© Copyright 2003 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (www.ashrae.

org)
Reprinted by permission from ASHRAE Journal, May 2003. This article may not be copied nor distributed in either
paper or digital form without ASHRAE's permission.

By Wayne Morris, Associate Member ASHRAE a thermostat that matches the sensible-
cooling capacity of the coil with the sen-
o curb the initial cost of a building’s mechanical systems, designers
T
sible-cooling load in the space.
have expended much time and effort to use a single HVAC unit to Equipment cooling capacity, both sen-
sible and latent, decreases as the space
handle ventilation as well as mechanical cooling. High-occupancy spaces, sensible-cooling load drops. In most cli-
such as classrooms, pose a particular challenge. This article explores the mates, the combination of less latent-
cooling capacity and a lower space SHR
benefits of “splitting” the cooling load, that is, using a dedicated outdoor-
elevates the relative humidity in the
air unit to treat high latent-cooling load of outdoor air and zone-mounted space at part-load conditions.
terminal units to treat high sensible-cooling load of indoor air. Treating An “off-the-shelf,” packaged unitary air
conditioner may further aggravate this
outdoor air separately makes it easy to verify sufficient ventilation airflow
situation. Such equipment is designed to
and enforces the maximum limit for relative humidity in occupied zones. operate with a supply-airflow-to-cooling-
capacity ratio of 350 to 400 cfm/ton (47
This article also explores techniques tent-cooling loads on the cooling equip- to 54 L/s per kW). In hot, humid climates,
to minimize inefficient reheating and ment do not peak at the same time. When offsetting the ventilation load for high-
recooling of the outdoor air while sim- it’s hot outside, sensible-cooling load can occupancy spaces may require that the
plifying the system and maximizing ther- exceed latent-cooling load. By contrast, unit deliver no more than 200 to 250 cfm/
mal comfort. when it’s cool and rainy outside, latent- ton (27 to 34 L/s per kW) to achieve the
cooling load can approach or even ex- dew point of 45°F to 50°F (7°C to 10°C)
Defining the Challenge ceed sensible cooling load. needed for adequate dehumidification.
Why is it so difficult to provide ad- Constant-volume, mixed-air HVAC
equate dehumidification with a constant- units traditionally are selected with suf- About the Author
volume, mixed-air system? The answer ficient cooling capacity to handle the Wayne Morris is an applications engineer for
lies in the fact that the sensible- and la- dry-bulb design load and controlled by Trane, Global Unitary Systems, in Macon, Ga.

24 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org May 2003

 ‘The right
combination of
cooling
capacity and
supply airflow
may not exist
in packaged air
conditioners....’
Selecting a packaged unitary air conditioner with enough DOAS’s can be designed to deliver conditioned outdoor air
cooling capacity (tonnage) to meet the high ventilation load either directly to each occupied space or to the individual ter-
results in “excess” supply airflow, that is, more supply airflow minal units or air handlers serving those spaces. The advantages
than would otherwise be needed to meet the sensible-cooling and disadvantages of each configuration must be considered.
load in the space. To avoid overcooling the space, the air con-
ditioner must deliver the supply air at a warmer dry-bulb tem- Delivering Outdoor Air Directly to the Space
perature. Unfortunately, this reduces the dehumidification The DOAS in Figure 1 consists of unit ventilators and a dedi-
capacity of the coil and raises the relative humidity in the cated outdoor-air unit, which delivers conditioned outdoor air
space, especially at part load. The right combination of cool- to each occupied space via separate ductwork and diffusers.
ing capacity and supply airflow (large compressors, small fan) This configuration accommodates horizontal and vertical dis-
simply may not exist in packaged air conditioners with charge arrangements as well as a wide variety of equipment,
prematched refrigeration and air-handling components. including water-source heat pumps, vertical or horizontal fan–
coils, constant-volume DX rooftop units, split systems, blower–
Dedicated Treatment of Outdoor Air coils and through-the-wall air conditioners (PTACs).
One way to overcome the challenges imposed by a constant- Advantages:
volume system is to design it as a dedicated outdoor-air sys- • Providing a separate path for ventilation airflow makes it
tem (DOAS). This approach allows each component of the HVAC easier to measure the amount of outdoor air brought into the
system to do what it does best. Zone-level heating and cooling building and ensure it reaches children in occupied zones.
equipment provides occupants with air circulation and ther- • Dedicated ventilation diffusers allow easy airflow mea-
mal comfort by modulating cooling-coil capacity to match surement and balancing during system installation.
the sensible-cooling load in the space. Any latent cooling that • Separately conditioning the outdoor air avoids imposing
occurs locally is coincidental; latent load does not affect the ventilation loads on the local HVAC units, circumventing the
selection of the zone-level equipment. Meanwhile, a central, airflow/ton challenge of providing adequate dehumidification
dedicated outdoor-air unit sufficiently dehumidifies and tem- capacity without overcooling the space.
pers the outdoor air to meet both the latent-cooling load and Disadvantages:
the ventilation requirements for all the spaces in the system. • Providing the extra ductwork and diffusers needed for par-

May 2003 ASHRAE Journal 25

allel air paths (outdoor air and recirculated return air) can in- tional first cost for separate air paths.
crease the initial cost of the system. • Delivering ventilation air and recirculated return air to-
• Delivering conditioned outdoor air and recirculated air gether (rather than via separate paths) result in a slightly lower
through separate diffusers may not adequately mix the two air total air volume to the space, which may result in slightly less
streams within the space. fan-energy consumption than a direct-to-space DOAS design.
• Separate, parallel paths for ventilation air and recirculated • Ventilation air and recirculated return air mix thoroughly
return air increase the total system airflow to the space, which before entering the space through the supply-air diffusers, mak-
may slightly increase ing it easier to achieve
overall fan-energy con- uniform thermal com-
sumption. fort throughout the oc-
cupied space.
Delivering OA to Local Disadvantages:
Terminal Units • The local terminal
The DOAS in Figure unit must operate when-
2 also uses a dedicated ever the space requires
outdoor-air unit to ventilation. Control of
handle the ventilation the terminal units and
load. Ductwork carries dedicated outdoor unit
the conditioned out- Figure 1 (left): Conditioned OA delivered directly to the space. Figure 2 must be coordinated to
door air to each termi- (right): Conditioned OA delivered to local terminal units or air handlers. provide both adequate
nal unit (typically dehumidification dur-
blower-coils, horizontal fan-coils, or water-source heat pumps), ing unoccupied periods and a pre-occupancy purge cycle.
discharging it near or directly into the inlet. The conditioned • If the conditioned outdoor air is delivered near, rather than
outdoor air then mixes with recirculated return air and passes directly into, the terminal units, it may be necessary to bring
through the cooling coil of the terminal unit, which delivers more outdoor air into the building so that each space receives
the mixed air to the space. sufficient ventilation.
Advantages: • Balancing the ventilation airflow may be more difficult
• Using the same ductwork and diffusers to deliver ventila- because the mixing components are located in the ceiling rather
tion air and recirculated return air to the space avoids the addi- than in the space.

Practical Example: Selecting a Dedicated OA Unit

Let’s see how the procedure outlined in this article can Rm 3V = 15 cfm/p × 32 people = 480
oa
help to size a dedicated outdoor-air (OA) unit that provides Rm 4V = 15 cfm/p × 29 people = 435
oa
ventilation directly to four classrooms in a Jacksonville, Fla. SystemV
ot = ∑ (Voa) = 1,800 cfm
school:
1. Peak enthalpy condition (0.4% design wet-bulb condi- 5. Key humidity-ratio rise (calculated) in gr/lb, that is,
tion from ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals): ∆W = Ql / (0.69 × Voa):
Rm 1∆W= 5,250 / (0.69 × 435) = 17.5
Toa = 91°F DB, 79°F WB
Rm 2∆W= 5,465 / (0.69 × 450) = 17.6
2. Target space condition (designer’s choice): Rm 3∆W= 5,697 / (0.69 × 480) = 17.2
Tsp = 74°F DB (setpoint) Rm 4∆W= 5,250 / (0.69 × 435) = 17.5
RHsp = 60% (maximum limit)
6. Conditioned-air dew point (calculated):
∴ Wsp = 75.2 gr/lb
Wca = Wsp – ∆W
3. Space latent and sensible loads (from load calculations)
= 75.2 – 17.6 = 57.6 gr/lb
in Btu/h:
Rm 1Q = 5,250; Rm 1Q = 29,750 ∴Tca = 52°F DP
l s
Rm 2Q Rm 2Q 7. Conditioned-air dry bulb (designer’s choice):
l = 5,465; s = 26,775
Rm 3Q Rm 3Q Tca = 71°F DB (neutral), with reheat
l = 5,697; s = 26,927
or
Rm 4Q = 5,250; Rm 4Q = 28,262
l s Tca = 52°F DB (“cold”), no reheat
4. Outdoor airflow (based on ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62- Select the dedicated OA unit to deliver 1,800 cfm of venti-
2001) in cfm: lation air at a dew point of 52°F when the outdoor tempera-
Rm 1V = 15 cfm/p × 29 people = 435 tures are 91°F DB and 79°F WB. To deliver neutral-temperature
oa
Rm 2V = 15 cfm/p × 30 people = 450 air, include reheat to temper the ventilation air to 71°F DB.
oa

26 ASHRAE Journal ashrae.org May 2003

Designing a Dedicated Outdoor Air System
Local terminal units may perform latent cooling when the Practical Example: Effect
sensible-cooling load in the space is high. However, given the
uncertainty of the latent-cooling capacity available from the On Terminal-Unit Sizing
terminal unit at part-load conditions, it is prudent to size the If the dedicated outdoor-air (OA) unit handles the peak
outdoor air unit (OAU) to handle the entire latent (indoor and latent load for the four-classroom system in our Jackson-
outdoor) load on the system. This approach may result in spaces ville, Florida example, then the terminal units only need suf-
that are slightly drier than the design target, but it will ensure ficient capacity to satisfy the peak sensible load.
relative humidity does not exceed the maximum limit. Select the terminal units to deliver the required sensible
capacity (depending on whether the dedicated OA unit de-
Selecting the Outdoor Air Unit livers neutral or “cold” conditioned air, Tca) at the assumed
supply-air temperature and calculated supply airflow.
Required airflow, dew point, and dry-bulb temperature of the
conditioned outdoor air (CA) are key to selecting the dedicated Neutral CA “Cold” CA
OA unit. The inset,“Practical Example: Selecting a Dedicated Procedure (Tca = 71°F (Tca = 52°F
DB) DB)
OA Unit,” demonstrates the selection logic described later.
1. Target space condition, Tsp,
1. Determine the enthalpy-based design condition. The 74°F DB 74°F DB
(designer choice)
weather (entering-coil) condition with the highest enthalpy— 2. Sensible cooling provided by
that is, peak wet bulb and mean coincident dry bulb—gener- ventilation system (calculated), that is,
Qca = 1.085 × Voa × (Tsp – Tca):
ally sets the peak cooling capacity required from the dedicated
OA unit. The ASHRAE Handbook—Fundamentals provides cli- Rm 1Q = 1.085 × 435 × (74 – Tca) =
ca 1,416 Btu/h 10,383 Btu/h
Rm 2Q
matic design data for various geographical locations. = 1.085 × 450 × (74 – Tca) =
ca 1,465 Btu/h 10,742 Btu/h
Rm 3Q = 1.085 × 480 × (74 – T ) = 1,562 Btu/h 11,458 Btu/h
2. Choose the target condition for the occupied space. Most ca ca
Rm 4Q = 1.085 × 435 × (74 – T ) =
ca ca 1,416 Btu/h 10,383 Btu/h
designers choose a dry-bulb temperature of 72°F to 76°F (22°C
to 24°C) as the setpoint. To discourage microbial growth, 3. Sensible cooling load provided by
ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62–2001, Ventilation for Acceptable terminal unit (calculated), that is,
Qtu = Qs – Qca:
Indoor Air Quality, recommends a relative humidity of 60% or
less during cooling. Therefore, select the dedicated OA unit to Rm 1Q =
tu 29,750 – Rm 1Qca = 28,334 Btu/h 19,367 Btu/h
Rm 2Q = 26,775 – Rm 2Qca =
limit the relative humidity in all spaces to no more than 60%. tu 25,310 Btu/h 16,033 Btu/h
Rm 3Q = 26,927 – Rm 3Qca = 25,365 Btu/h 15,469 Btu/h
Designing a dedicated ventilation system that limits the tu
Rm 4Q =
tu 28,262 – Rm 4Qca = 26,846 Btu/h 17,879 Btu/h
space relative humidity to a lower value (50%, for example)
requires larger equipment and increases energy consumption. 4. Supply airflow from terminal unit
3. Determine the latent load for each space. Latent loads in (given supply air temperature), that is,
Vtu = Qtu/[1.085 × (Tsp – Tsa)]
spaces, which are usually unaffected by weather conditions,
can be calculated with the help of load-design software. Rm 1V = Qtu1 /[1.085 × (74 – 55)] = 1,374 cfm 939 cfm
sa
Rm 2V
4. Calculate the system-level outdoor airflow by finding sa = Qtu2 /[1.085 × (74 – 55)] = 1,228 cfm 778 cfm
Rm 3V = Qtu3 /[1.085 × (74 – 55)] = 1,230 cfm 750 cfm
and summing the minimum ventilation-airflow values of the Rm 4V
sa
sa = Qtu4 /[1.085 × (74 – 55)] = 1,302 cfm 867 cfm
occupied spaces. Minimum ventilation requirements are set
by local codes or by ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62-2001.
5. Determine the largest rise among the space humidity
ratios. Constant-volume terminal units without dehumidifi- space. When the “latent-critical” space is at the relative hu-
cation enhancements may not remove enough moisture at a midity limit, all other spaces are drier.
partial sensible load. By providing conditioned air that is drier Note: Designs that deliver conditioned air at a humidity
than the air in each space, the dedicated OA unit can offset the ratio or dew-point temperature that equals the space target
local latent loads and maintain the relative humidity at or cannot handle local latent loads. These designs may result in a
below the 60% maximum limit. smaller dedicated OA unit, but they require larger terminal
Note: The space with the highest latent load may not be the units and usually result in a higher relative humidity.
space with the largest humidity-ratio increase. 7. Choose the required dry-bulb temperature of the condi-
6. Calculate the required humidity ratio and correspond- tioned air. If the system design requires neutral-temperature
ing dew point for the conditioned air delivered by the dedi- conditioned air (that is, conditioned air that approximates the
cated OA unit. To do so, subtract the largest humidity-ratio rise target for the space), pick a dry-bulb value of 70°F to 75°F
from the target humidity ratio for the spaces. (21°C to 24°C).
The dedicated ventilation system in Figure 1 removes the If the design requires “cold” ventilation air, use a dry-bulb
entire outdoor load and the latent load generated within each temperature that is about equal to the required dew point.
May 2003 ASHRAE Journal 27
Selecting the Terminal Units
Terminal system from the peak sensible load (at the
How you select the dedicated OA unit peak dry-bulb temperature), which was cal-
can significantly affect the required cool- culated for each occupied space with the
ing capacity (supply airflow and dry- help of load-design software.
bulb temperature) for each terminal unit. 4. Find the required supply airflow for
The inset titled “Practical Example: Ef- each terminal unit, given an arbitrary
fect on Terminal-Unit Sizing” demon- supply-air temperature and the sensible
strates the following selection logic. cooling load that the terminal unit must
Note: This example reflects OA delivered satisfy. Unit placement and geometry in-
directly to the space. fluence the selection of a target supply-
1. Determine the entering air tem- air temperature, as does the design of the
perature. In this example, the terminal dedicated ventilation system. Delivering
units “see” only recirculated return air, “cold” conditioned air reduces the re-
which has a temperature equaling the quired terminal-unit airflow (and permits
space target. smaller terminal-unit cabinets) than a sys-
2. Calculate the sensible cooling pro- tem that delivers neutral-temperature con-
vided by the ventilation system. “Cold” ditioned air.
conditioned air provides more sensible Figure 3 offers a psychrometric sum-
cooling than neutral conditioned air, mary of the equipment-selection con-
which is slightly cooler than the space ditions.
target.
3. Determine the sensible cooling load Ways to Improve Efficiency
for each terminal unit. Subtract the sen- Various options such as energy re-
sible cooling provided by the ventilation covery can improve operating eff i- Figure 3: DOAS selection summary.

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28 ASHRAE Journal May 2003

ciency. If the dedicated outdoor air unit delivers neutral- and cooling towers. Implementation requires a return-air path to
temperature air, recovered or transferred energy can provide the dedicated OA unit and a humidity sensor in the critical space.
tempering (reheat). Such designs can recover heat from the
refrigeration circuit in a direct-expansion (DX) unit or from Key Concepts
an airstream, usually by arranging an air-to-air heat exchanger • Always provide conditioned air that is drier than the
in series with the cooling coil. space. This practice minimizes the required terminal-unit ca-
Using a total-energy wheel (or any other air-to-air heat ex- pacity and adequately controls the indoor relative humidity
changer) to precondition the entering outdoor air reduces both without additional dehumidification enhancements in the ter-
cooling and heating loads. Smaller loads not only enable you minal units.
to downsize the dedicated OA unit, but can also reduce operat- • Deliver “cold” conditioned air whenever possible. “Neu-
ing cost. To take advantage of this benefit, however, most of tral” conditioned air increases the capacity needed from the
the building exhaust must be routed back to the air handler. terminal units and requires reheat at the dedicated OA unit.
Setpoint reset can improve system efficiency, too. Raising • Select equipment to limit the relative humidity to 60%.
the humidity ratio (dew point) of the conditioned air while Targeting a drier-than-necessary condition in the space requires
limiting the humidity in the critical space avoids “over- larger equipment and consumes more energy.
drying” and lowers the operating cost of the dedicated OA The design approach outlined in this article greatly simpli-
unit. Similarly, raising the conditioned-air dry-bulb tempera- fies the task of creating a comfortable, well-ventilated indoor
ture while avoiding heating in all spaces can reduce the cost of environment using constant-volume, mixed-air systems. It as-
operating the terminal units if the dedicated OA unit uses re- signs a dedicated outdoor unit to treat the ventilation air and
covered energy for reheat. It also delays cooling-to-heating to manage the latent-cooling load for the building. The sen-
changeover in two-pipe systems. sible-cooling load in the space is addressed independently by
To effectively control relative humidity, unoccupied dehu- local terminal units. Dividing the building’s total cooling load
midification may be necessary. A dedicated OA unit with DX in this fashion makes it easier to effectively ventilate and de-
cooling can provide this function without operating chillers humidify high-occupancy spaces such as classrooms.

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May 2003 ASHRAE Journal 29