<html><head><style type="text/css"><!-- DIV {margin:0px;} --></style></head><body><div style="font-family:times new roman,new york,times,serif;font-size:10pt">Jeff:<br><br>I've seen some of the other e-mails from the forum and I do not agree with the terminology other people are using, i.e. space v. zone v. thermal block. Some of these replies are exceedingly long and contradictory.<br><br>Let's leave 'thermal block' out of the discussion. Take one floor of an office building. The baseline would usually require one HVAC unit for this floor per 90.1. I would create zones in the wizard for each large office space, the restroom, the utility rooms, the corridor and elevator lobby. I would use the same procedure that you used below to add these zones to the HVAC system. Having the separate zones allows you to adjust the airflow and temperatures to the individual zones and also to find out where unmet hours might be
occurring.<br><br>As an example of my understanding of a thermal block, say the office building has 8 floors and each elevator lobby is supplied by the same common HVAC system. I would zone each lobby as described above and add them to the elevator lobby HVAC system. This is a thermal block because it is a collection of spaces that share the same system and space characteristics.<br><br>Paul Diglio<br><br><div><br></div><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 10pt;"><br><div style="font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;"><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><hr size="1"><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">From:</span></b> Jeff Ross-Bain <jeff@rbgb.com><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Paul Diglio <paul.diglio@sbcglobal.net><br><b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Wed, May 4, 2011 9:39:19 AM<br><b><span style="font-weight:
bold;">Subject:</span></b> RE: [Equest-users] Thermal Blocks<br></font><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Hi Paul,</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">So you establish individual zones in the building footprint
window (2) and discriminate between corridors, classrooms… but what about
all the little closets, odd offices here and there, rest rooms, mechanical
rooms, meeting rooms, etc.? It seems that the zoning patterns would then become
a nightmare. In your Zone Group Definitions window (14) you would then assign the
same system to each of those zones? Here is a screen shot of a zoning pattern.
I have used this approach for years:</span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: bold;">From:</span></font></b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;"> Paul Diglio
[mailto:paul.diglio@sbcglobal.net] <br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Wednesday, May 04, 2011 9:21
AM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> Jeff Ross-Bain; equest-users<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> Re: [Equest-users]
Thermal Blocks</span></font><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">Jeff:<br>
<br>
ASHRAE 90.1 allow spaces of similar thermal characteristics to be combined in
thermal blocks. I do not include what you call support spaces because the
load and occupancy is much different than, say a classroom. I would
define the corridor as a separate zone within the thermal block but served by
the same HVAC system. This allows you to have a different set-point,
airflow, occupancy and schedules for the corridor.<br>
<br>
You do not have to define a separate shell for each block, you can define the
block by custom zones in the wizard.<br>
<br>
I divide up a thermal block into as many reasonable zones as possible.
This allows me to find out which area of the thermal block is causing any unmet
heating or cooling hours. It also allows me to change the HVAC system
control zone to that zone which is the hardest to satisfy in the summer and winter.
These zones can be served by a single HVAC system.<br>
<br>
For a proposed model that needs to conform to an actual design, defining
multiple zones per thermal block allows you to balance the airflow to zones
that have unmet hours without increasing the overall airflow of the HVAC
system. I define the zonal airflow in the Zone tab. I reduce the
airflow to the zones without any unmet hours and increase the airflow to those
zones that have unmet hours. I do not define the total fan CFM in the
Airside Systems tab.<br>
<br>
What were the comments from the LEED reviewer?<br>
<br>
Paul Diglio</span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;"><b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma; font-weight: bold;">From:</span></font></b><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Tahoma;"> Jeff
Ross-Bain <jeff@rbgb.com><br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">To:</span></b> equest-users
<equest-users@lists.onebuilding.org><br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sent:</span></b> Wed, May 4, 2011 9:05:15 AM<br>
<b><span style="font-weight: bold;">Subject:</span></b> [Equest-users] Thermal
Blocks</span></font><font face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Hi All,</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Are there any additional discussions out there regarding
thermal blocks besides what is in ASHRAE Standard 90.1 and the User’s
Guide? I have received comments back from a LEED reviewer that seems to reflect
an interpretation of that concept which I have not seen before.</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">In a nutshell, does each thermal block require a separate
shell with individual HVAC system? I understand the concept of having
individual thermal blocks or combining these if they are similar space use
categories. I am assuming then that the similar space use categories (say a
college classroom building) can also include support spaces such as corridors,
storage spaces, faculty offices, etc. </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">So if several thermal blocks are combined into one, can they
not be served by a single, similar type of HVAC system?</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">I hope that I have made myself clear and many thanks for
your thoughts and comments.</span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;"> </span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span style="font-size: 10pt; color: navy;">Regards,</span></font></p>
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