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How Future HVAC Systems Must Adapt to Climate

Change . . .
APRIL 22, 2019 | KULDEEP BWAIL

The winter of 2017 saw Ras Al Khaimah, an emirate in the desert country of the United
Arab Emirates, experience unprecedented snowfall and Dubai, normally home to
blistering heat, endure hailstorms and arctic winds. Unusually hot weather in Europe in
2018 produced drought, wildfires, crop failures and a heat wave of record-breaking
temperatures. Researchers estimate that the likelihood of a heat wave was doubled by
global warming. Polar temperatures are rising faster than those at mid latitudes, a
development known as polar amplification.

Climate change has far-reaching effects – and it’s not just extreme and unusual
precipitation, winds and heat, but the domino effect of extreme weather changes can
result in electricity grid crashes, even across continents. Scientists predict a 3-foot rise in
sea levels, an average temperature increase of 5 degrees and polar temperature
increases of up to 10 degrees at the end of the century, as a result of global climate
change-inducing human activities.

With a medley of predicted changes in our future living environment, it becomes

imperative to change the way we live now. As climate change is forecast to significantly
affect global temperatures, the way we live indoors, particularly our HVAC energy
consumption and requirements, must adapt to the situation with intelligent and
ecologically feasible MEP engineering design.

Coastal buildings will be required to install utilities, HVAC systems and ducts above the
DFE, or Designated Flood Elevation. Floodwaters, depending on their volume and intensity,
present issues of inundation, velocity flow and debris impact on outdoor HVAC systems
and equipment. Power circuits, controls and HVAC mechanical parts are all vulnerable to
floodwaters. Possible outcomes include the shorting of power units and the failure of
HVAC equipment operation as well as the possibility that the equipment be torn from its
location and carried away. Waters with high salt content can result in corrosion and
deterioration of metal HVAC components. Pipes and ducts can be separated. Currently,
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prevention of these outcomes involves the elevation of all outdoor HVAC equipment and
ductwork above the DFE and confining them securely to try andDECLINE
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prevent their movement.

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Load calculations for air conditioners will have to be reviewed. Also, an increase of
envelope insulations and efficiency standards can counteract and prevent rises in
cooling loads due to increasing outside temperatures.

Climate impacts HVAC system design in several ways. These are a few determining
factors:

Wind speed

The infiltration rate in heating/cooling load calculations are impacted by the intensity
and temperature of prevailing winds.

The air leakage rates (heating/cooling energy) are affected.

Distribution of temperature and the transport of moisture within walls will be altered.

Precipitation

The heating, cooling and dehumidification capacity of HVAC systems require

changes, depending on the precipitation in the area.

The building envelope must be designed to manage precipitation and the

condensation of water vapour.

The envelope should be created also according to the optimum positions of thermal
insulation, vapour retarder, air barrier and drainage planes.

In the United States, the American Institute of Architects wants zero net energy
consumption for all new buildings by 2025 or 2030. How this happens depends on the
swift and strict adoption of aggressive building energy efficiency measures. They include
changing indoor pollutant sources, heat loads, ventilation rates, HVAC equipment types
and building operating practices. These changes must noticeably affect indoor
environmental quality (IEQ). The goal will be to develop and use HVAC technologies and
practices so that

building energy consumption is significantly reduced while improving IEQ.

Potential changes in HVAC system design and use that can help achieve these goals
include:

Increased use of mechanical outdoor air ventilation systems in houses with airtight
envelopes and commercial outdoor air ventilation systems that ensure minimum
ventilation rates

HVAC systems with smaller capacities, larger ratios of latent to sensible capacity
specifically for buildings with greater thermal efficiency in envelopes and lower
internal heat loads

Increased use of low energy cooling systems, eg. systems with evaporative cooling

Evaporative cooling systems that reduce microbial risks

Increased use of demand-controlled ventilation, heat recovery and gas phase air
cleaning to decrease the energy need for outdoor air (OA) ventilation

Increased use of air supply and removal technologies that increase ventilation

Reduced HVAC air flows, pressure drops and fan energy consumption

Increased use of low pressure drop filtration systems and auxiliary filtration systems
independent of the HVAC supply air streams

Using a separate HVAC for OA ventilation

Increased radiant heating and cooling, reduced air recirculation and lower pressure
drop filtration systems so that fan energy needs are reduced

Hybrid HVAC systems, cooling systems with greater spatial and temporal control and
greater mechanical ventilation without air conditioning
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weather

Night cooling systems integrated with thermal storage

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Use of radiant cooling and heating technologies

Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation of cooling coils

Increased use of flexible air exhaust systems

Increased monitoring of HVAC maintenance and control system problem correction

Mechanical ventilation without air conditioning

Chair-based or workstation cooling systems

In the future, HVAC needs will also include improved integration of all HVAC components
and improved integration of HVAC systems with other building systems. Additional
measures involve the development of construction materials and components with low
toxic pollutant emissions.

Standards for building energy systems in the future must be based on measured energy
consumption, prescribing minimum IEQ maintenance. Systems to measure IEQ will be
integrated with HVAC controls.

Refrigerants less likely to contribute to global warming should be used in global warming
potential (GWP) compressors. The HFCs used in refrigerants can be up to a thousand
times more powerful per pound than carbon dioxide. Replacing these HFCs has the
potential to reduce global warming and the effects of climate change by 0.5˚C,
representing a 10% reduction in the regular increase of global temperatures.

Much needs to be done and much can be done to improve HVAC systems in the future to
combat the far-reaching effects of climate change, and the direction to follow must be
set by design specialists. To improve and optimise HVAC systems design, HVAC
mechanical engineering consultants must be employed with clear guidelines on what to
use and how to use available components and perhaps even design new components
for the specific purpose of combating climate change. The increasing demand for such
consultants in Western countries has meant that offshore engineering consultants and
offshore MEP design services are increasingly used for full or partial design support.  The
expertise and technical knowhow of these HVAC mechanical engineering consultants
will assist in creating a new vision for battling the effects of climate change in the
construction industry.

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