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BASIC AIR CONDITIONING

SYSTEMS DESIGN
By: Peter George M.AIRAH Director Hendricks, Elms & George Consulting Engineers

1. INTRODUCTION

Air conditioning system design is a broad and sometimes

complex field with many aspects to consider and many
options available for selection of the final systems for a
particular project.
Air conditioning system design is more than just a technical
exercise and in order to design an air conditioning system we
need to understand what air conditioning is, what the clients
needs are, what constraints there are on the design and what
the architect is trying to achieve. That is, we need to know
the technical aspects of air conditioning systems as well as
the effect of the design on the other members of the project
team. The design process involves a mix of technical,
interpersonal and management skills.
This paper covers a typical air conditioning system design
process.
So, how do we go about designing an air conditioning
system? First of all we need to understand what air
conditioning is.
2. THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS
Air conditioning is the treatment of the environment to
achieve a set of required conditions. In the fields of building
services it usually relates to air providing 'comfort' for
building occupants but could also cover other situations such
as fumigation rooms and specialist storage environments. This
presentation will deal only with treatment of air for comfort
conditions.

absolute)
Air movement
Air quality

The need for control of these variables and their control

points will be based on the client's requirements. For example,
if a factory owner wants to provide some limited cooling for
their factory, then dry bulb temperature control over a fairly
wide range would probably suffice. However if a
pharmaceutical manufacturer wants to provide suitable
conditions for their manufacturing process, then we would
need to control all of the above variables to a close tolerance.
Air quality is controlled by filtration systems, and air
movement is controlled by the distribution systems. These
aspects of air conditioning system design are worth separate
discussion and their own paper. We will look at the control of
temperature and moisture content only.
A useful tool to help visualise the control of temperature and
moisture control is the psychrometric chart. Atmospheric air is
a mixture of air and water vapour. The psychrometric chart is
a graph showing the various concentrations of water vapour
in the air and the associated temperatures, densities and
energy contents.
The task of the air conditioning system is to control the
temperature and moisture content of the air by one or more
of the following processes:

The environmental conditions, which are controlled in a given

design, may include:

These processes can be shown on the psychrometric chart.

Refer to Fig. 1

Dry bulb temperature

Moisture content of the air (humidity, both relative and

Heating
Cooling
Dehumidification
Humidification

HUMIDIFYING

SENSIBLE
COOLING

HEATING

DEHUMIDIFYING

FIG. 1 PSYCHROMETRIC CHART

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THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF AIRAH - October 2002

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Each of these processes can be achieved by a number of
different methods. For example, heating of the air could be a
duct mounted hot water coil, duct mounted electric elements,
duct mounted gas fired burner,
3
reverse cycle air conditioning unit,
OUTSIDE
AIR
room mounted panel radiator etc.
2
The choice of the method used to
achieve control of these processes
is the concept development stage
of the design.
At this point it is worthwhile to
introduce the concept of 'wet bulb
temperature'. Dry bulb temperature
is the temperature measured by a
thermometer, which has a dry
sensing bulb.
It is the temperature commonly
referred to in weather reports and
is shown on the horizontal axis of
the psychrometric chart.
Wet bulb temperature is approximately the temperature
measured by a thermometer with a bulb that is covered in a
wet gauze and is at equilibrium with its surroundings. The
wet bulb temperature is therefore related to the humidity as
it is affected by evaporation rates. At 100% relative humidity
the wet and dry bulb temperature are equal.
The control of the temperature and moisture content relates
to the required conditions in the space as shown in
Figs. 2

FIG. 2 TYPICAL AIR CONDITIONING PROCESS3. SYSTEMS

Having established what we want to do to the air, we now

SUN

RETURN AIR
1

SUPPLY
AIR
4
SOLAR GAIN

SUPPLY AIR MIXES WITH

ROOM AIR AND PICKS
UP HEAT AND MOISTURE.

ROOM

need to look at what type of equipment or systems we need

to achieve this.
There are many types of air conditioning systems and many
ways of categorising them, but the most common systems in
use today can be grouped into three broad categories for air
distribution configuration, plant type and moisture control
method:

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29

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complexity, are:

Air Distribution

Non ducted

Evaporative coolers

Ducted constant volume

Gas fired heating

Ducted variable volume

Room airconditioners

Plant Type

Wall mounted split air conditioning units

Evaporative cooling

Ducted packaged cooling only air conditioning systems

Heating

Ducted packaged reverse cycle air conditioning systems

Packaged DX

CHW/HHW.

Ducted packaged cooling only air conditioning systems

with electric or hot water heating coils

Moisture Control

Chiller water and heating water plant fan coil units

None

Larger air handling plant with DX coil

Dehumidification by condensing

Dehumidification by absorption

Chiller water and heating water plant with larger air

handling plant

Humidification

There are many variations on these configurations but this

provides a broad categorisation for ease of reference.
Each of these systems changes the temperature and/or
moisture content of the air in a controlled way to maintain
the desired space conditions. The process by which each of
these systems operates is as follows:

3. THE DESIGN PROCESS

We now have the technical capability to control the
environment. The next step is to use this knowledge to meet
the needs of our clients within the constraints of the
particular projects and in conjunction with the other members
of the project team.
A typical project team structure is shown in Fig. 3:

Air Distribution

Non ducted - provides a constant airflow at varying air

temperatures as delivered by the air conditioning unit

Ducted constant volume - provides a constant airflow at

varying air temperature as delivered by the
air conditioning unit

Ducted variable volume - varies the air volume to match

the room load at a constant supply air
temperature as determined by the control systems

THE CLIENT
- End user
- Investor
- Developer

THE PROJECT MANAGER

- Architect
Specialist P.M.

Plant Type

Evaporative cooling - cools the air by evaporating water

into the air stream. This also greatly increases the
moisture content of the air

Heating - heats the air by passing it over a hot surface

or flame.

Package DX - cools and/or heats the air by passing it

over a refrigerant cooled or heated coil

THE ADVISORS
- Legal
Quantity Surveyor
Building Surveyor

THE DESIGNERS
- Architect
Engineers
- Specialists
Acoustics
Lighting etc.

Moisture Control

None

Dehumidification by condensing - removes moisture

from the air by cooling the air to below it's dew point

Dehumidification by absorption - removes moisture

from the air by absorbing it into a desiccant
material

Humidification - addition of moisture to the air by water

or steam spray in the duct
Commonly used systems, in order of cost and

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THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF AIRAH - October 2002

THE BUILDERS
- Head Contractor
Trade Contractors

FIG.3 TYPICAL PROJECT TEAM STRUCTURE

The aim of the design is to develop an appropriate air
conditioning system for the particular building that suits the

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requirements of all members of the project team, then

document that design so that it can be priced and built.

air conditioning system we will consider an example based on

an actual project undertaken some time ago.

The next steps taken in a normal design process are:

4. EXAMPLE PROJECT

a)

Review the client's requirements

b)

Carry out preliminary cooling and heating load

calculations

The project involved the design of a new office building

where the client was to be the end user of the building.
The total floor area of the building was to be approximately
11,000 sq.m and the architect proposed two wings linked by
an enclosed walkway. One wing was to be four levels and the
other three levels.

c) Review any constraints eg. availability of energy

sources, architecture, special site requirements
d)

List appropriate systems

e)

Analyse the systems with respect to the requirements

f)

Select the most suitable systems

g)

Provide the systems' requirements to others in the

project team

h)
i)

The client requirements for the air conditioning system were:

Document the concept design for review by client and

other members of the project team
Refine the design in conjunction with the other
members of the project team, making changes as
necessary. Sometimes the system concept will change
during this process

j)

Document the design suitable for tendering and permit

approvals

k)

Finalise documentation for construction

To better understand how these steps fit into the design of an

Normal commercial office conditions, with provision for

meeting and conference rooms

To comply with all relevant codes

Low operating cost

Long life (15yrs +)

Medium capital cost

The architect had developed a concept for the floors

comprising a central bulkhead for services with high ceiling
space along the perimeter. Generally, offices and meeting
rooms were to be located along the internal area of the
building with open plan office layout along the perimeters.
The building faced north and had large glass areas on both
the north and south of the building.
We will now look at each of the steps in the design process

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and examine how they influence the final solution.

a)

Review the client's requirements.

The client's requirements usually have the greatest impact on

the system's selection. Factors which come into consideration
include:

The most significant influence here is the architectural

requirements. Particularly important architectural features
which affect the system selection are:

Required conditions

Capital cost

The height of the building - affects the

ability of split systems to operate satisfactorily if the
condensing units are roof mounted

Operating cost

Degree of zoning (a major influence on system's cost)

The limited ceiling space available - makes it

difficult to locate ductwork and fan coil units

Lack of floor space for plants- insufficient space for

floor by floor plantrooms

Limited riser shafts - makes it difficult to use a large

numbers of packaged units to meet the zoning
requirements

d)

Appropriate Systems

The client requires normal commercial office conditions with

allowance for meeting rooms, long life, low operating cost
and medium capital cost.
Normal commercial office conditions could be provided by
package plant or chiller water plant. The main consideration
to meet this requirement is the zoning. It will be necessary to
provide separate zone control to the north and south
perimeter zones, the internal zones (which will be divided
into smaller zones) and the meeting rooms. It will also be
desirable to break each of these zones into smaller zones to
improve control in areas of varying usage. This could be
achieved by using a number of smaller packaged units or fan
coil units or by using a central plant with variable air volume,
multi-zones or reheat.
The requirement for low operating costs eliminates the reheat
systems, as these have high operating costs. The requirement
for long life (15yrs+) puts pressure against the selection of
packaged plant. However, a life cycle cost analysis could
justify its selection if all other criteria are met.
The requirement for medium capital cost admits all systems,
but the degree of zoning will need to be kept to a reasonable
level, particularly on the central plant systems, to avoid cost
overruns. It is important to emphasise at this point that cost
estimates are an ongoing activity throughout the design
process to ensure that the design is kept within the agreed
budget. This information is regularly provided to the quantity
surveyor so that the total project budget can be monitored.
Designing the systems to code requirements is essential and
will not affect the choice of systems in this example.
b)

Preliminary heating and cooling load estimate

This gives a basis for deciding what type of systems may be

appropriate. For example, if the cooling load is only 50kW,
then the cost of a chilled water system would be prohibitive,
so the first choice would be a packaged plant of some type.
For this example, given the high perimeter to floor area ratio
(the building is long and narrow) the cooling load would be
somewhere around 130 W/sq.m. this gives a total load of
1430kW. This is within the viable range for a chilled water
system. Package plant is still feasible, however a large
number of units would be required which would increase the
plant space needed.
c)

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The site has adequate gas and electricity available to it, so

this is not an influence on the design.

Review any constraints

THE OFFICIAL JOURNAL OF AIRAH - October 2002

Consideration of these factors leads to the selection of roof

mounted plant ducted to each level via the available risers.
The limited duct space eliminates the use of a multizone
system and the limited number of riser shafts makes the
selection of a minimum number of roof mounted units
necessary. If a minimum number of roof units is to be used
then the zoning will need to be provided by a variable air
volume systems. Packaged A/C units can be used for this
purpose, however, the fan types and DX cooling coil only
allows a small turndown ratio. Due to the difficulty of limited
life of packaged plant, as previously discussed, this option
will not be considered further.
e)

Analyse the systems

We have covered d) and e) in the above analysis and we are

now left with roof mounted chilled/heating water central
plant with VAV zoning. It now remains to establish the
number or air handling units and the duct distribution.
f)

Select the most suitable systems

Some trial layouts are done and required plant space fed to
the architect.
Limited ceiling space meant that the ductwork had to be
confined to the central bulkhead, and the initial layout was
rejected by the architect. The architect wanted the roof plant
to be kept in a linear layout down a central zone. Initial
concepts for this were forwarded to the architect for coordination.
In order to arrive at the number of air handling units, factors
such as operating cost, duct layout on the roof and outside
air ratios were considered. A single unit would require
extensive reheat to meet zoning requirements, since both the
north and south zones would be combined. There would be
extensive duct runs on the roof to access the riser shafts if
only one or two units were used. In addition, the fact that
the meeting rooms were located in the internal zone meant
that the outside air ratio to that zone would be higher than

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for the remainder of the building. If a single unit was used,

or a perimeter and internal unit was used, or a perimeter and
internal zone unit combined, then a large operating cost
penalty would apply where the outside air was increased for
areas of the building not requiring it.
Further development of the concept and interaction with the
architect, including the acceptance of the recommendation for
external shading on the north facade, led to the selection of
two north zone units, two south zone units and two internal
zone units.
g)

Provide the systems requirements to other in the

project team

Once a scheme has been agreed with the architect details of

requirements are provided to the other members in the design
team such as plant weight to the structural engineer,
water/drainage requirements to hydraulic engineer and
electrical loads to electrical engineer.
h)

k)

Finalise documentation for construction

Final tender documentation is now prepared based on the

developed design. This includes:

Preparation of drawings

Writing of the specification

Co-ordination and design check with all other members

of the design team

Once the design is documented and checked it can be issued

for tender. The project then moves into the construction
phase, where the designer has a role to ensure that the
system is installed and commissioned in accordance with
intent of the design.
This outlines a typical full documentation design process.
However, there are many variations on this method of
producing sufficient information for tender and construction
purpose and they are being used more and more.

Document the concept for review by client and other

members of the project team

The concept is further developed incorporating any further

client changes or any changes required following feedback
from other services for coordination.
i)

Refine the Design

The final concept is then documented and submitted to all

members of the project team for review. Any changes that
follow from this review are incorporated in the development
of the design.
(It is worth nothing that at this point the client's review
team decided they wanted to change the building
configuration and have a flat ceiling rather than the central
bulkhead. The mechanical design was completely altered as a
result and the above process repeated to produce a new
concept)
j)

Document the design suitable for tendering and

permit approvals

During this stage of the process practical issues such as

locating plant, maintenance access, co-ordination, acoustics
etc are considered. Details are also developed, including:

Detailed heating and cooling load calculations

Sizing of plant and equipment and its positioning

Ductwork layout and sizing

Diffuser layout and sizing

Interface with other trades, such as fire services,

plumbing and electrical

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