Energy Star Reports
The Energy Star design report is built on top of ASHRAE 62.2 and ANSI/ACCA QI protocol andManual J, S and D. It focuses on and clarifies five areas of HVAC
Design Temperature: Energy Star uses weather data or ASHRAE data for every county in the United States to set upper and lower level limits for heating and cooling design temperature. This ensures the designer is not overstating design temperature. This is a key component to proper equipment sizing.
Equipment Sizing: The recommended equipment sizing approach is strict compliance with Manual S. Energy Star allows slightly higher tolerances for the next nominal size. The is done by combining Manual S definitions for heating or cooling climate conditions with single speed and variable speed equipment types. Clear limits are provided and must be within the allowable range.
Group Design Policies: In a perfect world, every home would have a custom HVAC system designed for it. Productions homes are frequently similar to each other so we have to determine whether or not we design a custom system for each home even though the plan similar or the same. Energy Star criteria for using the same design is specific in five areas.
Occupancy plus or minus 2 people
Maximum range of conditioned floor area of 300 square feet
Maximum range of window area of 60 square feet
Maximum range of predominant SHGC of .1
Load variation across orientations of ½ ton.
Whole House Ventilation: Energy Start utilizes ASHRAE 62.2 for whole house ventilation considering both the 2010 and 2013 standards. There are inputs for ventilation airflow rate, cycle time, control location, whether the system is balanced, supply, or exhaust only and other key elements. Efficiency and inlet types are also included.
Duct Design: Design system airflow, fans speed settings and static pressure are all determined and listed on the report to simplify the commissioning process. Room to room airflows are listed on the report for balancing purposes.