By Datuk Umang Sharma
Director & CEO of Bry-Air Malaysia Sdn Bhd
The Green Building movement is
driving the heating, ventilation and
air conditioning (HVAC) community
to look at innovative solutions for
reducing energy costs and better
Indoor Environment Quality. The
ventilation and air conditioning
system which is a key component
in Green Building design is on the
verge of a paradigm shift.
This shift is providing designers
opportunities to explore energy
efficient designs. The new initiatives
are aimed at improving health,
comfort and productivity.
G
reen buildings could be defined as the
practice of 1) increasing the efficiency
with which buildings and their sites use
energy, water, and materials, and 2) reducing the
building’s impact on human health by providing
better indoor environment quality (IEQ).
With a progressive economy, new building
technologies began to transform the urban
landscape. The advent of air conditioning, low-
wattage fluorescent lighting, structural steel,
and reflective glass made possible enclosed
glass-and-steel structures that could be heated
and cooled with massive HVAC systems,
Integration of Dedicated
Outdoor Air System or DOAS/
Treated Fresh Air Units (TFAs),
with a parallel terminal system
offers a migratory path from the
single all-air variable air volume
systems.
As an example, Active Chilled
Beams combined with a system
de sign sui t able for t ropic al
c l i m a t e , t h e D OA S s y s t e m
becomes an excellent choice
to address Indoor Air Quality
(IAQ), Humidity Control and help
buildings become green.
thanks to the availability of cheap fossil fuels.
The economic boom accelerated the pace
of this phenomenon, to the point where the
International Style “glass box” became the
design icon of cities and rapidly growing
suburbs. However, a small group of forward-
thinking architects, environmentalists, and
ecologists, began to question the advisability of
building in this manner.
Global warming and the growing awareness
of its consequences led to the nascent
“environmental movement” capturing the
attention of the public at large. As fossil fuel prices
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Managing Fresh Air
Effectively with Dedicated
Outside Air Systems