Division of Building

Science and Technology

Associate of Science in Building Services Engineering

Design Guide
Of

HVAC Services
2010
Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

CONTENTS

Page
1. Introduction to HVAC Systems 3
2. Summary of HVAC Design Stages 4
3. Start-up 5
4. Cooling/Heating Load Calculation 5
5. System Selection 6
6. Conceptual/Schematic Design 8
7. Coordination with Other Disciplines 9
8. Detailed Design for Distribution Systems 11
9. Equipment Selection & Specification 12
10. Automatic Control Design 12
11. Drawing Production & Equipment Schedules 13
12. Technical Specifications 15
13. References for Design Works 16

Appendices
Appendix A: Design Criteria for Cooling/Heating Load and Mechanical Ventilation
Appendix B: HVAC Load Calculation
Appendix C: OTTV
Appendix D: Chiller Comparison
Appendix E: Pipes, Fittings and Accessories
Appendix F: Pipe and Pump Sizing
Appendix G: Ducts, Grilles, Fittings and Accessories
Appendix H: Air Distribution Design
Appendix I: Duct and Fan Sizing
Appendix J: Types of Pumps and Fans
Appendix K: Typical System Control Arrangement
Appendix L: Packaged and Unitary Equipment

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 2 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

1. INTRODUCTION TO HVAC SYSTEMS

The primary objective of the HVAC systems is to provide and maintain the required
thermal comfort and indoor air quality of building. In general these incorporate the
following sub-systems:

Heating System
To provide heating for the required function rooms if the temperature is below the
predetermined value, especially during the cold seasons. Sometimes humidification
is accompanied to satisfy the desired relatively humidity. The central heating plant
and associated hot water distribution circuit are also included in the system.

Ventilation System
To maintain the expected indoor air quality by introducing fresh air and/or exhausting
vitiated air. Sometimes this system would be used for cooling or removing heat.

Air Conditioning System (Air Side System)

To furnish cooling for the required function rooms if the temperature is above the
predetermined value, especially during the hot seasons. Dehumidification would be
accompanied to keep the designed relatively humidity.

Water Side System

In the large central HVAC systems,
usually the indoor air is not cooled
directly by the refrigeration plant
(chiller). Thus water will be used
as the medium to transfer heat from
the indoor air to the central chiller
plant for cooling purpose. Such
system is called the Chilled Water
System. If water-cooled type
chiller is used, a Condenser Water
System will be required. On the
other hand, Hot Water System is
used for transferring heat from
central heating plant to the required
areas for heating purpose.

Refrigeration System
This is the heart of cooling.
Usually the central refrigeration
process is achieved by using
chiller(s) which finally removes the
heat from the chilled water (or from
indoor air directly for small plant) to
the atmosphere.

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 3 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

2. SUMMARY OF HVAC DESIGN STAGES

For design of HVAC systems, the main stages are summarized in the following flow chart
and discussed in the coming sections.

Start-up

Cooling/Heating Load Calculation

Revise
Loading
System Selection

Outline Conceptual/Schematic Design

Design

Coordination with Other Disciplines

Detailed Further
Design Detailed Design for Distribution Systems
Coordination

Equipment Selection & Speicification

Automatic Control Design

Drawing Production

Technical Specifications

Figure 2.1: Main Design Stages of HVAC Systems

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 4 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

3. START-UP

Prior to commencing the design of HVAC systems, the preliminary understanding of the
building and site investigation are very essential that will constitute the foundation of the
design requirements. The following studies should be made in this stage:

a. Study building type/composition/functions

b. Plant space availability

c. Client requirements (especially the expected class of building, future operation and
maintenance, financial budget of building services systems, etc.)

d. Local statuary regulations for the project building (e.g. Architectural Services
Department, Buildings Department, Electrical and Mechanical Services Department,
Environmental Protection Department, Fire Services Department, Food and
Environmental Hygiene Department, Labour Department, Water Supplies
Department, China Light and Power/Hong Kong Electric, etc.)

e. Site and adjacent conditions (especially the scheme of fresh air intake and exhaust air
outlet, noise impact to/from the surroundings, heat rejection to/from the surroundings,
availability of fresh water for evaporative cooling, feasibility of sea or underground
water cooling, external shading by adjacent buildings/constructions, etc.)

4. COOLING/HEATING LOAD CALCULATION

After getting the architectural drawings from the Architect, load calculation can be
proceeded. The ensuing design conditions should be decided in order to start load
estimation:

a. Outdoor conditions
b. Indoor conditions, including:
• Temperature
• Relative humidity
• Ventilation rate
• People density
• Lighting load
• Miscellaneous load
• Noise criteria
c. Architectural design:
• U-value of building fabrics (better coordinated with Architect)

After obtaining the results from load calculation, check figures can be used to countercheck
the cooling load of the related spaces in order to assure the calculation is reasonable. If it is
functionally and economically justifiable to apply energy conserving systems in the design,
these cooling/heating loads should be revised accordingly due to load reduction.

Refer to the related Code of Practices, as well as Appendices A and B.

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 5 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

5. SYSTEM SELECTION

Usually there are a series of systems involved in the HVAC system design as described
below. In each system, selection should be made among the different types based on the
findings in the previous two stages. Of course, more than one type of design can be applied
to different zones for each system if appropriate.

5.1 Refrigeration System

a. Centralized, packaged or unitary equipment

b. Type of chillers for centralized system (centrifugal, reciprocating, twin screw, or
absorption)
c. Refrigerant to be used
d. Water/air-cooled
For the type of chillers, refer to Appendix D.
For the packaged and unitary equipment, refer to Appendix L.

5.2 Water System (Chilled, Hot or Condenser Water)

a. Basic consideration: Direct- or reverse-return? Two-pipe or four-pipe?

b. Primary-secondary consideration: Differential pressure bypass system or
decoupler system?

5.3 Air System

a. All-air (constant air volume, variable air volume, etc.)

b. Air-water (primary air - fan coil system)
c. All-water

5.4 Heat Rejection System

a. Direct air-cooled method

b. Dry tower (indirect air-cooled)
c. Indirect seawater-cooled method (or any natural water, such as river water, pond
water or underground water)
d. Wet cooling tower (or any natural water)
e. Direct seawater-cooled method (or any natural water)

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 6 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

5.5 Energy Conserving System/Equipment

a. Heat pipe
b. Enthalpy wheel
c. Run-around coil
d. Heat reclaim condenser
e. Heat pump
f. Solar energy system
g. Thermal storage

5.6 Smoke Control System

a. Staircase pressurization system

b. Smoke extraction system

5.7 Heating System

a. Direct system (electric duct heaters or local fuel-consumed equipments)

b. Indirect system (centralized warm-air system, hot-water system or steam-heating
system)

5.8 Ventilation System

a. Natural ventilation
b. Mechanical ventilation (supply system, extract system, or balanced system)
c. Exhaust ventilation (e.g. kitchen, industrial process, clean room)

5.9 Feed and Expansion System

a. open type
b. closed type

5.10 Chemical Treatment System

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 7 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

6. CONCEPTUAL/SCHEMATIC DESIGN

6.1 Conceptual/Outline Scheme

After estimating the cooling/heating load and determining the applicable systems, the
design concepts should be integrated with certain scheme, and the ideas should be
easily outlined and presented to the client or relevant government authorities. It is
encouraged that the ideas of sustainability, energy conservation, intelligent and
integration should be always incorporated into both the building services and
architectural design.

6.2 Main Trunk Distribution

In this stage, the distribution of the main pipes and ducts is developed. According to
the HVAC zoning and number of floors, the risers/droppers (main vertical run) and
the headers (main horizontal run) involved in outline design include the following
aspects.

6.2.1 Water Side

a. Chilled water circuit

b. Hot water circuit
c. Condenser water circuit (where applicable)

6.2.2 Air Side

a. Outdoor air duct riser (for occupant ventilation, underground car park or
plant room ventilation)
b. Exhaust air duct riser (for occupant ventilation, underground car park or
plant room ventilation)
c. Supply air duct
d. Primary air duct (where applicable)
e. Return air duct
f. Relief air duct
g. Staircase pressurization duct shaft (where applicable)
h. Smoke extraction duct shaft (where applicable)

For the above main trunks of water/air sides, their sizes and locations should be
determined, so that coordination should be made with Architect on the building plans.

6.3 Automatic Control Strategies of Water/Air Sides

Apart from conceptual design of main trunks, appropriate control strategies should
also be developed in order to coordinate with the expected performance of the
systems. The following aspects are considered for such purpose:

a. Degree of automatic control to be applied

b. Pneumatic or electric source for control

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 8 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

c. How to adopt EMS (energy management system) or BMS (building management

system)
d. Open control protocol to be used (e.g. BACnet, LonWorks)
e. Standby control/equipment provision
f. Changeover control scheme (where applicable)
g. Any centralized HVAC control centre

In the common practice, after finishing the above stages and having preliminary
coordination with other disciplines (next stage), a scheme design report containing the
main system schematic diagrams that illustrating the design concept and system
selection, as well as necessary economic analysis and budget estimation, will be
prepared ad submitted to the client for his comment/approval. Further revision of
the design may be required where necessary.

7. COORDINATION WITH OTHER DISCIPLINES

Throughout the outline design phases, HVAC engineer should always bear in mind that his
design is integrated with other services as well as the whole building. In addition,
coordination with the required professionals in course of the detailed design phases is a must
in order to make the building 'live' eventually. The items shown below form the basis for
coordination (but not exhaustive), initiative coordination is still needed wherever necessary
in different building projects.

7.1 With Architect

a. Scheme of energy conserving equipment/systems

b. Scheme of ventilation
c. Central refrigeration plant room(s)/space(s)
d. Heat rejection plant space(s)
e. Water pump room(s)
f. Air system equipment plant rooms (e.g. AHU, PAU, fan rooms)
g. Energy conserving plant room(s)
h. Central control room(s)
i. Pipe ducts/duct shafts (better to coordinate with other services first)
j. External louvres
k. Door louvre/undercut

7.2 With Structural Engineer

a. Location of water tank

b. Location of central refrigeration equipments, water side main equipments, etc.
c. Wall/floor openings (esp. load-bearing members)
d. Special structural requirements (e.g. supporting framework, hoisting I-beams)

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 9 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

7.3 With Electrical Engineer

a. Total electrical demand for HVAC system

b. Locations/rooms of all major equipments consuming electricity (for electrical
distribution consideration)
c. Special requirement for transformer rooms, main switch rooms, MDF (main
distribution frame) rooms, genset rooms, lift machine rooms, etc. (e.g. temp/RH
control)
d. Location of interfacing points, e.g. MCC (motor control centre), LMCP (local
motor control panel), fused spur, etc.

7.4 With Fire Services Engineer

Interface with fire signal (for activating like smoke control equipments or
deactivating like cross-zone AHUs/PAUs)

7.5 With Plumbing & Drainage Engineer

a. Water point(s) for make-up (for feed & expansion tank, chemical tank, cooling
water make-up tank, etc.)
b. Interface with condensate drain (e.g. tee-off of drainage stack, floor drain, sump
pit, etc.)
c. Interface with drain from pumps (e.g. floor drain in pump rooms)
d. Drain points for equipment maintenance (e.g. floor drain in those plant rooms
with water side components)

7.6 With EMS/BMS Engineer

a. Functions of energy management/building management

b. Number and type of in/out points for control/monitoring

7.7 Fitting-outs Required to Coordinate with Other Services

a. Air grilles/diffusers
b. Ceiling mounted equipments
c. Air ducts and water pipes arrangement (better to develop general coordination
idea of services main trunks)

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 10 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

8. DETAILED DESIGN FOR DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS

After the outline design has been confirmed, detailed design is launched and considerable
effort is devoted first for the distribution systems in the following aspects:

8.1 Water Side

a. Determination of pipes, fittings and accessories required for pipework

Refer to Appendix E.

b. Pipe and pump sizing (including sizing of control valve)

Refer to Appendix F.

c. Design of the required tanks and water treatment for different kind of water
circuits

8.2 Air Side

a. Determination of ducts, grilles, fittings and accessories required for ductwork

Refer to Appendix G.

b. Air distribution design (grille/louvre arrangement and selection)

Refer to Appendix H.

c. Duct and fan sizing (consider flow rate, velocity/NC & allowable pressure drop)
Refer to Appendix I.

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 11 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

9. EQUIPMENT SELECTION & SPECIFICATION

After detailed design of the distribution systems, all the HVAC equipments can be specified.
If the design is mainly for preparing tendering, the equipments will be only specified in the
way enough for future tendering purpose. However, preliminary selection of the
equipments is still needed to make sure the availability of product and spatial requirements.
In this stage, manufacturers' catalogues (or their assistance) are essential to make the right
choice. The equipments involved are:
a. Chillers
b. Boilers/Heaters
c. Pumps (chilled water, condenser water or hot water)
d. AHUs
e. PAUs
f. FCUs
g. Fans (for ventilation/smoke control)
h. Energy conserving equipments (where applicable)

For types of pumps and fans, refer to Appendix J.

10. AUTOMATIC CONTROL DESIGN

To make the HVAC systems become dynamic, suitable automatic control design is required
to achieve our ultimate goal for all the specified functions. This design work will cover the
ensuing aspects:

10.1 Water Side

• Partial load control of chillers, chilled water pumps and heat rejection equipments
• Partial load control of boilers and hot water pumps
• Standby control
• Changeover control of central plants (where applicable)

10.2 Air Side

• Partial load control of AHUs, PAUs or FCUs
• Changeover control (where applicable)

10.3 EMS/BMS Functions (where applicable)

• Conventional control and monitoring
• Programmed start/stop
• Start/stop optimization
• Temperature setback/setup
• Economizer/enthalpy control
• Supply temperature reset
• Chiller/boiler optimization
• Demand control
• Duty cycling optimization
• Monitoring equipment/alarms, etc.

Refer to Appendix K.

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 12 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

11. DRAWING PRODUCTION & EQUIPMENT SCHEDULES

Drawings are the paramount documents to convey most of the design ideas and requirements
to the contractors. For all necessary information in preparing the HVAC drawings, the
following checklist can be applied:

11.1 Drawings to Be Included

a. Drawing list
b. Legend & abbreviation
c. Water side schematic diagram
d. Air side schematic diagram
e. Smoke control schematic diagram (may be incorporated into air side schematic
where appropriate)
f. Automatic control schematic diagram
g. HVAC electrical schematic diagram
h. HVAC layout plan (quantity depends on number of floors & size of building)
i. Installation details (may be presented in report form instead of drawing)
j. Equipment schedules (may be presented in report form instead of drawing)

11.2 Information in Schematic Diagrams

• Equipment location & reference number

• System distribution & connection
• Size of main trunks
• Valves & accessories (except pipe/duct fittings)
• Labelling to equipments, floor levels, function areas, etc.
• Notes/remarks

11.3 Information in Layout Plans

• Equipment location, size & reference number

• System distribution & connection
• Size & route of all pipework/ductwork
• Air grilles/louvres & their labelling (incl. grille abbreviation, flow rate, size,
number offered)

For some frequently occurred equipment or installations such as FCU, typical sizes of
connection pipes, ducts and/or grilles would be given in the “notes” instead of
labelling them every time on the drawings. Similar idea can be applied in other
types of drawings where necessary.

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 13 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

11.4 Information in Equipment Schedules

a. Equipment reference no.

b. Location
c. Function
d. Number offered
e. Country of origin
f. Type of the equipment
g. Relevant capacity & essential technical data (refer to the followings for
different equipments)
h Sound power level
i. Electrical power supply data
j. Operating weight
k. Overall dimension
l. Type of mounting

Relevant capacity & essential technical data

(Remark: The following information is not exhaustive, please adjust the items according to the actual
requirements of the project.)
Chiller Cooling capacity
COP (or Unit kW/TR)
Heat dissipation method (water/air)
Compressor type
Refrigerant
Minimum capacity (%)
Pressure drop of evaporator
Chilled water supply/return temperature
Information related to condensers (depends on water-cooled or
air-cooled)
Pump Flow rate
Pump pressure
Pump speed
Pump efficiency
Brake power
AHU/PAU Cooling capacity (sensible and total)
Air entering temperature (db and wb)
Air leaving temperature (db and wb)
Chilled water entering/leaving temperature
Air flow rate
Static pressure (external)
Static pressure (internal)
Fan efficiency
Brake power
Type of drive (direct/belt)
Type of fan
Water pressure drop of cooling coil

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 14 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

FCU Cooling capacity (sensible and total)

Air entering temperature (db and wb)
Air leaving temperature (db and wb)
Chilled water entering/leaving temperature
Air flow rate
Static pressure (external)
Static pressure (internal)
Fan efficiency
Brake power
Type of drive (direct/belt)
Type of fan
Water pressure drop of cooling coil
Fan Air flow rate
Static pressure
Fan speed
Fan efficiency
Brake power
Type of drive (direct/belt)
Cooling Tower Heat dissipation rate
Condenser water entering/leaving temperature
Cooling air entering/leaving temperature (db and wb)
Air flow rate
Fan efficiency
Brake power
Type of drive (direct/belt)
Water pressure drop
Boiler/Heater Heating capacity
Minimum capacity (%)
Heating water supply/return temperature
Water pressure drop
Type of fuel

12. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Apart from the set of drawings, some of the information cannot be simply presented by
drawings and needs to have more detailed description, and the technical specifications
usually form the complementary part of the design documents. Typical items of technical
specification to be included are:
a. Scope of work
b. System description & indoor requirement
c. Work by other contractors
d. Technical specification for each kind of HVAC equipments, pipework & ductwork
e. Automatic control
f. Electrical works
g. BMS
h. Instruments
i. Water treatment

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 15 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

j. Testing and commissioning

k. Painting and labelling

In the common practice, the whole set of HVAC drawings accompanying with the technical
specifications will be incorporated into the contract documents for tendering by all potential
contractors afterwards.

13. REFERENCES FOR DESIGN WORKS

This list is not exhaustive and the required references depend on the project undertaken.
Since the following codes, standards, handbooks, guidelines, etc. would be updated regularly,
please make sure that the HVAC design is based on their latest editions.

1. ASHRAE Handbook – Fundamentals (USA).

2. ASHRAE Handbook – HVAC Applications (USA).
3. ASHRAE Handbook – HVAC Systems and Equipment (USA).
4. ASHRAE Handbook – Refrigeration (USA).
5. ASHRAE Standard 62 “Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality” (USA).
6. ASHRAE Standard 90.1 “Energy Standard for Buildings except Low-rise Residential
Buildings” (USA).
7. CIBSE Guide B: Heating, ventilating, air conditioning and refrigeration (UK).
8. Code of Practice 101 Distribution Substation Design (China Light and Power Ltd,
HKSAR).
9. Code of Practice for Energy Efficiency of Air Conditioning Installations (EMSD,
HKSAR).
10. Code of Practice for Energy Efficiency of Electrical Installations (EMSD, HKSAR).
11. Code of Practice for Energy Efficiency of Lighting Installations (EMSD, HKSAR).
12. Code of Practice for Overall Thermal Transfer Value in Buildings (Buildings
Department, HKSAR).
13. Code of Practice for Minimum Fire Service Installations and Equipment and Inspection
and Testing of Installations and Equipment (FSD, HKSAR).
14. Code of Practice for Water-cooled Air Conditioning Systems, Parts 1, 2 and 3. (EMSD,
HKSAR).
15. Code of Practice Prevention of Legionnaires' Disease (EMSD, HKSAR).
16. DW144 Specification for Sheet Metal Ductwork (Heating and Ventilating Contractors'
Association, UK).
17. Good Practices on Pumping System Noise Control (EPD, HKSAR)
18. Good Practices on Ventilation System Noise Control (EPD, HKSAR)
19. Guidance Notes for the Management of Indoor Air Quality (Indoor Air Quality
Management Group, HKSAR)
20. Guidelines on Application of Central Control and Monitoring Systems (EMSD,
HKSAR).
21. Guidelines on Energy Efficiency of Air Conditioning Installations (EMSD, HKSAR)
22. Guidelines on Energy Efficiency of Electrical Installations (EMSD, HKSAR)
23. Guidelines on Energy Efficiency of Lighting Installations (EMSD, HKSAR)
24. Guidelines on Performance-based Building Energy Code (EMSD, HKSAR)
25. Handbook of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (Shan K. Wang).
26. Performance-based Building Energy Code (EMSD, HKSAR).

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 16 of 17

Design Guide of HVAC Services - Main Contents

Some of the guidelines and regulations can be found in different departments of the HKSAR Government
web page at www.gov.hk, please visit there regularly to download the latest information.

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Design Criteria for Cooling/Heating Load and Mechanical Ventilation

Appendix B: HVAC Design Software
Appendix C: OTTV
Appendix D: Chiller Comparison
Appendix E: Pipes, Fittings and Accessories
Appendix F: Pipe and Pump Sizing
Appendix G: Ducts, Grilles, Fittings and Accessories
Appendix H: Air Distribution Design
Appendix I: Duct and Fan Sizing
Appendix J: Types of Pumps and Fans
Appendix K: Typical System Control Arrangement
Appendix L: Packaged and Unitary Equipment

HVAC Design Guide March 2010 Page 17 of 17