HVAC System Selection

New York City, the Big Apple, with its five boroughs has a population of 8,008,278 and is a city with the most recognized skyline and some of the most expensive real estate in the world. With its diverse neighborhoods, pulsing with life both day and night, from Chinatown to Little Italy up to the Bronx, it is the city that never sleeps. The City, as the locals call it, is comprised of 5 boroughs; Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Manhattan and the Bronx.

Manhattan Night Skyline - West Side

325 Spring St.

The building at 325 Spring St. is located in the West Village in the borough of Manhattan.

The client, ImClone, has leased the building, constructed in the 1940’s in order to renovate the existing space into laboratory and office space. The building is owned by the United Parcel Service (UPS) and the southern portion of the building has been leased by ImClone. The existing facility resides on a four city-block site stretching approximately 1,000 feet from south to north, spanning between Spring St. to the south and West Houston St. to the north. The approximately 160 foot west to east span of the building occurs between Washington St. and Greenwich St.

The adjacent neighborhood, although historic in locations, has been growing in recent years, with a focus on residential and small commercial buildings. A revitalization of the area is taking place, which should ensure the facility will be surrounded by a vibrant, viable neighborhood.

The majority of the exterior walls at grade level (first floor) consist of overhead doors for UPS truck access and will remain in use by UPS. ImClone will occupy a portion of the first floor and all of the second, third and fourth floors with office and laboratory space. The penthouse level is being reserved for the mechanical and electrical equipment.

Existing building site in relation to city grid

Each ASHRAE student team should select the best building HVAC system to serve the laboratory and office spaces at 325 Spring St. For the purposes of the ASHRAE Student Design Competition, each team should assume that the HVAC, including the truck garage exhaust and make-up air systems serving the UPS space is existing and does not impact ImClone's space.

Exhibits

HVAC System Design section
Refer to HVAC System Design section for design assumptions to be used for both the System Selection and System Design.

Exhibit 1A-LEED Green Building Rating System Version 2.2
Refer to Exhibit 1A-LEED Green Building Rating System Version 2.2 for the office portions of the building: https://www.usgbc.org/ShowFile.aspx?DocumentID=1095

Exhibit 1B-EPA LABS 21 Version 2.1
Refer to Exhibit 1B-EPA LABS 21 Version 2.1 for the laboratory portions of the project: http://www.labs21century.gov/toolkit/index.htm

Exhibit 2
Refer to Exhibit 2 for the HVAC System Selection Reference

Exhibit 3, 4 and 5
Refer to Exhibit 3, 4 and 5 for the ASHRAE Standards 62, 55 and 90.1

Exhibit 6
CAD Drawings for Exhibit 6 in .dwg format
CAD Drawings for Exhibit 6 in .pdf format
Refer to Exhibit 6 for the reference architectural drawings for the Phase I renovation of 325 Spring St. ASHRAE will provide the design team the floor plans for the new Phase I building showing the intent of the architectural design and floor areas necessary for computing heating and cooling load calculations. Use the provided program descriptions for Phase II to provide modular planning in Phase I to the greatest extent practicable.

Exhibit 7
Refer to  Exhibit 7 for Basis of Design Information.

The building envelope thermal characteristics should be calculated by the design teams based on available information provided

The HVAC System Selection Criteria is the following:

• Performance Requirements
  • Yes/no
  • Must be able to meet design criteria:
    • Comfort: Temperature/Humidity – ASHRAE Std 55
    • Makeup/Ventilation – Provide makeup air to offset lab exhaust, provide pressurization, ventilation for occupants per ASHRAE Std 62
    • Energy Consumption – 20% or less than ASHRAE Std 90.1
    • Noise – NC 35 Office Space, NC 45 Lobby/Corridors, NC 45 Labs, NC 50 Labs w/Fume Hoods
• Capacity requirements
  • Yes/no
  • Must be able to meet peak gain/loss
    • Indoor design conditions
    • Outdoor design conditions
    • Internal heat gains
• Spatial Requirements
  • Yes/no
  • Must fit in available space
    • Mechanical rooms
    • Shaft space
    • Height above ceiling
    • Floor space
    • Building height limits
    • Maintenance access
• First Cost (30% weight)
  • Relative
  • Spend all that is necessary, but not more
  • Trade-offs with other criteria
  • Very owner or project variable
• Operating Cost (20% weight)
  • Relative
  • Trade-offs, especially with first cost
  • Not just energy
    • Water and sewer
    • Water treatment
    • Labor – operating and maintenance
    • Life cycle – discount rates, interest rates, replacement costs
  • Load profile dependent
• Reliability (15% weight)
  • Relative
  • Very project dependent
    • Value/cost of downtime
    • Mean time between failure vs. mean time to repair
  • Life Safety
  • Effect of failure on building’s operation
• Flexibility (15% weight)
  • Relative
  • Likelihood of future changes
  • Frequency of future changes
• Maintainability (10% weight)
  • Relative
  • Skill level required
  • Location of maintenance activity
  • Preventive maintenance
  • Breakdown repair
• Sustainability (10% weight)
  • ASHRAE’s GreenGuide – David Grumman
  • US Green Building Counsel Rating System

The student team will look at each of the nine broad categories of criteria to be considered in comparing HVAC systems. The first three categories of requirements are gates – yes or no questions. The system must meet the performance requirements, must provide the required capacity, and must fit in the space available.

The next six criteria are comparisons. Some systems cost more to install; some cost more to run, some less; and so on. Each criterion will have a different weight or importance. The goal the HVAC system selection process is to identify and evaluate how well each potential system meets the overall weighted criteria for the project.

The final HVAC System Selection for the building shall address the following major design goals:

• Low 20 year Life Cycle Cost
• Low Environmental Impact
• Comfort and Health
• Creative High Performance Green Design
• Synergy with architecture

Criteria and goals are not the same thing. Criteria are different aspects of what the system does. They measure system performance. Goals are why the owner is laying out all that money to install the system. Goals tell us how important each of the criteria is relative to the other criteria.