ASHRAE HVAC&R Student Competition
Winners & Finalists

2022 Winners

Brett Stinson

Winner

Determining Airflows and VOC Source Strengths for an Occupied School
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Paper Abstract: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a group of air pollutants that can adversely impact human health, engage in chemistry indoors, and meaningfully degrade indoor and outdoor urban air quality. While there exists extensive research on VOC emission rates from indoor sources, fewer studies exist characterizing the magnitudes and type of emissions from humans and human activity. As buildings are constructed to be more airtight, and the materials used are chosen to reduce VOC emissions, it follows that human contributions are poised to become increasingly important indoor sources of VOCs. With data extracted from a three-month campaign conducted at Harriet Tubman Middle School in Portland, Oregon—an institution built near a busy roadway—this study modeled airflows through the school and quantified source strengths for VOCs over the course of one week in May 2019. We developed an approach to estimate outdoor air ventilation rates, occupant density, and supply air flow rates through the school by analyzing the decay, steady-state, and accumulation periods of CO2 measured in return and supply air. Emission rates for seven compounds with expected sources from human metabolism and activity were calculated, as were source strengths for BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, xylenes, and ethylbenzene), which are typically associated with traffic-related air pollution (TRAP). Calculated per-person emission rates for VOCs that are associated with human activity or metabolism, e.g., monoterpenes and isoprene, were generally consistent with the few prior estimates in the literature and indicate humans and their activities are an important indoor source of reactive VOCs. Source strengths for BTEX compounds revealed that the majority of their presence was due to supply air, which was expected considering the elevated levels of outdoor TRAP constituents in the near-roadway building. This study provides new data concerning VOC source strengths of indoor and outdoor origin and can enable the modeling of air pollution exposures in schools.

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Hugo Lam

Finalist

Big Data AI For Smart Energy Efficient Buildings

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Paper Abstract: Buildings consume a large amount of energy during their lifecycle. Modern building automation systems (BASs) could provide a substantial amount of data on actual building operation. Data mining (DM) is a promising approach that could be more efficient in handling large-size and high dimensional data and discovering hidden knowledge in the large datasets. This research has adopted a clustering algorithm to analyze the data retrieved from a university building in Hong Kong for identifying energy usage patterns and improving the energy performance of campus buildings.

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Rajith Narasimhamurthy
Finalist

Diagnosing and Remote Sealing of Leakage in Low Pressure Sections of Natural Gas Distribution Networks
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Paper Abstract: Residential natural gas is estimated as responsible for almost 15% of California’s total methane (CH4) emissions from natural gas. It is not known what fraction of these emissions is due to fugitive leaks in the low-pressure portions of the natural gas distribution network. This research aimed to diagnose and potentially seal leakage in the low-pressure portions of natural gas distribution networks by using aerosols. This included developing and testing protocols for measuring leakage downstream of the meter in houses and commercial buildings, applying those protocols in 10 different locations, designing a system to seal leaks in those systems remotely, and applying the sealing process in a make-shift pipe network. Only 2 out of the 10 locations tested were above the leakage detection limit in unsealed networks; the variation in gas temperature posed a challenge to diagnosing the leakage rates. The aerosol process employed for remote sealing appeared to be capable of sealing leaks in natural gas distribution pipes but will require more refinement to address the extremely low leakage levels observed in this study.

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Indra Permana
Finalist

Performance Investigation of a Novel Positive and Negative Pressurized Operating Room for Infection Control Measurement
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Paper Abstract: The operating room is generally categorized as a positive pressurized bio-cleanroom that ensures a critical environment for thermal comfort and infection control concerns. However, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak necessitates the construction of a negative pressurized operating room specific for contagious patients. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system has been conducted to meet the dual function of the positive and negative pressurized operating room. Filtration, pressurization, and dilution are implemented in the HVAC system for this operating room. HEPA filters are used for filtration, while pressurization for positive and negative pressurized control and air change rate per hour for (ACH) dilution is implemented through the separated HVAC systems control schemes. The pressurization is maintained at 16 Pa for positive pressurized and -8 Pa for negative pressurized. Field measurements also have been conducted comprehensively to validate the simulation results. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation was conducted to simulate and compare the air distribution between the positive and negative pressurized operating room and its ability to remove the airborne contaminants. Air curtains around the HEPA filters coverage are applied to investigate airflow distribution and contamination control performance improvement. The results reveal that the positive and negative pressurized operating room presents a satisfactory strategy in minimizing the possibility of airborne infection, especially for contagious patients. Ventilation efficiency could increase around 10% by applying the air curtain strategy with a velocity of 0.5 m/s on the positive and negative pressurized operating room.

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2021 Winners

Rohit Upadhyay

Winner

Performance Evaluation of Active Chilled
Beam in Real Office Conditions in
a High-Performance Building in Heating

Paper Abstract: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a group of air pollutants that can adversely impact human health, engage in chemistry indoors, and meaningfully degrade indoor and outdoor urban air quality. While there exists extensive research on VOC emission rates from indoor sources, fewer studies exist characterizing the magnitudes and type of emissions from humans and human activity. As buildings are constructed to be more airtight, and the materials used are chosen to reduce VOC emissions, it follows that human contributions are poised to become increasingly important indoor sources of VOCs. With data extracted from a three-month campaign conducted at Harriet Tubman Middle School in Portland, Oregon—an institution built near a busy roadway—this study modeled airflows through the school and quantified source strengths for VOCs over the course of one week in May 2019. We developed an approach to estimate outdoor air ventilation rates, occupant density, and supply air flow rates through the school by analyzing the decay, steady-state, and accumulation periods of CO2 measured in return and supply air. Emission rates for seven compounds with expected sources from human metabolism and activity were calculated, as were source strengths for BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, xylenes, and ethylbenzene), which are typically associated with traffic-related air pollution (TRAP). Calculated per-person emission rates for VOCs that are associated with human activity or metabolism, e.g., monoterpenes and isoprene, were generally consistent with the few prior estimates in the literature and indicate humans and their activities are an important indoor source of reactive VOCs. Source strengths for BTEX compounds revealed that the majority of their presence was due to supply air, which was expected considering the elevated levels of outdoor TRAP constituents in the near-roadway building. This study provides new data concerning VOC source strengths of indoor and outdoor origin and can enable the modeling of air pollution exposures in schools.

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2020 Winners

Joshua Vasudevan

Winner

Predicting Thermal Comfort using Thermal Imaging Technology

Paper Abstract: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a group of air pollutants that can adversely impact human health, engage in chemistry indoors, and meaningfully degrade indoor and outdoor urban air quality. While there exists extensive research on VOC emission rates from indoor sources, fewer studies exist characterizing the magnitudes and type of emissions from humans and human activity. As buildings are constructed to be more airtight, and the materials used are chosen to reduce VOC emissions, it follows that human contributions are poised to become increasingly important indoor sources of VOCs. With data extracted from a three-month campaign conducted at Harriet Tubman Middle School in Portland, Oregon—an institution built near a busy roadway—this study modeled airflows through the school and quantified source strengths for VOCs over the course of one week in May 2019. We developed an approach to estimate outdoor air ventilation rates, occupant density, and supply air flow rates through the school by analyzing the decay, steady-state, and accumulation periods of CO2 measured in return and supply air. Emission rates for seven compounds with expected sources from human metabolism and activity were calculated, as were source strengths for BTEX compounds (benzene, toluene, xylenes, and ethylbenzene), which are typically associated with traffic-related air pollution (TRAP). Calculated per-person emission rates for VOCs that are associated with human activity or metabolism, e.g., monoterpenes and isoprene, were generally consistent with the few prior estimates in the literature and indicate humans and their activities are an important indoor source of reactive VOCs. Source strengths for BTEX compounds revealed that the majority of their presence was due to supply air, which was expected considering the elevated levels of outdoor TRAP constituents in the near-roadway building. This study provides new data concerning VOC source strengths of indoor and outdoor origin and can enable the modeling of air pollution exposures in schools.

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Birajan Bhandari

Finalist

Feasibility Study of Solar Pre-Heating of Boiler Feedwater

Paper Abstract: Buildings consume a large amount of energy during their lifecycle. Modern building automation systems (BASs) could provide a substantial amount of data on actual building operation. Data mining (DM) is a promising approach that could be more efficient in handling large-size and high dimensional data and discovering hidden knowledge in the large datasets. This research has adopted a clustering algorithm to analyze the data retrieved from a university building in Hong Kong for identifying energy usage patterns and improving the energy performance of campus buildings.

Vincent Kai Ching Kong

Finalist

The Wind Turbine-Supported Zero-Energy Office Building and the Electric Vehicles with the Optimal Demand Side Management Control

Paper Abstract: Residential natural gas is estimated as responsible for almost 15% of California’s total methane (CH4) emissions from natural gas. It is not known what fraction of these emissions is due to fugitive leaks in the low-pressure portions of the natural gas distribution network. This research aimed to diagnose and potentially seal leakage in the low-pressure portions of natural gas distribution networks by using aerosols. This included developing and testing protocols for measuring leakage downstream of the meter in houses and commercial buildings, applying those protocols in 10 different locations, designing a system to seal leaks in those systems remotely, and applying the sealing process in a make-shift pipe network. Only 2 out of the 10 locations tested were above the leakage detection limit in unsealed networks; the variation in gas temperature posed a challenge to diagnosing the leakage rates. The aerosol process employed for remote sealing appeared to be capable of sealing leaks in natural gas distribution pipes but will require more refinement to address the extremely low leakage levels observed in this study.

Hyungyu Park

Finalist

Indoor PM2.5 Reduction Performance Evaluation of Air Cleaning Ventilation System using CFD Analysis

Paper Abstract: The operating room is generally categorized as a positive pressurized bio-cleanroom that ensures a critical environment for thermal comfort and infection control concerns. However, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak necessitates the construction of a negative pressurized operating room specific for contagious patients. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system has been conducted to meet the dual function of the positive and negative pressurized operating room. Filtration, pressurization, and dilution are implemented in the HVAC system for this operating room. HEPA filters are used for filtration, while pressurization for positive and negative pressurized control and air change rate per hour for (ACH) dilution is implemented through the separated HVAC systems control schemes. The pressurization is maintained at 16 Pa for positive pressurized and -8 Pa for negative pressurized. Field measurements also have been conducted comprehensively to validate the simulation results. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation was conducted to simulate and compare the air distribution between the positive and negative pressurized operating room and its ability to remove the airborne contaminants. Air curtains around the HEPA filters coverage are applied to investigate airflow distribution and contamination control performance improvement. The results reveal that the positive and negative pressurized operating room presents a satisfactory strategy in minimizing the possibility of airborne infection, especially for contagious patients. Ventilation efficiency could increase around 10% by applying the air curtain strategy with a velocity of 0.5 m/s on the positive and negative pressurized operating room.

ASHRAE HVAC&R Student CompetitionWinners & Finalists

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Brett Stinson

Winner

Hugo Lam

Finalist

Rajith NarasimhamurthyFinalist

Indra PermanaFinalist

Rohit Upadhyay

Winner

Joshua Vasudevan

Winner

Birajan Bhandari

Finalist

Vincent Kai Ching Kong

Finalist

Hyungyu Park

Finalist

ASHRAE HVAC&R Student Competition
Winners & Finalists

Rajith Narasimhamurthy
Finalist

Indra Permana
Finalist