UWE Bristol Engineering showcase 2015

Nathan Kohle
BENG Mechanical Engineering
Project Supervisor
Dr. Rohitha Weerasinghe
“The Suitability of cooling R Block Lecture Theatre
with an Underfloor Air Distribution (UFAD) System”
Figure 1- Building Simulation Model
• After modelling the building, the cooling
load was found for the Lecture Theatre
when it was occupied by a given number of
people. This will be carried out by running a
simulation within the ‘Apache’ model of IES.
• After obtaining a value for the Lecture
Theatre Cooling Load, a value for the UFAD
system cooling load (See Figure 2) was
found. This was carried out by running a
simulation in ‘Apache’ that has been linked
with ‘ApacheHVAC’; the module where the
UFAD system is modelled.
The first phase of the ‘practical’ side of the
project was to model the building within
IES-VE (See Figure 1). This is simulation
software used to model the energy behavior
of buildings.
Figure 2- Schematic of UFAD System
Project summary
The aim of this investigation is to see if an
Under Floor Air Distribution (UFAD) system
could be utilised for cooling the R Block
Lecture Theatre. This will be discovered by
utilising building simulation software,
Integrated Environmental Solutions -Virtual
Environment (IESVE), to model and carry out
simulations of the room’s energy
consumption.
Project Objectives
• Develop a base knowledge of: the project
background, HVAC systems and how UFAD
systems function
• Understanding of various modules of IES-
VE software was required
• Simulations calculating the cooling load of
the Lecture Theatre were completed
• A simulation was carried out to confirm
the maximum cooling load of a UFAD
system and whether it would be fit for use
on the Lecture Theatre
Project Conclusion
• The peak cooling load of the Lecture
Theatre was 14.170 kW
• The maximum cooling load of the UFAD
• system is 16.23 kW
• These figures stated prove that a UFAD
system WILL work if installed in the
Lecture Theatre