A S H RA E

JOURNAL

The following article was published in ASHRAE Journal, September 1998. Copyright 1998 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. It is presented for educational purposes only. This article may not be copied and/or distributed electronically or in paper form without permission of ASHRAE.

A Low-Cost, High-Performance Lab HVAC Design

By Habib U. Khawja, P .Eng.
Member ASHRAE
Exhaust Air Calculations Ten (10) 6 ft. fume hoods at 100 fpm average face velocity at full sash opening, (1,250 cfm per hood x 10 hoods) Two (2) chemical storage cabinets at 100 cfm each Infiltration from adjacent areas, to keep this lab under negative pressure Total Exhaust Air Resulting conditions E xhaust air changes per hour E xhaust airflow per ft2 of floor area Design diversity 4 4 .5 6.4 cfm/ft2 100% 12,500 cfm

ne of Canadas leading biotechnology firms owns a 100,000 ft 2 (9290 m 2 ) research building in Mississauga, Ontario. It contains specialized laboratories for research, development and subsequent commercialization of various types of therapeutic products. The research is focused on anti-inflammatory, anti-viral and central nervous system drugs used in the treatment of stroke, osteoporosis and migraines. A medicinal chemistry lab was built in 1993 as part of its research and development program.

200 cfm 300 cfm 13,000 cfm

The Challenge This high-density lab was built in an abandoned testing laboratory with an area of about 2,040 ft2 (190 m2). The room had a low ceiling height and very little ceiling space for ductwork. The ceiling and space was further constrained by the existing low-level ducts installed under the roof joists that passed through this room to serve other areas. These ducts covered about 20% of the ceiling. To cross existing ducts, new ducts were installed through the narrow joist openings. The lab was designed to include eight 6 ft (2 m) wide fume hoods, with a provision for two future fume hoods, two storage cabinets, 150 ft (46 m) of lab benches, an enclosed office for the manager, storage areas and open office spaces for scientists. The other labs in the building are served by a number of constant volume reheat systems, using chilled water supplied by centrifugal chillers and hot water supplied by gas-fired boilers. The office areas in the building are served by a variable-airvolume system. Individual centrifugal exhaust fans for all fume hoods are located in various mechanical rooms. All exhaust fans and air-conditioning units serving the labs are operated continuously, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. The Solution: Diversity A constant volume reheat system for this lab, if designed similarly to the other labs in the building, would have required 13,000 cfm (6136 L/s) of exhaust and matching conditioned makeup air. Exhaust air calculations and the resulting conditions are indicated in Table 1. A 13,000 cfm (6136 L/s) flow in a 2,040 ft2 (190 m2) room with an average 8.6 ft (2.6 m) ceiling height would have resulted in a hefty 45 air changes per hour or 6.4 cfm/ft2. This would create a great deal of air turbulence and use tremendous energy for heating, cooling, humidification, dehumidification and fan power. Also, it would have required more ceiling space for larger ductwork and more floor area for a larger air-conditioning unit, which were not available.
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Table 1: Constant volume exhaust.

These severe constraints required the HVAC equipment and duct sizes to be reduced to fit in the limited mechanical spaces available. An aggressive approach was required to develop realistic design and operating diversity factors. The design diversity was developed by evaluating the fume hood operation. A fume hood sash needs to be fully open when the operator is performing a task at the hood. At other times the sash should be kept at the minimum position. Generally, one operator is physically present in front of a hood at any one time. Furthermore, every operator performs other duties that do not require spending time in front of the hood. Consideration of such practical factors offers opportunities to develop realistic diversity factors. In this lab with 10 fume hoods, the number of operators was expected to be four. Therefore, it was assumed that at only four fume hoods would be operated with the sash fully opened at one time, so all the other hoods could be kept at the minimum sash position. Considering these criteria, design diversity was developed based on allowing any four of the ten fume hoods to operate in the fully open sash position and all other hoods at the 20% open sash position. An audible alarm will sound if at any time the sash at the fifth hood is opened more than 20%. The alarm About the Author
Habib U. Khawja, P.Eng., Member ASHRAE, is the principal of Adee Consultants Ltd., a consulting engineering company in Mississauga, Ontario.

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informs the operators that the average exhaust velocity at the sash opening is less than 100 fpm (0.5 m/s) and that one of the sashes needs to be lowered to silence the alarm. Exhaust air calculations with these design diversity factors and the resulting conditions are indicated in Table 2. This approach reduced the design exhaust air from 13,000 cfm to 7,000 cfm (6136 to 3304 L/s), reducing the size of the airconditioning unit, exhaust fan, supply and exhaust ductwork, diffusers and piping. Now the reduced size of the air-conditioning unit and ductwork could easily be fitted in the limited ceiling and floor spaces available. The revised airflows translated into a more reasonable 23.9 air changes per hour and 3.4 cfm /ft2 at full design flow. This produced a design diversity of 54%.

E x h a u s t A i r Ca l cu l a t i o n s Four (4) fume hoods at 100 fpm average face velocity, with full sash opening (1,250 cfm per hood x 4 hoods) Six (6) fume hoods at 100 fpm average face velocity, with 20% sash opening (1,250 cfm per hood x 0.20 x 6 hoods) Two (2) chemical storage cabinets at 100 cfm each Infiltration from adjacent areas, to keep this lab under negative pressure Total Exhaust Air Resulting Conditions E xhaust air changes per hour E xhaust airflow per ft2 of floor area Design diversity 2 3 .9 3.4 cfm/ft2 54% 5,000 cfm

1,500 cfm 200 cfm 300 cfm 7,000 cfm

HVAC System A variable-air-volume system with reheat was selected to achieve design and operating diversities. One 6,700 cfm (3162 L/s) air-conditioning unit, complete with pre-filters, 85% efficiency bag filters, hot water preheat coil, spray humidification and dehumidification coil, chilled water cooling coil, hot water reheat coil, airfoil fan with variable inlet vanes and high efficiency fan motor was selected to supply 100% conditioned outdoor air to the laboratory. An infiltration of 300 cfm (142 L/s) was allowed from the adjacent areas to maintain this lab under negative pressure at all times. All fume hoods and chemical storage cabinets were manifolded to a common exhaust duct and fan. The controls were designed to modulate the exhaust at each hood from 250 to 1,250 cfm (118 to 590 L/s), while the total exhaust from the lab was limited to 7,000 cfm (3304 L/s). To achieve these results, a sash position-based fume hood face velocity control system with makeup air valves operating in the volumetric offset (flow tracking) mode, and low flow alarms, were specified. A simplified layout of the lab is shown in Figure 1. Because the researchers were accustomed to operating the hoods without closing the sashes and were not familiar with this type of diversity, a very conservative average exhaust airflow of 5,500 cfm (2595 L/s) was used to estimate the annual operating energy cost. The diversified exhaust air calculations and the resulting conditions are indicated in Table 3. Operating Energy and Construction Costs The annual operating energy cost for the 13,000 cfm (6136 L/s) constant volume-reheat (CV-RH) system was estimated at $49,900. The annual operating energy cost for the proposed variable-air-volume-reheat (VAV-RH) system, with an average exhaust of 5,500 cfm (2596 L/s) was estimated at $29,126. This provided an estimated annual energy saving of $20,774 (shown in Table 4 and Table 5). The installed cost of the 13,000 cfm (6136 L/s) constant volume-reheat system was estimated at about $155,000. The actual bid price of the 7,000 cfm (3304 L/s) variable air volume-reheat system and lab controls was $172,000, or $17,000 more than the estimated cost of 13,000 cfm (6136 L/s) constant volume-reheat system. This excess cost was recovered in less than one year, by the annual energy saving of $20,774. The breakdown of these costs and the calculation of the simple payback period are shown in Table 4.
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Table 2: VAV system design diversity.

Exhaust Air Calculations Two (2) fume hoods at 100 fpm average face velocity, with full sash opening, (1,250 cfm per hood x 2 hoods) Two (2) fume hoods at 100 fpm average face velocity, with 40% sash opening, (1,250 cfm per hoods x 0.40 x 2 hoods) Six (6) fume hoods at 100 fpm average face velocity, with 20% sash opening, (1,250 cfm per hood x 0.20 x 6 hoods) Two (2) chemical storage cabinets at 100 cfm each Infiltration from adjacent areas, to keep this lab under negative pressure Total Exhaust Air Resulting Conditions E xhaust air changes per hour E xhaust airflow per ft of floor area
2

2,500 cfm

1,000 cfm

1,500 cfm

200 cfm 300 cfm 5,500 cfm

1 8 .8 2.7 cfm/ft2 42%

Design diversity

Table 3: VAV system operating diversity.

HVAC Systems Comparison Various elements of the VAV/RH design and operating conditions are compared with the CV/RH in Table 5. Some of the key elements shown in this table are: Dramatic reduction in the design cooling loads from 74 to 40 tons (260 to 141 kW). Cooling load reduction to 13 tons (45.72 kW) at the actual operating conditions.
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L A B O RAT O R Y H VA C
El m ent e s 1 C ostof13, 00 cf C V-RH 0 m syst m ( stm at d cost e e i e ) C ostof7, 00 cf VA V-RH 0 m syst m ( i pr ce) e bd i C ostofl b cont ol f r VA V-RH a r s o syst m ( i pr ce) e bd i A ddii nalcostof to VA V-RH syst m (t m 3 Iem 1) e Ie t Estm at d annualener y i e g savi gs by VA V-RH syst m n e Si pl payback per od m e i ( 17, 00 $20, 74) $ 0 7 $107, 00 0 El m entC ost e Tot lC ost a $155, 00 0

$ 65, 00 0

$172, 00 0

$ 17, 00 0

$ 20, 74 7

0. year 8

Table 4: Construction costs and energy savings.

Dramatic reduction in the design heating loads from 1,091 to 607 Mbh. Heating load reduction to 200 Mbh at the actual operating conditions. Reduction in air changes per hour from 44.5 to 23.9 at the design conditions and to 6.8 at the actual operating conditions. The estimated annual operating energy cost declined from $49,000 for the CV-RH system to $29,126 for the VAV-RH system, providing an estimated savings of $20,774. The energy cost at the actual operating conditions was even lower at $20,230, resulting in higher savings of $29,670. The reduced air change rates have also resulted in increased safety due to reduction in the room turbulence, which would have occurred with the CV-RH system.

Achievements and Results The system was calibrated to the predetermined airflows and was fully set up within two days. No unforeseen situations occurred during this period, and the lab was turned over to the owner in one week, including the system instructions. After six months of operation, it was decided to confirm the design parameters that affected the diversity. The building management system was programmed to log the trend of the HVAC system at five minute intervals, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. In addition, two hoods were equipped with zone presence sensors, working in conjunction with the fume hood controls. These zone presence sensors were intended to automatically reduce the exhaust airflow and corresponding makeup air by 40% during the absence of an operator from the detection zone. The trend log variables included: Total makeup air system flows, Exhaust airflows from two fume hoods, Sash positions of two fume hoods, Total exhaust airflow and Fume hood exhaust alarms. The analysis of the data logged during the seven-week period between Aug. 5, 1994 and Sept. 30, 1994 produced useful results. The highlights of these results from the
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Figure 1: HVAC layout for medicinal chemistry lab.

data logging are: Figure 2 indicates daily peak makeup airflow. It shows that the makeup airflow did not exceed 5,600 cfm (2643 L/s) or 43% of the comparable constant volume system. Figure 3 indicates daily average makeup air. It shows that the makeup airflow did not exceed 2,200 cfm (1038 L/s) or 17% of the comparable constant volume system. Figure 4 indicates Ventilation System Performance. It
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El e m e n t s

CV- R H Sy s t e m De s i g n Co n d i t i o n s

Va r i a b l e A i r Vo l u m e - R e h e a t S y s t e m E s t i m a t e d Op e r a t i n g Co n d i t i o n s 5,500 31 486 2.7 18.8 $29,126 $14.28 $20,774 A ct u a l Op e r a t i n g Co n d i t i o n s *2,000 13 200 0.8 6.8 $20,230 $9.92 $29,670

De s i g n Co n d i t i o n s Exhaust Air-cfm Cooling Load - Tons Heating Load - Mbh Exhaust Air - cfm per ft2 Exhaust Air Changes per Hour Annual Operating Energy Costs Total Annual Cost Annual Cost per ft2 Annual Energy Savings Compared to CV-RH System

13,000 74 1091 6.4 44.5 $49,900 $24.46

7,000 40 607 3.4 23.9 $33,350 $16.35 $16,550

*2,000 cfm is an estimated average from Figure 4, as it did not exceed 2,300 cfm (Figure 3).

Table 5: Comparison of HVAC system performance.

shows that the average ventilation rate or exhaust is reduced by 83%, compared to the constant volume system. It also shows that the actual peak exhaust was 43% of the comparable constant volume system. The analysis also indicates that the typical fume hood usage with full sash opening was about 6070 minutes per day.

Conclusions The on-site monitoring confirmed the assumptions and conclusions reached during the design. Since the actual makeup airflow did not exceed 5,600 cfm (2643 L/s), the diversity calculations used in sizing the HVAC system were confirmed. However, the highest average makeup airflow of 2,200 cfm (1038 L/s), logged by trending, was considerably lower than the estimated average airflow of 5,500 cfm (2595 L/s). This means that the researchers followed the operating procedures by lowering sashes when they were not in front of the hoods. This has further reduced the payback period of the premium cost of this control system, to about six months. The lab has now been in operation for more than two years and the number of researchers has doubled. During this time the Diversity Alarm has been initiated only occasionally and the researchers have responded appropriately by lowering the sashes when they leave the hoods. The researchers have expressed satisfaction with the design and operation of the HVAC systems.

Figure 2: Daily peak makeup airflow.

Figure 3: Daily average makeup air.

Please circle the appropriate number on the Reader Service Card at the back of the publication. Extremely Helpful ....................................................... 458 Helpful ..................................................................... 459 Somewhat Helpful ..................................................... 460 Not Helpful ............................................................... 461 42 ASHRAE Journal Figure 4: Ventilation system performance. September 1 9 9 8