Comprehensive study to evaluate HVAC systems and envelope performances

In this paper, we describe a comprehensive experimental study conducted by undergraduate students on a number of residential houses to improve the energy efficiency of these houses and identify the most appropriate energy conservation measures. We describe the work performed by students starting from the building instrumentation, the measurement and the monitoring of the energy consumption of the building systems, as well as the use of advanced energy simulation programs such as, Visual-DOE, eQuest and EnergyPlus for energy prediction purposes. In this paper, the results of a number of experimental studies, such as duct blaster testing, blower door testing and infrared thermography has been demonstrated. Also, we show how these techniques have been used to improve the students' understanding of different concepts and techniques, such as pressurization, pressure and airflow measurements, duct leakages and building tightness, temperature and humidity distribution within building envelop and HVAC systems. We discuss the capstone design program from students' point of view, and the experience earned in design, experimentation, and also in written and oral communication skills. Future plans to evaluate the effectiveness of this capstone in term of learning outcomes © 2011 American Society for Engineering Education.