Outdated internal equipment heat gain data can result in oversized systems and higher operating costs. Complicating the issue: it’s one of the most difficult areas for engineers to define.
The 2013 ASHRAE Handbook – Fundamentals includes major updates to its cooling and heating load calculations, including new internal heat gain data and recommendations.
“Older assumptions based on out-of-date computer, copier and printer heat gains can result in significantly oversized HVAC systems resulting in higher first cost and operating cost,” Steven Bruning, Handbook subcommittee chair of Technical Committee 4.1, Load Calculation Data and Procedures, notes. “The new data in the Handbook chapter reflect ongoing ASHRAE Research results.”
The chapter also includes an entirely new master example section based on the renovated ASHRAE Headquarters building. The updated example reflects current practice in energy efficient building construction, lighting loads and updated Standard 90.1, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, compliance, as opposed to the previous example, which reflected 1990s practice.
Additionally, the climatic design content of 2013 Fundamentals has been expanded to include data from nearly 900 more worldwide reporting stations than the 2009 volume—a 16 percent increase. Chapter 14, Climatic Design Information, now contains temperature and humidity design conditions and related information for 6,443 locations in the U.S., Canada and other countries around the world. The increase in the number of weather station’s data is as a result of ASHRAE Research Project 1613.
“The increased number of stations, particularly noticeable in North and Central America (+26 percent), results in a better geographical coverage and enables designers to find a station closer to the location for which a building is designed,” says Didier Thevenard, chair of Technical Committee 4.2, Climatic Information.
