Visit the Energy Systems Laboratory Homepage.
The Application and Energy Savings Potential of Occupancy Counters/Transmitters in Office Buildings
Abstract
In conventional office building
design, fresh air requirements are
estimated for full occupancy in the
building. Typically, fresh air requirements
range from 5 to 15 cubic feet per minute
per person expected to occupy the building.
While the design total amount of fresh air
used is satisfactory for full occupancy of
the building, there are many instances less
than the design occupancy. Thus, there may
be many instances in a commercial building
where more fresh air is used than is
actually required because the occupancy is
below the design occupancy.
In hot and humid climates, such as the
Gulf Southwest, a considerable portion of
the cooling energy in a commercial building
is expended cooling and dehumidifying the
air needed to maintain fresh air
requirements. If the total amount of fresh
air could be reduced to just match that
needed by the number of occupants in a
building, it would be possible to reduce
the energy use for cooling.
This paper summarizes the design and
use of an occupancy counter/transmitter
that can be used to count the number of
people entering/leaving a building and make
adjustments in the amount of fresh air used
in the building. Sample economics of the
system, including initial costs and savings
are also provided.
Citation
Medlin, J. W. (1987). The Application and Energy Savings Potential of Occupancy Counters/Transmitters in Office Buildings. Energy Systems Laboratory (http://esl.tamu.edu); Texas A&M University (http://www.tamu.edu). Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /6500.