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Heating And Cooling Your Home
If you own a typical U.S. home, heating and air-conditioning account for about 56% of your energy use. Heating is the largest energy expense in most homes, accounting for almost two-thirds of annual energy bills in colder areas of the country. What's more, heating and cooling systems in the United States together emit over a billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) and about 12% of the sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emitted by the nation, the chief ingredients in acid rain. Reducing energy use for heating is the single most effective way to reduce your home's contribution to global environmental problems. You can substantially reduce this energy use by adding efficient controls and by making full use of solar energy. If your heating system or air-conditioner is old or inefficient, it may also be cost effective to replace it with a newer high-efficiency design. No matter what kind of heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system you have in your house, you can save money and increase comfort by properly maintaining and upgrading your equipment. But remember, an energy efficient furnace alone will not have as great an impact on your energy bills as using the whole-house approach. By combining proper equipment maintenance and upgrades with appropriate insulation, weatherization, and thermostat settings, you can cut your energy bills and your pollution output in half. HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning) refers to the equipment, distribution network, and terminals that provide either collectively or individually the heating, ventilating, or air-conditioning processes to a building. HVAC systems provide:
HVAC accounts for 40% to 60% of the energy used in U.S. commercial and residential buildings. This represents an opportunity for energy savings using proven technologies and design concepts. HVAC systems have a significant effect on the health, comfort, and productivity of occupants. Issues like user discomfort, improper ventilation, and poor indoor air quality are linked to HVAC system design and operation and can be improved by better mechanical and ventilation systems. In existing buildings, envelope upgrades are often necessary to maximize comfort and energy efficiency, such as reducing envelope leakage. The best HVAC design considers all the interrelated building systems while addressing indoor air quality, energy consumption, and environmental benefit. Optimizing the design and benefits requires that your mechanical system designer and your architect address these issues early in the schematic design phase and continually revise subsequent decisions throughout the remaining design process. It is also essential that you implement well-thought-out commissioning processes and routine preventative maintenance programs. This is good advice for both new and retrofit applications. |
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To optimize the selection of efficient, cost-effective mechanical and ventilation systems, perform an energy analysis early in the process, during the schematic design phase. Several design and analysis software programs can provide building simulations on an hourly basis to predict the energy behavior of the building's structure, air-conditioning system, and central plant equipment.
Evaluating your HVAC needs or opportunities will be greatly aided if you are familiar with integrated building design concepts. Specifically, you might wish to refer to the sections covering Passive Solar Design, the Building Envelope, and Active Solar and Photovoltaics. If you are constructing a new building, following the Whole Building Design Approach will enable you to reduce your HVAC requirements. This design approach can save lots of money and energy by reducing the size requirements of your HVAC system and its energy demand, while still meeting comfort requirements.
Efficient control of your home's heating and cooling systems can save energy and money. For instance, programmable thermostats save energy by turning down the heat at night or when your house is usually not occupied. For houses with central air-conditioning, programmable thermostats can also allow the house to heat up when it is unoccupied. This can be particularly effective if your home is unoccupied for large periods of the day. You can save energy without any loss of comfort, because the thermostat can be programmed to return temperatures to the comfort zone during hours when you're home and awake in the morning and evening. |
