HVAC Design for a Four Story Medical Complex in Budapest, Hungary

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) sponsors a design competition based on the design of energy-efficient HVAC systems every year. This year, the competition focused on adding a medical complex of over 400 rooms to an existing building in Budapest, Hungary. The team is to calculate heating and cooling loads and design a variable air volume (VAV) HVAC system for the building, while demonstrating compliance with the latest editions of ASHRAE Standards 55, 62.1, and 90.1. A VAV system is a system that varies airflow into rooms at a constant temperature. Apart from the design calculations, the team has also decided to include a cost analysis of the system to further analyze the selection process of an HVAC system. The heating and cooling loads have been calculated using the program Trane Trace 700. Data input into this program required analysis of many variables including but not limited to lighting power densities, U-factors, and miscellaneous loads for specific rooms found in various ASHRAE standards. The team has also created a duct and equipment layout with specific zones for the building. This was heavily influenced by the stringent regulation of pressure for certain rooms in medical complexes to prevent the spread of disease in the building. Completion of this project has helped the team understand the processes needed for the design of an HVAC system, and the regulations required by code for minimum human comfort and safety.