air conditioning – The Energy Chronicle

UCF 1 of 6 Nationwide Teams Selected to Lead Research Partnerships for High-Performance Housing

Sherri Shields Awards, Press Release July 11, 2017July 17, 2017air conditioning, DOE, indoor air quality, retrofit 0 Comment

Interior of townhouse with staircase by front door. Return air grill under on side of staircase with mini-split ac unti above front door. — This mini-split air conditioning unit is located as close as possible to the central return grille of the existing system to help with room-to-room air distribution.

By Sherri Shields

COCOA, Fla., July 11, 2017—The University of Central Florida (UCF) is one of six nationwide teams selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to receive $3.7 million to study how to improve energy efficiency and indoor air quality (IAQ) in homes.

The selected projects are expected to lead to improved home energy efficiency and smarter home operation for millions of American families, saving money on their energy bills while improving health and comfort.

UCF will get more than $870,000 for two, two-year projects, which will be led by the university’s Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) in Cocoa, Fla. The center is a leader in energy research, with three decades of energy and buildings research, technical assistance, and training experience. It’s expertise has led to it being named a DOE Building America Program’s Industry Partnerships recipient.

FSEC’s Cromer Receives ASHRAE Fellow Award

Sherri Shields Awards, Energy News February 9, 2010air conditioners, air conditioning, ASHRAE, Cromer Cycle, dehumidification, Fellow, HVAC, Oak Ridge National Lab, Trane 0 Comment

Charles Cromer, center, was selected= — Gordon Holness, president of ASHRAE (left), and Jeff Littleton, executive vice president of ASHRAE (right), recognize Charles Cromer as an ASHRAE Fellow for his significant contributions in the HVAC field.

The Florida Solar Energy Center’s Charles Cromer was selected as a Fellow at the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) 2010 Winter Conference last month in Orlando.

The honor is granted to members who have attained unusual distinction in the field of heating, refrigeration, air conditioning or ventilation (HVAC).

Cromer, program director of the Appliance Laboratory at the University of Central Florida’s Florida Solar Energy Center, has made significant contributions in the HVAC field. His invention of the Cromer Cycle air-conditioning system provides more energy-efficient dehumidification than standard air conditioners or dehumidifiers. Read more

Building Science Experts Offer Green Building Courses

Sherri Shields Energy News, Press Release January 21, 2009air conditioning, building, building code, building envelope, buildings, charrette, commercial, courses, design, Designing and Maintaining the High Performance Green Building, education, energy efficient, EnergyGauge, green building, humidity control, HVAC, indoor air quality, LEED, mold, pressure imbalances, research, Rob Vieira, Summit, training, vapor barriers, ventilation, window 3 Comments

The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), a research institute of the University of Central Florida, is offering a series of five courses on “Designing and Maintaining the High Performance Green Building” for architects, engineers, mechanical contractors, building inspectors, facility managers and indoor air quality specialists. Initial course offerings will be held at FSEC in Cocoa starting Feb. 4.

This series of courses will demonstrate:

How to design and maintain a green building that has good indoor air quality
How to make a building durable, comfortable and energy efficient
How to protect buildings from mold
What types of air-conditioning systems will cause mold problems
What advanced dehumidification technologies are available for use in buildings.

“A recent study finds about 25 percent of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified green buildings use more energy than expected and about 12 percent use more energy than allowed by the building code. Our courses will provide the knowledge to address these issues,” said Rob Vieira, director of buildings research at FSEC.

The courses will focus on problems in commercial buildings, although the principles discussed will be applicable to all buildings. The FSEC buildings researchers will discuss such areas as ventilation requirements, humidity control, building envelope design, pressure imbalances, HVAC systems, window selection, vapor barriers and related issues.

Students who attend all five courses in the series and pass the exam in Courses one, two and three will earn an FSEC Green Commercial Building Design and Maintenance Certificate.

The courses and schedules are:

Course 1: “Designing Building Envelopes to Control Air and Moisture in High Performance Green Buildings,” Feb. 4

Course 2: “Designing and Maintaining Building Air Flows in High Performance Green Buildings,” Feb. 5

Course 3: “Designing and Maintaining HVAC Systems for High Performance Green Buildings,” Feb. 18

Course 4: “Design Charrette — Practice Design of a High Performance Green Building,” Feb. 19

Course 5: “Commercial Energy Code and Green Building Modeling Using EnergyGauge Summit,” Feb. 26

The cost of each course is $269. For more information about the courses or to register, visit: www.floridaenergycenter.org/go/courseschedule.

FSEC Receives Contract to Expand Building Energy Simulation Program

Sherri Shields Press Release September 30, 2004air conditioning, architects, building design, building energy simulation program, building owners, engineers, HVAC, managers

The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) has received a $252,000 contract from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory to expand the modeling capabilities of DOEs EnergyPlusTM building energy simulation program.

The program is being developed by the U.S. Department of Energy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and a number of other contributors, including FSEC. It lets architects, engineers, building owners and managers assess the impacts of their design choices and operating practices on energy use and operating costs. Read more