Heating,venti

l
ation,andai rcondit
ioning(
HVAC[ 1]
)isthetechnologyofindoorandv ehicul
ar
environmentalcomf ort.I
tsgoal i
stopr ov
idether malcomfortandaccept abl
eindoorairquali
ty.
HVACsy stem designisasubdi sci
plineofmechani calengi
neer i
ng,basedontheprinciplesof
thermody namics,fl
uidmechani csandheatt ransfer."
Refri
gerati
on"issometimesaddedt othe
fi
eld'
sabbr evi
ation,asHVAC&RorHVACRor" venti
lat
ion"i
sdr opped,asinHACR( asint he
designati
onofHACR- ratedcircui
tbreakers)
.

HVACi sani mport

antpartofresidential st
ructur
essuchassi nglefami l
yhomes,apartment
buil
dings, hotel
sandseni
orlivi
ngf acil
ities,medium tolargeindust r
ialandoff
icebuil
dingssuch
assky scrapersandhospital
s,vehiclessuchascar s,t
rains,ai
rplanes,shipsandsubmar ines,
andinmar ineenvi
ronments,wher esaf eandheal t
hybuildingcondi t
ionsareregul
atedwi th
respecttot emperatur
eandhumi di t
y,usi ngfreshairf
rom outdoor s.

Vent i
lati
ngorvent
il
ati
on(theVi nHVAC)i st hepr ocessofexchangingorreplacingairinany
spacet opr
ovi
dehighindoorairquali
tywhichi nvolvestemper at
urecont
rol,
oxy gen
replenishment
,andremov al
ofmoi sture,
odor s,smoke, heat,dust,
air
bornebact er
ia,carbon
dioxide,andot
hergases.Ventil
ati
onr emov esunpl easantsmel l
sandexcessivemoi sture,
i
nt roducesout
sideair
,keepsinter
iorbuil
dingai rcircul
ati
ng,andprevent
sstagnat i
onoft he
i
nt eri
orair.

Venti
lat
ionincl
udesboththeexchangeofairtotheoutsi
deaswellascir
culati
onofai rwithi
n
thebuil
ding.I
tisoneofthemosti mpor
tantfact
orsformaint
aini
ngacceptableindoorairquali
ty
i
nbuildi
ngs.Met hodsf
orvent
il
atingabuil
dingmaybedi vi
dedint
omechani cal/
forcedand
natur
altypes.
[2]