Thesis Proposal

Executive Summary (PDF)
Full Proposal (PDF)
Full Proposal-Update 1/20/09 (PDF)

Depth Topic-Ground Source Heat Pumps and Air-Side Energy Recovery

To explore the impact of the installation of a system with a potentially higher first cost and potentially lower annual energy cost, an analysis of a ground source heat pump system with a dedicated ouitdoor air system will be conducted. The current packaged rooftop AHU system will be replaced with water-to-air heat pumps that will reject/gain heat from the earth and a parallel system that provides ventilation air.

Construction Management Breadth

The installation of the ground source heat pump system will undoubtedly have a significant impact on construction costs and the construction schedule. The process of drilling vertical boreholes for the ground loops is a time consuming and expensive procedure. As such, an investigation into the most cost effective and time considerate manner for performing this work will be conducted. The result of the investigation will show the most effective use of equipment, materials and time. The appropriate number of borehole drilling trucks, number and depth of boreholes and the scheduling of the drilling will be included in the results.

Electrical Breadth

The removal of the packaged VAV rooftop system in the Alumni Center and its replacement with the ground source heat pump system changes the loads on the electrical distribution network in the building. There is a main distribution switchboard for the mechanical equipment that feeds multiple panels with mechanical equipment connections. With the removal of the packaged VAV rooftop system the VAV box loads can be removed from the panels along with all of the rooftop AHU's. However, all of the new pump loads and heat pump loads must then be added to the panels. An investigation will be conducted to determine the new loads connected to the main mechanical equipment switchboards with sizing of new feeders to each panel, sizing of new breakers, and voltage drop calculations for the new feeders to meet the electrical code. The monetary impact of these changes will be included in the results.

Graduate Level Study

A central plant design that utilizes centralized chillers and boilers is another option that was considered for the mechanical redesign. The plant would most likely use natural gas boilers along with chillers that were either air-cooled or water-cooled based on life-cycle cost analysis. Because the original design of the building utilized central boilers and air-cooled chillers, the decision was made to not fully investigate this option for redesign. However, the ground source heat pump design will be compared to both the packaged rooftop VAV system and the orginal central plant design on both an annual energy cost and life-cycle cost basis. An investigation into the LEed points availavle and the sustainability of each of the designs will also be conducted.

Breadth Topics (PDF)