Energy saving potential and indoor air quality benefits of multiple zone dedicated outdoor air system

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the indoor air quality (IAQ) and energy benefits of a dedicated outdoor air system (DOAS) and compare them with a conventional variable air volume (VAV) system. The DOAS is a decoupled system that supplies only outdoor air, while reducing its consumption using an enthalpy wheel. The VAV system supplies air that is mixed outdoor and transferred indoor. The VAV has the issue of unbalanced ventilation in each room in multiple zones because it supplies mixing air. The DOAS does not have this problem because it supplies only outdoor air. That is, the DOAS is a 100% outdoor air system and the VAV is an air conditioning system. The transient simulations of carbon dioxide concentration and energy consumption were performed using a MATLAB program based on the thermal loads from the model predicted by the TRNSYS 18 program. The results indicated that when the air volume is large, such as in summer, the distribution of air is not appropriate in the VAV system. The DOAS however, supplies the outdoor air stably. Moreover, in terms of annual primary energy consumption, the DOAS consumed approximately 40% less energy than the VAV system.