Chapter 3

System Design Example Problem

This chapter contains a simple example problem which demonstrates how to use Block Load to design an
HVAC system. The example builds on concepts and procedures discussed in Chapters 1 and 2.

3.1 OVERVIEW FOR THE EXAMPLE PROBLEM

The procedure for designing HVAC systems in Block Load involves five steps, as discussed in Chapter 1:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Define the Problem.

Gather Data.
Enter Data Into Block Load.
Use Block Load to Generate Design Reports.
Select Equipment.

The example problem presented in this chapter will demonstrate each step in this process. In the
remainder of this chapter a separate section will deal with each step.

3.2 DEFINING THE PROBLEM

The objective of this example problem is to design an HVAC system which serves a manufacturing office
located in St. Louis, Missouri.

Figure 3.1 Architectural Rendition of Manufacturing Office

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The floor plan for the office is shown in Figure 3.2 below. To save time the building has already been
zoned into seven separate control zones. The building is comprised of six offices, a conference room and
two restrooms located in the general office (zone 7). Zones 1-6 all have outside perimeter exposures. The
east, south and west walls are exposed to ambient. The north wall adjoins the manufacturing plant which
is kept no warmer than 80 F in summer and no colder than 65 F in winter. This north wall is considered a
partition since it is not directly exposed to ambient conditions.

Figure 3.2 Floor Plan for Manufacturing Office

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Building information including construction details and other design parameters is shown in Figure 3.3
below. Additional details appear in the zone data table that follows.

Fig. 3.3 Manufacturing Office Details & Building Data

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This office building will be air conditioned by one variable-air-volume (VAV) packaged rooftop unit
serving VAV boxes, one per zone as indicated in the system layout in Figure 4 below. A cooling-only
VAV rooftop unit will be used in conjunction with electric resistance heating coils in the VAV box
terminals to provide heat.

Fig. 3.4 HVAC System Layout for Manufacturing Office

Block Load will be used to model the heat transfer processes in the building in order to determine the
following seven equipment sizing values:

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Rooftop unit required cooling capacity.

Rooftop unit required fan airflow
Rooftop unit required outdoor airflow rate.
Rooftop unit preheat coil capacity
VAV box (zone) design airflow rates.
VAV box minimum airflow rates.
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VAV box terminal reheat coil capacities.

3.3 GATHERING DATA

The second step in the design process is to gather information necessary to model heat transfer processes
in the building and to analyze operation of the HVAC equipment which heats and cools the building.
This involves gathering data for the building, its environment and its HVAC equipment. Below,
gathering of weather data, data for zones in the building and data for the HVAC system will be discussed.

3.3.1 Gathering Weather Data

ASHRAE design weather conditions for St. Louis, Missouri will be used for this analysis. In addition to
the ASHRAE data, we will:

Use the period May through November as the design cooling months. This means cooling sizing
calculations will only be performed for this range of months. We could use January through
December as the calculation period. However, design weather conditions in St. Louis are such that
peak loads are most likely to occur during the summer or fall months. So we can reduce the set of
calculation months to May through November to save calculation time without sacrificing reliability.

3.3.2 Gathering Zone Data

In this example problem we will model the heat transfer of each zone separately so peak loads and
required airflow rates can be determined for each zone. As mentioned previously, there are 7 zones in
this office building. Zones 1 & 2 along the east exposure are similar, except for the size, number of people
and partition. All zones have identical internal loads for lights and equipment. There are enough
similarities between zones that we may enter one zone and then use Block Loads Duplicate function to
copy the zone, and then make any necessary changes. This will save a lot of time for data entry.
Characteristics of these zones were derived from architectural plans and from information about the use of
the building and are described below.
Walls. One common wall construction is used for all exterior walls. The construction consists of 4-inch
face brick, R-11 batt insulation, a 1 air space and 5/8 gypsum board finish. The outside surface color is
light. The wall will have to be entered as a custom wall and each layer defined separately from the
inside to the outside to arrive at the total overall U-value. For reference, the overall U-value is 0.071
BTU/(hr-sqft-F). The overall weight is 44.4 lb/sqft.
Roofs. One uniform flat (horizontal) roof construction is used for this building. The roof construction
consists of 1 built-up roofing, 2 of board insulation (R=13.88), 22 gauge steel deck, a 36 plenum air
space and acoustic ceiling tiles (3/4 thick, density = 23.0 lb/sqft, specific heat = 0.14 Btu/lb/F, R=1.79.
The outside surface color is light. The overall U-value is 0.054 BTU/(hr-sqft-F). The overall weight is
8.9 lb/sqft. Note that in Block Load the roof assembly must include all material layers from the exterior
surface to the interior surface adjacent to the conditioned space. Thus, the ceiling plenum is considered
part of the overall roof assembly.
Windows & External Shading. One type of casement window unit is used for all windows in this
building. The window units measure 6 feet in height by 2 feet in width and are double glazed. No
internal shades are used. Manufacturers NFRC ratings indicate the window has a U-value of 0.46
BTU/(hr-sqft-F) and a shade coefficient (SC) of 0.42. The windows have a 6 reveal, which is the only
external shading for the windows.
Doors. The south zone has a double glass door. Each door measures 7 feet in height by 3.5 feet in width.
Doors contain a double-glazing in an aluminum frame. Manufacturers ratings indicate the door U-value
is 0.55 BTU/(hr-sqft-F) with a SHGC of 0.75. The door is not assumed to be shaded all day.
Lighting. Recessed, unvented fluorescent lighting fixtures are used for all zones in the building.
Lighting density for all zones is 1.5 W/sqft.
Lighting levels during the unoccupied time period are 10% (unoccupied use).

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Occupants. The maximum number of occupants varies by space and will be discussed later in this
section. For all rooms except the music room, a seated at rest activity level will be used (230
BTU/hr/person sensible, 120 BTU/hr/person latent). For the music room the office work activity level
will be used due to the higher level of activity in this room (245 BTU/hr/person sensible, 205
BTU/hr/person latent).
For all rooms we will use design day occupancy levels of 100% for 0700 through 1700, the normal hours
of operation for the school. Occupancy during the period 1800 through 2100 is very infrequent and will
be ignored. Thus, occupancy levels of 0% will be used for all other hours of the day. This occupancy
profile applies for days the school is in session. For weekends and holidays 0% occupancy is used for all
hours. For the summer shutdown period from late June to early August these 0% occupancy values will
be used. The occupant schedule is shown in Figure 3.5.
Electric Equipment. All zones have the same electrical equipment heat gains at 0.35 W/sqft. Electric
equipment usage during the unoccupied time period is 10% (unoccupied use).
Occupants. The maximum number of occupants varies by zone and will be discussed later in this
section. For all zones an office work activity level will be used (245 BTU/hr/person sensible, 205
BTU/hr/person latent). Occupancy levels during the unoccupied time period are 0% (unoccupied use).
Zones. A total of 7 zones will be defined. Details as follows:

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Floor areas are shown in the table below.

The average ceiling height is 8.5 feet for all zones.

The building weight is medium.

Ventilation airflow rates will be defaulted by choosing the appropriate ASHRAE Standard 62-2001
space usage type in the zone input screen (zone 1 is a conference room, all other zones are offices).

One type of lighting fixture is used in all zones. Lighting fixture characteristics and schedules were
discussed earlier in this topic.

Occupants per zone are listed in the table below. Occupant heat gains and schedules were discussed
earlier in this topic.

One set of common wall, door, window and external shading constructions are used for the building.
Wall orientations, wall areas, and window and door quantities for each zone are summarized in the
table below.

One common roof construction is used for the building. Roof areas are shown in the table below.

Infiltration is assumed to occur uniformly in all perimeter zones at a rate of 0.03 CFM/sqft during the
design heating season only. Zone 7 (General Core Office) does not have any external walls, therefore
there is no infiltration for this zone. Infiltration occurs only when the fan is off because the building
remains positively pressurized from the outside air when the system is running

This building uses slab floor on grade construction. The floor slab is constructed of heavy weight
concrete with an overall U-value of 0.10 BTU/(hr-sqft-F). R-11 edge insulation is used for the slab.

Zone data is shown in Table 3.1 below.

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Table 3.1 Summary of Zone Characteristics

Zone Name

1 - Conference Room

Floor
Dimen. (L
x W)

People

25 x 15

12

Wall, Window, Door Data

Roof Data

Exp:(W x H), # win./#door

E: (25x12), 5 win / 0 doors

Dimen. (L x W)

Slab
Floor
Dimen.
(L x W)

Slab Exposed
Perimeter (ft)

25 x 15

25 x 15

25.0

Partition: 127.5 sq.ft.

2 Asst. Manager

15 x 15

E: (15x12), 3 win / 0 doors

15 x 15

15 x 15

25.0

3 - Manager

20 x 15

E: (20x12), 4 win / 0 doors

20 x 15

20 x 15

35.0

S: (15x12), 3 win / 0 doors

4 General Perimeter

70 x 15

10

S: (70x12), 12 win / 2 doors

70 x 15

70 x 15

70.0

5 Chief Engineer

15 x 15

S: (15x12), 3 win / 0 doors

15 x 15

15 x 15

30.0

45 x 15

45 x 15

45.0

70 x 45

70 x 45

W: (15x12), 3 win / 0 doors

6 - Engineering

45 x 15

W: (45 x12), 9 win / 0 doors

Partition: 127.5 sq.ft.

7 General Core Office

70 x 45

30

Partition: 595 sqft., 0 win / 0

doors (neglect)

3.3.3 Gathering Air System Data

One VAV packaged rooftop unit with separate VAV boxes for each zone will provide cooling and
heating to the seven zones in this building. Therefore, we will define one Block Load system to represent
this equipment. Details:

Equipment Type. A VAV packaged rooftop unit with VAV boxes serving the zones will be used.
All zone VAV boxes contain electric resistance heat except for zone 7, which is an interior zone
served by two VAV boxes controlled in parallel.

Ventilation. Outdoor ventilation airflow will be calculated using the ASHRAE Standard 62-2001
method. Each zone will be sized on a per person basis per the ASHRAE Standard values based on the
input values entered for each zone. The minimum total supply airflow to the zones will be set at 20
CFM/person. This will ensure that all zones receive a minimum air change and a base ventilation rate
during occupied periods. Block Load assumes a proportional control for ventilation air, that is the
design outdoor air fraction is maintained at all central fan speeds. For instance, say a system with
10,000 CFM of total supply air is calculated to require an outdoor air fraction at design of 35%. This
means that at design 3,500 CFM of ventilation air will be introduced into the building. At off-peak
conditions when the VAV fan speed is reduced to say 70% of full capacity (7,000 CFM) the outdoor
air fraction will remain at 35%, resulting in a ventilation rate of 2,450 CFM (35% of 7,000 CFM).

Exhaust Air. The general core area (zone 7) contains two restrooms. These will not be conditioned
directly with supply air; rather they will be ventilated only with transfer air provided from the office
area. An exhaust rate of 100 CFM per restroom (200 CFM total) will be assumed. Zone exhaust air is
entered in the zone input screen under the airflow tab.

Cooling Coil. The system provides a constant 56 F supply air temperature to the zone terminals. The
DX cooling coil is permitted to operate in all months. The bypass factor for the cooling coil is 0.100
which is representative of the type of equipment we expect to select.

Supply Fan. The supply fan in the rooftop unit will be sized for a total static pressure estimated to be
2.0 in wg. The coil configuration is draw-thru.

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Return Air. The system uses a ducted return air system, because this is a single story building and
the ceiling plenum is located directly under an exposed roof.

Zoning. A zone is a region of the building with one thermostatic control. One zone will be created
for each office for a total of seven zones. See the floor plan for zone designations.

Thermostats. Thermostat settings of 75 F occupied cooling, 85 F unoccupied cooling, 70 F occupied

heating and 60 F unoccupied heating will be used in all zones. The system startup time will be 7 am
with 12 hour occupied duration. This means that at 7 pm the system will go into setup or setback and
maintain the unoccupied setpoints.

Supply Terminals. All seven VAV zones use single-duct VAV boxes. Zone 7 has no direct
exposure to ambient conditions so it may be a cooling-only VAV box, without electric heat. All other
VAV boxes contain integral electric heaters. The heating coils will be sized to handle both the zone
heating loads plus any heat necessary to heat the ventilation air that mixes with the return air at the
central unit. The minimum total supply airflow to the zones (min. VAV box setting) will be 20
CFM/person.

Sizing Criteria. Required zone airflow rates will be based on the peak sensible load in each zone.
Safety factors will not be used in this example.

3.4 ENTERING DATA

After weather, zone and HVAC system data has been gathered, it is entered into Block Load. This is the
third step in the design process. The procedure for entering data into Block Load is presented below in a
tutorial format.
1. Create a New Project

(Optional) If you only wish to view this example rather than entering all the data yourself, you can
use archive data for the example problem which is provided on the Block Load CD. To use this
archive file:
Copy the Manufacturing Office Example.E3A file from the \Example folder on the CD to the
\E20-II\Archives folder on your computer.
Using Windows Explorer, right-click on the Manufacturing Office Example.E3A file after it
has been copied. Select the Properties option on the pop-up menu that appears. On the
Properties dialog that appears, uncheck the Read-Only check box. Then press OK.
Run Block Load. Use the New option on the Project Menu to create a new untitled project.
Then use the Retrieve option on the Project Menu to retrieve the data from the Manufacturing
Office Example.E3A archive. Finally use the Save option on the Project Menu to save the
project. Use the project name Manufacturing Office Example.
Skip to step 3 below.

If you will be entering example problem data yourself, choose New on the Project menu. This
creates a new project. A project is the container which holds your data. The new project you
create will contain data for the example problem.

Then choose Save on the Project menu. Because you are saving the project for the first time, you
will be asked to specify a name for the project. Use Manufacturing Office Example as the
project name. From here on, save the project periodically.

3. Enter Weather Data

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Click the Weather item in the tree view in the main program window. The default weather data
appears in the list view.
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From the drop-down lists on the Weather form, choose data for U.S.A. / Missouri / St. Louis.
Also select design cooling months of May through November.

4. Enter Zone Data

Entering zone data is the most labor-intensive phase of data entry. By using the programs duplicate
feature input effort can be minimized. First enter data for the 1 Conference Room zone:

Right-click on the Unattached Zones item in the tree view in the main program window. Then from
the pop-up menu select Add a New Zone. This will open the zone input form in the list view.
Alternatively, since you already know we are only using one system, you may first enter the VAV
system then add zones directly to the system. However for this tutorial we will create all zones in the
Unattached Zones category, then drag-and-drop them to the system later.

Enter data on the General tab of the zone input form..

Click on the Internals tab on the zone input form and enter data. As you enter internal load data it
will be necessary to define the unoccupied use % for lights, equipment and people. Lights and
equipment will be on 10% during unoccupied times to accommodate janitorial and security usage.

Click on the Walls, Windows, Doors tab on the zone input form and enter data. As you enter this
data it will be necessary to create wall, window and door constructions. For example, when you select
the Wall Type input field you can create the wall construction for that exposure by choosing the
<create new wall> item in the wall type drop-down list. Similar procedures are used for creating
window and door constructions.

Click on the Roofs, Skylights tab on the zone input form and enter data. As you enter this data it
will be necessary to create a roof construction. With the desired exposure column in the table
highlighted, you can create a roof construction for that exposure by choosing the <create new roof>
item in the roof type drop-down list.

Click on the Outdoor Airflow tab on the zone input form and enter data. The OA Ventilation
requirements may be set from the drop-down list of ASHRAE space usage categories. Zone 1 is a
conference room. All other zones are offices. The infiltration rate should also be entered for heating
only at 0.03 CFM/sqft and should occur only when the fan is off. Direct exhaust is zero for all zones
except for zone 7, which contains the restrooms.

Click on the Floors tab on the zone input form and enter data.

Finally, click on the Partitions tab on the zone input form and enter partition data for the zones that
are adjacent to the north wall. The partition input data is contained in the zone data table.

After you have completed entering zone data click on any other branch on the tree to save the zone
data and return you back to the main program window. You might want to save your project at this
point if you havent already done so.

As mentioned previously many of the zone input values are similar. Rather than creating a new zone each
time it is more efficient to use Block Loads duplicate feature to minimize input effort:

Right-click the 1 Conference Room zone item in the tree view portion under the unattached zones
category. On the pop-up menu that appears, select the duplicate option. A duplicate copy of 1
Conference Room will be created, the zone input form will be launched and data for the new zone
will be displayed. Because this new zone is a copy of 1 Conference Room, we will only need to
modify items which differ.

On the General tab of the zone input form change the zone name to 2 Assistant Manager and
specify its dimensions or floor area.

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Switch to each of the other tabs on the zone input form in succession and enter data. Note that many of
the default values for this zone will not need to be changed since much of the zone data is common to
all zones. By making duplicates of successive zones, the number of items which need to be modified
will be minimized.

When finished modifying data for zone 2 Assistant Manager, click on any item in the tree to save the
zone data and return to the main program window.

Enter data for the remaining zones using a procedure similar to that used for 2 Assistant Manager: Use
the duplicate feature to create successive copies of zones and modify the data for each new zone you
create in this manner.
5. Enter System Data

Right click on the Systems item in the tree view in the main program window. Then select Add a
New System in the pop-up dialog box that appears. This will place you in the system input screen in
the data view.

Enter data for the VAV Rooftop Unit system. If you are new to the system form, make frequent use
of the help button or the on-line help features (F1 key) to learn about form operation.

On the General tab of the system input screen you will define the system type, ventilation sizing
method, cooling and heating coil sizing criteria, startup time and duration of operation, supply fan
design criteria and also thermostat setpoints.

Finally, on the Plenum, Safety Factors tab you will define the return air type and any safety factors
necessary.

When finished entering system data, click on any other item in the tree view to save your system data
and return to the main program window.

At this point all input data has been entered and were ready to calculate the system sizing results.
Procedures for generating system design reports will be discussed in Section 3.5.

3.5 GENERATING SYSTEM DESIGN REPORTS

The fourth step in the design process is to use the data entered in step 3 to perform system design
calculations and generate system design reports. The procedure for doing this is as follows:

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Double click the Systems item in the tree view portion of the main program window. This will
expand the list of systems to show the VAV Rooftop Unit system.

Right click the VAV Rooftop Unit item in the list view. On the pop-up menu which appears, select
the Print/View Load Results item. The System Design Reports dialog will appear.

On the System Design Reports dialog, select the System Sizing Summary, System Load Summary
and Zone Load Summary report options. Should you also want advanced reports such as ventilation
sizing, hourly zone and system loads and system psychrometrics you may select them as well. Finally
press the Preview button to see the reports.

When you press the Preview button, the program will determine whether system design data exists for
the system. Since design load results have not yet been calculated, the program will run design
calculations automatically. A status monitor will appear to help you track the progress of the
calculation. Once the calculation is finished, the reports you requested will appear in the Block Load
Report Viewer.

The Report Viewer can be used to browse, print or save the reports as Rich Text Format (RTF). Use
the scroll bar to browse each report document or use the next page and previous page buttons on
the Report Viewer toolbar to move from one report to the next. The System Sizing Summary and
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System Design Load Summary reports are shown in Figures 3.19 and 3.20. Information in these
reports can be used to size the various components of the HVAC system as explained in section 3.6.

3.6 SELECTING EQUIPMENT

The final step in the design process is to use system design reports to select HVAC equipment. At the
beginning of this example, seven equipment sizing objectives were listed. Data provided on the System
Sizing Summary report (see Figure 3.19) can be used to meet all seven of these objectives. The System
Design Load Summary report (see Figure 3.20) provides supplemental information about component
system loads. The table below lists the sizing objectives and the report and table which contains data
needed to meet each objective.
The System Sizing Summary report contains data used to select the packaged rooftop unit and the VAV
boxes. The Central Cooling Coil Sizing Data table lists the peak coil capacities, coil entering and leaving
conditions and a number of useful check figures. For VAV systems Block Load assumes that there is a
preheat coil located in the central unit to temper the ventilation air during winter ambient conditions to a
temperature near to the cooling coil leaving air temperature. The zone reheat coils are then sized to heat
the supply air to the temperature necessary to heat the zones to their heating thermostat setpoints. The
Sizing Data table lists the peak load for the preheat coil as well as entering and leaving conditions. The
Supply Fan Sizing Data table provides the required airflow rates and motor data for the supply fan. The
Outdoor Ventilation Air Data section lists the total outdoor air requirement for the system. Together this
data can be used in packaged rooftop unit selection software offered by Carrier and other manufacturers
to select a rooftop unit which meets the sizing requirements.
The Zone Sizing Data table located at the bottom of the System Sizing Summary report (Figure 3.19)
contains data used to select terminal equipment. This table lists the required airflow rate for each zone
terminal and also lists the minimum airflow rate, based on the system input value, which can be used to
set minimum damper positions for the VAV boxes. The Zone Sizing Data table also lists the zone peak
load time along with the required sizes for the zone reheat coils. The peak zone airflow rates can also be
used to size ductwork and supply diffusers for the seven zones. Together with the reheat coil loads this
data can be used in air terminal selection software offered by Carrier and other manufacturers to select
terminal components which meet the sizing requirements.
Table 3.2. Location of System and Zone Sizing Data on Design Reports
Objective:

Table

Report: Air System Sizing Summary (Fig. 3.19)

1. Rooftop Unit Cooling Capacities

Central Cooling Coil Sizing Data

2. Rooftop Unit Supply Fan Airflow

Supply Fan Sizing Data

3. Rooftop Unit Outdoor Airflow Rate

Outdoor Ventilation Air Data

4. Rooftop Unit Preheat Coil Capacity

Preheat Coil Sizing Data

5. VAV Box (zone) Design Airflow Rate

Zone Sizing Data (see Design Air Flow)

6. VAV Box Minimum Airflow Rates

Zone Sizing Data (see Minimum Air Flow)

7. VAV Box Reheat Coil Capacities

Zone Sizing Data (see Reheat Coil Load)

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