The Impact of CO2-Based Demand-Controlled Ventilation on Energy Consumptions for Air Source Heat Pumps in Schools

Abstract

There have been increasingly growing concerns for many years over the quality of the air inside buildings and the associated energy use. The CO2-based demand-controlled ventilation DCV offers a great opportunity to reduce energy consumption in HVAC systems while maintaining the ventilation requirements. Thus, the paper discusses the applications of CO2-based demand-controlled ventilation DCV strategy for air source heat pumps in schools, investigates its impact on the annual energy consumption, and determines the potential savings achieved in different USA locations. The study includes detailed energy analysis on an existing middle school through whole building simulation energy software. The simulation model is first calibrated and checked for accuracy using the actual monthly utility data. This model is then used for saving calculations resulted from CO2-Based DCV and with various occupancy profiles and locations. The results show a significant saving could be obtained as compared to the actual operating strategy implemented in the existing system and this saving depends mainly on the actual occupancy profile and building locations.