Attend the October Building Energy Simulation Forum on variable-air-volume systems


Join Energy Trust on October 21, 2015, for the Building Energy Simulation Forum to expand your knowledge of variable-air-volume, VAV, systems. To meet ventilation requirements, a terminal box of VAV systems usually has a minimum air-flow rate that also causes significant reheat energy. The minimum air-flow rate is based on building design occupancy because actual occupancy is unknown. Occupancy sensors for lighting controls could be used to switch a terminal box to standby mode with a minimum air-flow rate of zero when there are no occupants in the zone. By installing advanced occupancy sensors, the actual number of occupants in a room can be sensed and the minimum air-flow rate can be set dynamically based on actual occupancy.

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory evaluated the energy-savings potential of occupancy-based controls for lighting, VAV terminal boxes and thermostats using common and advanced occupancy sensors for a prototypical large office building modeled in EnergyPlus. This presentation will cover the control strategies and simulation assumptions. There is significant energy-savings potential by installing occupancy-based controls for VAV terminal boxes and support for the importance of developing advanced occupancy sensor technology for this application.

October Building Energy Simulation Forum: Energy Savings for Occupancy-Based Control of Variable-Air-Volume Systems
Wednesday, October 21
Presentation: 12 – 1 p.m.
Q&A: 1 – 1:15 p.m.
Ecotrust Building
2nd Floor, Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center
721 NW 9th Avenue
Portland, OR 97209

Register here to attend. Boxed lunches will be provided. If you are unable to attend in person, register as a remote attendee to receive phone and webinar login information.

About the presenter:

Dr. Guopeng Liu has more than 16 years of experience in building energy and HVAC control, and more than 13 years in continuous commissioning and building retrocommissioning projects. He is one of the key contributors and instructors of the Department of Energy’s building re-tuning program, providing building managers and energy service providers the skills to identify no- and low-cost operational problems and implement changes. The program won the 2012 and 2014 APEX awards for Publication Excellence. Dr. Liu focuses on energy-efficiency application, as well as high-performance building technology R&D. He is a recipient of the 2010 Young Energy Professional of the Year Award from the Association of Energy Engineers and a Best Paper Award for Journal Energy and Environment in 2011 by Elsevier. His project on Kiewit Plaza won the 2010 Energy Project of the Year from the Association of Energy Engineers, with 37 percent whole building electricity savings and 48 percent natural gas savings from control program optimization only. Prior to working at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 2010, Dr. Liu was director of engineering at BES-Tech Inc., a startup company focusing on advanced building control and retrocommissioning projects. He holds a Texas Professional Engineer license and is a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, LEED, accredited professional.