About to Break Ground? Consider HVAC Design for Your Commercial Property

The HVAC system you add to your new commercial property will be responsible for a big job—keeping your new building’s interior comfortable for its occupants all year round. Less obviously, but no less important to you as a property owner, the HVAC system will affect how much you pay to maintain an appropriate indoor environment. Before breaking ground on your new commercial property, apply the principles of HVAC design to plan a system that will work best for your particular structure.

What is HVAC design?
HVAC design is the process of assessing, comparing, planning and implementing design options and best practices to ensure your HVAC system will operate at its highest level of efficiency while providing excellent performance. A well-designed HVAC system will waste neither energy nor money and will work in tandem with characteristics of the building itself to be as energy-efficient as possible.

Benefits of HVAC design

• Monetary savings – A well-designed and energy-efficient HVAC system can reduce monthly energy expenditures by 10 to 40 percent. Combining energy-efficient equipment with building design options can increase savings even further, in some cases slashing energy costs by up to 70 percent.

• Energy savings – Good HVAC design decreases the amount of energy you use to heat and cool your building. Decreasing your reliance on energy from your local utility company will help reduce overall community dependence on those energy sources, decrease the environmental pollution associated with generating that energy, and help conserve limited natural resources.

• Improved indoor air quality – Good HVAC design will produce better indoor air quality. A well-designed HVAC system should have improved venting to remove exhaust gases and by-products. It should have better filtration or air treatment systems to reduce airborne particulates and gaseous pollutants. It should also have better overall ventilation to provide an ongoing supply of fresh, clean air for the building.

Elements of HVAC design
You’ll be able to achieve an efficient and effective HVAC design by following these principles:

• Early decision-making – Decide on your HVAC system goals, such as energy efficiency requirements, as early as possible in the design process. By knowing what you want to achieve when you start, you’ll be able to make better choices at all points of the design and construction process.

• Whole-building design – Take all characteristics of your new commercial building into consideration when designing your HVAC system. Features such as the amount of sunlight that reaches the indoor spaces, the number and directional orientation of windows, the amount of insulation and the size of indoor spaces to be conditioned will substantially affect HVAC performance.

• Proper sizing – Make sure the HVAC equipment you choose and install is correctly sized for your building. Systems that are too small won’t work well and will be more prone to breakdowns and functional stress. Systems that are too large will waste energy and money producing more heating or cooling than needed. Have your HVAC professional perform a load calculation on your building to determine exactly what size HVAC system will be needed.

• Use energy-efficient features – Use as many energy-saving features in your HVAC system as possible. This includes components such as variable-speed blowers, variable-speed compressors, commercial-grade programmable thermostats and energy management systems to shift consumption during peak periods.

• Establish a maintenance plan – Regular preventive maintenance is the most important thing you can do to keep your HVAC system running properly. Devise a plan for maintenance appointments and inspections and make sure facilities managers or maintenance supervisors know what to do and when to do it.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about Plumbing, HVACR, Fire Protection and Alarm Systems in Mechanical, Commercial and Residential settings. For more information about the importance of HVAC design for commercial properties and to view projects we’ve worked on, visit our website!

Image Credit: Todd Klassy