design Archives - Energy Vanguard https://www.energyvanguard.com/tag/design/ Building science knowledge, HVAC design, & fun Tue, 30 Aug 2022 13:33:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 Make It a Mechanical Room, Not Just a Closet https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/make-it-a-mechanical-room-not-just-a-closet/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/make-it-a-mechanical-room-not-just-a-closet/#view_comments Tue, 28 Jun 2022 11:43:37 +0000 https://www.energyvanguard.com/?p=7530 In our HVAC design work, we get sent projects where the client sometimes wants the impossible.  They’ve read enough to know they want the mechanical systems in conditioned space, so they put a tiny little closet somewhere in the house…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/make-it-a-mechanical-room-not-just-a-closet/feed/ 23 Don’t Confuse Design Temperature With Degree Days https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/dont-confuse-design-temperature-with-degree-days/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/dont-confuse-design-temperature-with-degree-days/#view_comments Fri, 26 Feb 2021 13:01:09 +0000 https://energyvanguard.com/?p=5220 People new to building science and HVAC are confronted with a lot of terms for things that are related but different.  Load and capacity.  Energy recovery ventilator (ERV) and heat recovery ventilator (HRV).  Hot water heater and cold water heater. …

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/dont-confuse-design-temperature-with-degree-days/feed/ 8 The Real Reason for HVAC Design — It’s Not Sizing https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/real-reason-hvac-design-its-not-sizing/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/real-reason-hvac-design-its-not-sizing/#view_comments Mon, 07 May 2018 16:13:46 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-real-reason-for-hvac-design-its-not-sizing Many people seem to think HVAC design means you get a load calculation (Manual J in the ACCA protocols) so you know what size system to put in. Hey, that’s a great start. It’s way better than just using a…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/real-reason-hvac-design-its-not-sizing/feed/ 19 The Contractor’s Fear of Third-Party HVAC Design https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/contractors-fear-third-party-hvac-design/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/contractors-fear-third-party-hvac-design/#view_comments Thu, 28 Sep 2017 17:57:59 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-contractors-fear-of-third-party-hvac-design What if a builder refused to build from plans drawn by an architect? What if a tile installer refused to implement designs handed to them and instead did their own thing? What if an HVAC contractor told a potential client…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/contractors-fear-third-party-hvac-design/feed/ 64 Duct Design 5 — Sizing the Ducts https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/duct-design-5-sizing-ducts/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/duct-design-5-sizing-ducts/#view_comments Fri, 09 Jun 2017 22:31:47 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=duct-design-5-sizing-the-ducts To this point in our little series on duct design, we’ve been calculating intermediate quantitites: available static pressure, total effective length, and friction rate. Today we use all that to find out how big the ducts need to be. We’re…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/duct-design-5-sizing-ducts/feed/ 42 Duct Design 4 — Calculating Friction Rate https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/duct-design-4-calculating-friction-rate/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/duct-design-4-calculating-friction-rate/#view_comments Thu, 01 Jun 2017 01:59:35 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=duct-design-4-calculating-friction-rate Today’s installment in the duct design series is a simple one. It’s just a straightforward calculation that gives us the design friction rate from the two quantities I discussed in my last two articles. In part 2, I told you…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/duct-design-4-calculating-friction-rate/feed/ 4 Duct Design 3 — Total Effective Length https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/duct-design-3-total-effective-length/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/duct-design-3-total-effective-length/#view_comments Tue, 30 May 2017 11:45:33 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=duct-design-3-total-effective-length Today we move another step down the road of duct design. I started the series with a look at the basic physics of air moving through ducts. The short version is that friction and turbulence in ducts results in pressure…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/duct-design-3-total-effective-length/feed/ 11 Grading an Attempt to Get Ducts Inside Conditioned Space https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/grading-an-attempt-to-get-ducts-inside-conditioned-space/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/grading-an-attempt-to-get-ducts-inside-conditioned-space/#view_comments Wed, 07 Sep 2016 04:00:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=grading-an-attempt-to-get-ducts-inside-conditioned-space There’s a ton of new construction and remodeling going on in Atlanta. On a lot near where I live, a developer tore down the old house and is building two new ones. This weekend, I took the opportunity to check…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/grading-an-attempt-to-get-ducts-inside-conditioned-space/feed/ 25 The Evolution of Passive House in North America https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-evolution-of-passive-house-in-north-america/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-evolution-of-passive-house-in-north-america/#view_comments Fri, 01 Jul 2016 04:00:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=the-evolution-of-passive-house-in-north-america In 2002, Katrin Klingenberg introduced the passivhaus program to North America when she built the Smith House in Urbana, Illinois. She had come to the US from Germany, where she studied architecture and got involved with passivhaus. But is this…

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]]> https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/the-evolution-of-passive-house-in-north-america/feed/ 7 Design Flaws That Can Rot Your House https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/design-flaws-that-can-rot-your-house/ https://www.energyvanguard.com/blog/design-flaws-that-can-rot-your-house/#view_comments Mon, 02 May 2016 04:00:00 +0000 http://energyvanguard.flywheelsites.com/?blog_post=design-flaws-that-can-rot-your-house Most of the moisture management problems I’ve written about here are ones that occur because of poor installation. When builders don’t integrate window flashing with the drainage plane, for example, water can find its way in and rot out the…

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