Varun Pahwa, President, Desiccant Rotors International | Construction Week | July 22, 2021
Varun Pahwa, President, DRI-Pahwa Group, jots down a few points on ways to adopt environmental control solutions.
Green products used in the HVAC industry, their importance and accessibility
The primary focus of any green building is to reduce the energy consumption of the building. HVAC systems have the largest consumption of electricity in the building. To reduce the energy consumption of the HVAC system. In hospitality industry, the entire focus is on guest’s comfort and well being. To strike the right balance between comfort and energy savings, wide range of green products are available. These could be high efficient chillers, providing variable frequency drives on motors, high efficient fans etc.
Apart from energy consumption, the second most important parameter of green building is Indoor Air Quality. DRI specializes in various systems that maintain good indoor air quality in hospitality sector. These include Energy recovery systems for ventilating the conditioned spaces without compromising on air conditioning load. DRI Energy Recovery systems are focused on Enthalpy Wheels based systems. Our FlexAir range of ERVs and TFAs incorporate Enthalpy Wheels for Energy Recovery.
In hospitality industry maintaining proper relative humidity (RH) is important to prevent any growth of mold, mildew, which causes foul smell in guest rooms. DRI provides systems that maintain proper RH in hospitality sector to prevent this problem. These systems help in reducing the operating costs of HVAC systems & maintain good indoor air quality. DRI is an Indian company & all its products are made in India. Accessibility of these systems are not an issue.
Ways to conserve energy, lower costs and increase productivity through arctic coolers
Arctic Coolers are aimed at cooling large industrial and commercial buildings, where initial and running cost of air condition systems is expensive. Using Arctic Evaporative Coolers with EcoCool Evaporative Cooling Pads with high saturation efficiency, long life, self-supporting, highly adsorbent and can be easily cleaned.
Especially in the case of industrial and commercial buildings, with the increasing cost of power and energy, choosing an efficient air treatment system that is also environment friendly, is an important decision.
Arctic coolers are capable of lowering the air temperature by at least 7-12 degrees and also facilitate cool fresh air to circulate through a building. Arctic Innovative Evaporative Cooling system is a solution, which offers completely natural way of delivering refreshing and cool air. Arctic coolers are trusted cooling solution provider for industries and commercial applications.
Unlike traditional air conditioning which operates on re-circulated air, the Arctic Innovative Evaporating Cooling system uses fresh air and works as part of a well-balanced ventilation system. This becomes even more relevant in today’s context, with Covid-19 concerns at the forefront. A better air quality environment also leads to better comfort & productivity and better health which are leading concerns for businesses today.
Adaptation of green building solutions by architects
Green building could be defined as “the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings and their sites use energy, water, and materials, and reducing building impacts on human health by providing better indoor environment Quality (IEQ).
With progressive economy, new building technologies began to transform the urban landscape.
The Green Building movement is driving the HVAC community to look at innovative solutions for reducing the energy cost and better IEQ (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.
Integration of DOAS (Dedicated Outdoor Air System)/Treated Fresh Air Units: TFAs, with parallel terminal system offers a migratory path from the single all-air variable air volume systems.
Bad indoor air quality, their effects, and solutions
Poor indoor air quality leads to an increased incidence of health related symptoms, which in turn can lead to an increase in absenteeism and a loss of productivity. Some of most common symptoms can be related to “Sick Building Syndrome”.
Health effects from indoor air pollutants fall into two categories those that are experienced immediately after exposure and those that do not show up until years later.
The lung is the most common site of injury by air borne pollutants. Acute effects, however may also include non-respiratory signs and symptoms, which may depend upon toxicological characteristics of the substances and host of related factors.
In recent years, the attention of environmental researchers has been focused on indoor air pollution, as a result of reports of symptoms or specific diseases that occur mainly in air conditioned and mechanically ventilated buildings. Studies have proved that level of contaminants in the indoor air can be often several times higher than outdoor air. This combined with the fact that people tend to spend 90% of their time indoors, proves the point that a person’s major source of exposure to airborne contaminants can be indoors.
The solution to the problem of pollution is dilution or increased ventilation, runs contrary to the energy conservation guidelines being followed by air conditioning designers. In hospitals and nursing homes, the ventilation standards require 100% fresh air and higher number of air changes per hour.
Air quality can be improved by designing systems that provide air virtually free of dust, dirt, odors, chemical and radioactive pollutants, bacteria, virus and humidity buildup. Designers while planning air conditioning systems need to keep these design criteria in mind.
