Heating and Ventilating Systems

45
Figure 3-10. Central HVAC System “Ventilating”
46 HVAC Fundamentals

In many instances, local building codes, association guide-

lines, or government or company protocols stipulate the amount
of ventilation required for buildings and work environments.
Ventilation systems have been around for a long time. In 1490,
Leonardo da Vinci designed a water driven fan to ventilate a suite
of rooms. In 1660, a gravity exhaust ventilating system was used
in the British House of Parliament. Then, almost two hundred
years later, in 1836, the supply air and exhaust air ventilation
system in the British House of Parliament used fans driven by
steam engines.
Today, ventilation guidelines are approximately 15 to 25 cfm
(cubic feet per minute) of air volume per person of outside air
(OA) for non-smoking areas, 50 cfm for smoking areas. Ventila-
tion air may also be required as additional or “make-up” air
(MUA) for kitchen exhausts, fume hood exhaust systems, and
restroom and other exhaust systems. Maintaining room or condi-
tioned space pressurization (typically +0.03 to +0.05 inches of
water gage) in commercial and institutional buildings is part of
proper ventilation.
Figure 3-10 shows 20% of the total supply air is ventilation
outside air (OA) and 80% is return air (RA). The outside air is
brought (or forced) into the mixed air plenum by the action of the
supply air fan. The outside air coming through the outside
damper is mixed with the return air from the conditioned space.
The return air dampers control the amount of return air. If the
room pressure is too high, the exhaust air (EA) dampers open to
let some of the return air escape to the outside, which relieves
some of the pressure in the conditioned space. Exhaust air damp-
ers are also called relief air dampers.