air.
Wet bulb temperature is the temperature you feel when water evaporates from the skin and can be measured
by wrapping the bulb of a thermometer in a wet cloth. If you swing the thermometer quickly the resulting
evaporation will drive the thermometer towards the wet bulb temperature. Unless the air is fully saturated (in
other words, relative humidity is 100%), the web bulb temperature will be less than the ambient dry bulb
temperature.

Since wet bulb is a measure of moisture levels within the air, the larger the differential between dry bulb and
wet bulb temperatures the drier the air feels. For instance, take a look at the following example:

Dry-Bulb Temperature

Wet-Bulb Temperature

Relative Humidity

Day 1

80F

70F

61%

Day 2

80F

63F

39%

In the above example, both days have the same ambient dry bulb temperature, however Day 2 has a lower wet
bulb and will therefore feel like a more pleasant day.

Wet Bulb Can be Used to Determine Other Physical Properties of Air

By measuring the wet bulb and dry bulb temperatures, other physical properties of air, such as the relative
humidity and the dew point temperature, can be determined. One means of determining the physical properties
of air is by charting the known values on a psychrometric chart and interpolating the other values.

Wet Bulb Temperature

How Does Wet Bulb Temperature Affect HVAC Systems?

As we just learned, wet bulb temperature is the minimum temperature that can be attained by the evaporation
of water. As a result, the wet bulb temperature is the lowest temperature that can be supplied by a cooling
tower or an evaporative cooler.
Cooling tower design supply temperatures are based on the worst case wet bulb temperatures for a particular
region. The wet bulb temperature sets the cooling towers lowest supply temperature limit.

Cooling Tower Return: 95F

Cooling
Tower

Wet Bulb Temperature: 78F

Cooling Tower Supply: 85F

4

The difference between the cooling tower return and the cooling tower supply temperatures is called the
range temperature. Cooling tower range temperature is typically between 8F - 15F. The larger the cooling
tower range temperature, the less pumping energy is required to move the cooling tower water through the
HVAC system.
The difference between the cooling tower supply temperature and the wet bulb temperature is called the
approach temperature. Approach temperature is typically between 5F - 10F in the mid-Atlantic region and
can be higher in dry climates. As cooling tower approach temperature decreases, colder water is supplied to the
HVAC system. The advantages of colder cooling tower supply temperature will be discussed in the next section.

Utilizing Wet Bulb to Increase Energy Efficiency

Wet bulb temperature is typically at or above design conditions less than 1% of the year, so there is a significant
opportunity to reduce cooling tower supply temperature throughout the year. This is accomplished by utilizing
a control logic in the Building Management System (BMS) that varies the cooling tower supply temperature with
the outside air wet bulb temperature.
A common approach to cooling tower operation is to have two modes of operation; normal operation where
the cooling tower supplies the design temperature to the mechanical HVAC equipment, and economizer
operation where the cooling tower supplies the chilled water temperature that the HVAC system would typically
supply. During economizer operation, the cooling tower supply temperature will typically range between 40F 50F based on outdoor conditions.
With the use of BMS controls a third operation can implemented when the cooling tower operation is in normal
mode to allow the cooling tower supply temperature set point to vary (or reset) based on the wet bulb
temperature. HVAC energy efficiency can typically increase upwards of 1%-2% for every degree that cooling
tower supply temperature is reduced.
The following graph is one example of the energy efficiency (KW/ton) of a centrifugal chiller at various entering
condenser water temperatures at both 100% load and 60% load.

TRANE Engineers Newsletter: Vol. 25/No. 1

As indicated in the above graph, the KW/ton of the chiller decreases as the entering condenser water
temperature decreases. This results in the chiller requiring less power (KW) to produce one ton of cooling,
thereby increasing energy efficiency.
The following is a list of several system types that would be potential candidates for condenser water supply
reset strategies:

Central chiller plant with centrifugal or double effect absorption chillers

Floor by floor self-contained units
Water cooled rooftop units

Economizer Cooling
When the ambient wet bulb temperature is low enough, cooling towers can produce chilled water without using
mechanical cooling. Water side economizer saves energy by turning off the large compressors in the chillers and
self-contained units within the building and providing chilled water straight to the units from the cooling tower.
A common configuration for water side economizer is to provide cooling tower water to a plate and frame heat
exchanger, which then provides cooling to the HVAC system.

All buildings that utilize cooling towers to reject heat are candidates for water side economizer.

Case Study: Economizer Cooling and Improving Building Performance

Economizer cooling has been proven to significantly reduce building energy consumption and improve HVAC
system efficiencies. For this case study well analyze one building where the building engineer was able to utilize
economizer cooling during the morning and early afternoon hours, but had to use mechanical cooling later in
the afternoon.

Economizer
Cooling

Mechanical
Cooling

Between 4am-1pm the average wet bulb temperature was 53F, which allowed the economizer system to
provide chilled water for free cooling. As the day progressed the chilled water temperature requirements
changed due to the internal heat gains and between 1:00pm and 2:00pm the chiller was required to provide
mechanical cooling to the building. The chiller activation is evident in the graph above by the large spike in
electricity consumption.
The electricity demand during peak economizer hours (6:00am-1:00pm) was reduced by approximately 200 KW,
when compared to the 2pm to 5pm profile. This resulted in energy savings of approximately 1,400 KWh during
the economizer hours. Economizer savings for this particular example were only realized during a portion of the
day due to fact that this was a moderate day in mid-fall. During late fall through early spring, the building will
operate almost exclusively in economizer mode. Therefore, potential savings for the building over the course of
an entire year can be significant.
Economizer savings for this particular example were only realized during a portion of the day due to fact that
this was a moderate day in mid-fall. During late fall through early spring, the building will operate almost
exclusively in economizer mode. Therefore, potential savings for the building over the course of an entire year
can be significant.

Case Study: Diagnosing System Performance Issues

In order to develop an optimized system performance strategy, AtSite energy managers developed a
performance verification plan with the facility manger to establish a baseline of current system performance.
After several weeks of diligently tracking wet bulb, dry bulb, cooling tower supply and cooling tower return
temperatures the facility manger provided AtSite with the system performance results:

Approach

Range

Two things were immediately noticed by AtSite engineers. First, the approach temperature is between 3F-4F
consistently throughout the temperature readings. Second, the range temperature is between 15F-18F. These
temperatures differed from the approach and range indicated on the construction documents (9F and 8F,
respectively). The low approach and high range temperatures are indicative of a potential flow problem within
the cooling tower system.
Based on this analysis, a cooling tower technician performed a detailed inspection of the cooling tower system
and determined that the flow was restricted through the heat exchanger serving the closed loop heat pump
system.
Low flow through a heat exchanger can cause substantial losses in energy efficiency and impact system
performance. Low velocity through a heat exchanger causes laminar flow which results in reduced heat transfer
effectiveness and the build up of scale within the heat exchanger tubes. Low flow also causes the cooling tower
fans to work harder to remove the heat from the condenser loop. In other words, instead of varying to meet the
actual load the fans must operate at or near full capacity to satisfy cooling loads throughout all modes of
operation. In addition to the issues cased by low flow, a blockage in the heat exchanger results in additional
head losses through the system which causes the cooling tower pumps to work harder to produce flow.
At the direction of the building owner, the technician was able to clean the heat exchanger to mitigate the
flow issues and restore system performance. By diligently tracking wet bulb temperature and comparing actual
system performance, AtSite engineers and the facility manager were able to diagnose and rectify an issue with
the building HVAC system that was adversely impacting building energy performance. Without this process,
the issue may have continued unabated until the problem reached critical failure and building systems went
offline. By addressing the issue prior to system failure, AtSite engineers and energy managers improved building
performance and protected valuable building assets from additional damage which may have shortened
useful life.