Grunenwald Science and Technology Building

Clarion University
Clarion, PA
| Shane Helm | Mechanical Option | Penn State Architectural Engineering |
Research
Proposal
Thesis Proposal

The intention of this proposal is to further minimize the energy consumption of the building while not adding a substantial first cost.  In order to achieve the energy reduction for the building lowering the effective carbon footprint, several alternative designs have been proposed.  These alternative designs are: lab exhaust fan redesign, Dedicated Outdoor Air System with a parallel system, and Geothermal Heat Pumps.

Exhaust Fan Redesign: The fans will be resized based on the codes in place to meet the required air changes per hour for the different occupancy type labs in the Science and Technology Building.  All of the fans will then be designed as VAV fans to reduce the energy consumption of the exhaust fans in the laboratory spaces. 

Dedicated Outdoor Air System with parallel system: The ventilation air will be treated by both an enthalpy wheel and an AHU to meet the latent load attributed with that space.  This allows the sensible load to be treated completely separate from the latent load by using a parallel system such as: fan-coil units, radiant panels, chilled beam, etc. The results for energy consumption will be compared with the current 100 percent outdoor air VAV system used in the Science and Technology Building.

Geothermal Heat Pump: The Geothermal heat pump will be looked to be a variable method used in conjunction with the campus steam already used in the building to ensure full load is meet and using a supplemental cooling tower. The geothermal system could provide energy savings for the university building when compared to the VAV systems in use.

Breadth Topics:

Architechtural: The use of solar shades will be investigated for possible energy savings, since the inclusion of shades on the exterior architectural facade were not included in the current design of the Science and Technology Building.  The solar shades will only be placed on the south and southwest facades of the building.  Allowing daylight into the spaces is important as each room does have a photocell to dim the fluorescent lights in the space.  The daylight allowed into the space does lead to a positive learning environment for the university building.  An overall evaluation will be done into which solar shading can be used comparing the amount and quality of light that will be transmitted through the various shading devices.  The building loads and energy consumption will be compared to the current design that does not use solar shading as an element of the architecture.  The cost savings associated with the energy use will be used to justify the additional first cost of the facade redesign.

Construction: The geothermal heat pump will be located on the central quad of Clarion University located adjacent to the building site.  Many precautions will have to be made as construction site will be intrusive to all students travelling on campus.  Safety and site utilization plans for the central quad construction site will have to be developed to ensure the safety of the students and faculty along with preserving access through the central quad to the adjacent buildings. The schedule of the construction process for installing the geothermal heat pumps will be evaluated to ensure that the Clarion University campus is affected for the least amount of time.  Another consideration will be trying to get the construction time frame to fit the summer months when campus has less activity. 

Executive Summary
Breadth Proposal
 
Revised Thesis Proposal
Breadth Proposal Reposted
 
Revised Proposal: The proposal was revised for the tools that will be used to calculate the energy consumption of the alternative systems. Since the user is familiar with Trace 700, the other programs will not be used as the time frame will not allow for a new program to be learned while still making progress on the final product. The breadths did not require revision and therefore were just reposted to the site.
 

 

 

"Note:While great efforts have been taken to provide accurate and complete information on the pages of CPEP, please be aware that the information contained herewith is considered a work‐inprogress
for this thesis project. Modifications and changes related to the original building designs and construction methodologies for this senior thesis project are solely the interpretation of Shane
Helm. Changes and discrepancies in no way imply that the original design contained errors or was flawed. Differing assumptions, code references, requirements, and methodologies have been
incorporated into this thesis project; therefore, investigation results may vary from the original design."

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This page was last updated on 1/12/2011, by Shane Helm and is hosted by the AE Department © 2010