HVAC DISTRIBUTION

and DELIVERY
SYSTEMS

Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 1

REMINDERS
HVAC: Heating, Ventilating, Air-Conditioning

The ”AC” part of HVAC implies a system that can

provide simultaneous control of
• Air temperature
• Air relative humidity
• Air distribution
• Air quality

AC systems may be local, central, or district in scale and

come in many, many configurations

local systems were addressed previously (unitary and split systems);

district systems are multi-building implementations of central systems
Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 2

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 Reminder: HVAC System
Functional Parts
Source components (provide heat/coolth; chiller, boiler,
furnace, cooling tower, etc.)

Distribution components (transfer heating/cooling effect

from source to zones; ductwork, piping, etc.)

Delivery components (introduce heating/cooling effect into

zones; diffusers, radiators, convectors, fan-coils, radiant panels, etc.)

Controls (for comfort, efficiency, safety; thermostats, valves,

dampers, smoke detectors, pressurestats, etc.)

source components tend to be large, but hidden; distribution can be voluminous,

but is often concealed; delivery components are typically small but within
occupied spaces; controls are generally small and behind the scenes
Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 3

Reminder: Central
HVAC System Types
Three primary system classifications:

All-air systems
Air-water systems
All-water systems

and there are some hard-to-categorize systems

(such as interconnected heat pumps)

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 Defining Central HVAC Types

What enters
the zone to
provide climate plenum
control?

If only a duct
= all-air
If only a pipe zone
= all-water
If a duct and a
pipe room
= air-water

Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 5

Basic Central HVAC System

Sub-types
All-Air
 Single zone
 Terminal reheat
 Multi-zone
 Dual-duct
 Variable air volume
 Hybrids (mixing aspects of the above)

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 Basic Central HVAC System
Sub-types (cont’d)

Air-Water
 Induction
 Fan-coil with supplemental air
 Radiant with supplemental air

Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 7

Basic Central HVAC System

Sub-types (cont’d)

All-Water
 Fan coil without supplemental air
 Radiant heating | cooling

It is questionable whether an all-water system

can meet the ASHRAE definition of
air-conditioning – relative to current
expectations for control of air quality

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Choosing A “want list” –
cheap,
easy to move,
Distribution Medium effective,
safe
Air vs. Water
Specific heat (Btu/lb deg F)
0.244 vs. 1.0
Density (lb/cu ft)
0.075 vs. 62.4
x 2*
Heat capacity (Btu/cu ft deg F)
(0.244)(0.075) = 0.018
(1) (62.4) = 62.4 usually x 2*

Ratio
(0.018) / (62.4) = 0.0003 *supply and
(or 3,410) return

Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Lechner

Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 9

Thoughts On All-Air Distribution

• Only air is distributed to the various zones for climate
control (no heating/cooling water goes to the zones)
• Water is often used to convey heat/coolth from sources to
central air-handling units – but not to the zones
• Various system types (such as VAV) are used to deal with
various project contexts
• All-air is a very common system choice, because
• There is good potential for acceptable IAQ
• There is minimal intrusion of equipment into occupied spaces
• Water leakage and condensate disposal issues are centralized
• The system might also be used for smoke control (fire protection)
• Current “hot” all-air design trends include
• Dedicated outdoor air systems (DOA)
• Underfloor air distribution (UFAD)

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 Basic All-Air System Types

• Single zone
• Terminal reheat
• Multi-zone (not the same as “multiple” zone)
• Dual-duct
• Variable air volume (VAV)

Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 11

All-Air Single Zone System

• Simplest type of all-air system

• Provides constant volume air flow (fan is on or off)
• Permits only one zone of control (there is one thermostat)
• Lowest-cost all-air system (due to simplicity)
• System can heat or it can cool (but it cannot do both simultaneously)
• Control is exercised at the air-handling unit
• Surprisingly common system (residences, big box, interior zones)

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 System Components
notes: if sa = say 100 cfm, then ra is typically around 90 cfm and oa is around
10 cfm (10% of supply) except under economizer operation (using outdoor
air for “free” cooling); ra is NOT normally below the floor

ahu = air-handling unit; fil = air filter; cc = cooling coil; hc = heating coil;
T = thermostat;
oa = outdoor air; ra = return air; sa = supply air

to maintain pressure balance in the building, a volume of air flow equal to

the oa must be exhausted or relieved from the building
Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 13

Component Functions

air-handling unit: condition and circulate air to support comfort/IAQ/process

air filter: remove some contaminants from air
fan: overcome friction to move air through the system
cooling coil: sensibly and latently cool air
heating coil: sensibly heat air
thermostat: control zone conditions (via temperature sensing)
outdoor air: provide ventilation air to improve IAQ
return air: reduce energy use by recycling conditioned air
supply air: provide air that can successfully condition zones
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 All-Air Single Zone Example
refrigeration air handling ductwork

source distribution

a packaged rooftop single zone HVAC for a residence

Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 15

All-Air Terminal Reheat System

• A simple all-air system with terminal control (this adds flexibility)

• Provides constant volume air flow (fan is on or off)
• Can provide numerous zones (2, 30, 400, …) with good control
• Relatively low first cost
• Can heat and cool zones simultaneously (this adds flexibility)
• Seriously frowned upon or prohibited by energy codes—
because added heat is used to compensate for overcooling (an
example of a system that is very effective and very inefficient)
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 All-Air
Terminal
Reheat
Example
one zone,
with multiple (future) diffusers
(serving one facade orientation)

terminal reheat coil—thermostat

control is exerted here

Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 17

All-Air Multi-Zone System

requires a separate
supply air duct
md = mixing dampers
for each zone
(combining hot and cold air) >>

• A fairly complex all-air system

• Provides constant volume air flow (fan is on or off)
• Can provide multiple zones of control (but around 12 zones is the
maximum per AHU)
• Control is exerted at the air-handling unit (zones not easily changed)
• A moderate-cost system (involves lots of ductwork)
• Can heat and cool zones simultaneously
• Complicated coordination of ducts near AHU because each zone
requires a separate supply duct connection
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 All-Air Multi-Zone Example
1 2
3

showing discharge from multi-zone AHU; cylinders are pneumatic

control damper actuators; four zone ducts can be seen above
Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 19

All-Air Multi-Zone Example

note the center supply duct expanding (to reduce friction and noise); all zone
ducts are doing the same–essentially scrambling for space
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 All-Air Dual-Duct System
box controls mixing
of hot and cold
supply air streams

• A complex all-air system with terminal control (thus flexible)

• Provides constant volume air flow (fan is on or off)
• Can provide numerous zones of control (thus is flexible)
• A fairly high-first-cost system
• Can heat and cool zones simultaneously (thus is flexible)
• Two supply ducts (one with hot air, one with cold air) run
throughout the system (an entire building, or a floor or two)

Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 21

All-Air Dual-Duct Example

hot and cold supply air ducts

flexible ducts connecting to

mixing box

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 All-Air
Dual-Duct
Example

the two supply ducts are not the same size,

because heating/cooling loads and hot/cold
supply air delta-t values are not the same

Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 23

All-Air VAV (Variable Air Volume) System

box controls volume
of supply air
admitted to zone

<< supplemental
heating element

• A simple all-air system from an equipment perspective

• A potentially complex system from a control perspective
• Provides a variable supply air flow (which has several implications)
• Can provided numerous zones with terminal control (is flexible)
• Relatively low first- and life-cycle cost (it is energy efficient)
• Air-side usually just cools (requiring a supplemental heating system)
• A very, very common system
• Numerous VAV box types are available (including reheat)

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 All-Air VAV Example
VAV box

to
diffusers

VAV box

from AHU

Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 25

All-Air VAV Box (with induction)

mixed air to diffusers air is pulled in from plenum

SA from AHU
induction feature allows AHU to supply a variable air quantity
(saving energy) while zones see a more or less constant airflow
Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 26

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 VAV Box (with hot water reheat)
if you knew this was going to be exposed to view …

AHU

control point no control, yet

presented under “all-air” because system does not reduce size of supply ducts
Ball State Architecture | ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS 2 | Grondzik 27

Lots of Choices (with more to come)

Each system presented above has plusses and minuses. If there were a
one-size-fits-all system then the others would have disappeared into
history. Even terminal reheat, with its abject energy waste, has resurfaced
in VAV systems. The correct system choice for a given project depends
upon design intents and criteria (which need to be clear and explicit).
• A demand for low-first-cost will favor a simple system
• A demand for low-life-cycle-cost will favor an energy-efficient system
• A demand for energy efficiency will favor a VAV system
• A demand for close control of pressure (as in a hospital or lab) will favor
a constant volume system
• A demand for flexibility will favor a terminal-control system
• A demand for outstanding IAQ will tend to favor a constant volume
system (or a carefully-designed VAV system)
• A demand for consistent noise will favor a constant volume system
• Limited space/volume for distribution will favor a single-duct system

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