Online Air-conditioning eLearning

BUILDING INDUSTRY STANDARDS AND REGULATIONS Instructions in the current building maintenance and construction practices necessary to provide and maintain buildings and building systems in safe, efficient conditions are provided through on-line, self study presentations; along with the presentations of performance standards required for industry workers. Links are provided to appropriate industry guides. regulatory manuals, technical  more...

Moisture Intrusion and High Ambient Humidity Causation Analysis This course provides a good overview of the various causes of undesired high humidity and moisture intrusion within building structures, and the methods and technology used to analyze such conditions. Recommending or designing an engineered solution to such problems requires a fundamental understanding of their root cause. Field engineers and design engineers who are involved with forensic  more...

Reduction of Radon Levels in Schools and Other Large Buildings Overview Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive gas in ambient air. It can also accumulate in varying amounts in enclosed buildings. Radon is estimated to cause many thousands of lung cancer deaths each year. In fact, the Surgeon General has warned that radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the U.S. today. Our increased understanding of the risks posed by indoor radon has  more...

An Introduction to Air Conditioning Systems Overview This is a course for all of the members of the building design team?.except the mechanical engineers. It will give you a basic introduction to air conditioning system design so you can better understand the technology, concepts and terminology in design of air conditioning systems. It will help you to be a better partner in the building design and construction process. This is your  more...

HVAC Design for Hospitals Healthcare Facilities Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are complex environments that require special attention to HVAC design. Hospital air conditioning assumes a more important role than just the promotion of comfort. In many cases, proper air conditioning is a factor in patient therapy; in some instance, it is the major treatment. Studies show that patient in controlled environments generally has more rapid  more...

HVAC - Concepts and Fundamentals ...ecific volume on psychrometric chart. It also describes 4 air-conditioning processes viz. mixing; sensible cooling and heating; cooling with dehumidification; and humidification ?Modes of Heat Transfer ? Describes heat flow through solids and air. It also includes the terminology and relationships between conductivity, conductance, resistivity, U-factors etc. ?Heat Gain and Heat Loss in  more...

Evaporative Cooling Design Guidelines ...ient alternative to compressor-based cooling. Compared to air-conditioning which uses mechanical refrigeration, evaporative cooling can fully satisfy building cooling loads using one-fourth the energy of conventional equipment. The performance of evaporative systems deteriorates as the humidity increases. Consequently, evaporative systems are not suitable for the humid coastal regions. They  more...

HVAC - Equipment and Systems Overview HVAC system components may be grouped into three functional categories: source components, distribution components, and delivery components. Source components provide or remove heat or moisture. Distribution components convey a heating or cooling medium from a source location to portions of a building that require conditioning. Delivery components serve as an interface between the  more...

Underfloor Air Distribution Recent trends in today? s office environment make it increasingly more difficult for conventional centralized HVAC systems to satisfy the environmental preferences of individual office workers using the standardized approach of providing a single uniform thermal and ventilation environment. A task/ambient conditioning system, such as an underfloor air distribution system, is defined as any space  more...

Heat Exchanger Fundamentals Overview A heat exchanger transfers heat from one fluid to another. Without heat exchangers, many of the products that we use today would not be possible. Without a radiator (which is a heat exchanger), vehicles would quickly overheat. Without an evaporator (another heat exchanger), you would not have the comfort of air conditioning in your home. Because of the importance of heat exchangers in  more...

Air and Gas Compressors Overview The two-hour online course describes the applications, characteristics, and operation of various types of compressors. Reciprocating, rotary, centrifugal, and axial flow compressors are covered. The presentation is based on air compressors, but the principles apply to all gas and vapor compressors, such as those used on construction sites, refineries, process industry, refrigeration,  more...

Desiccant Dehumidification Systems for Comfort Conditioning ...air-conditioning systems can be used as alternatives for conventional air-conditioning equipment in any commercial or residential building. Recent breakthroughs in desiccant materials technology and the creation of new markets by Indoor Air Quality issues make desiccant-based air-conditioning equipment practical for many space-conditioning applications. In this course the student will learn  more...

Displacement Ventilation and Dedicated Outdoor Air Systems ...air-conditioning systems in commercial buildings meet both outdoor air ventilation and space conditioning requirements using air distribution approaches that provide a mixture of outdoor air and recirculated air with the goal of achieving good air mixing within the occupied space. More recently, advanced ventilation approaches have been proposed, and in some cases installed, that separate the  more...

Flexible Ducts - Thermaflex Overview Flexible ducts are used extensively in HVAC systems. The Air Diffusion Council has information that may be used as a comprehensive guide in evaluating, selecting and installing flexible ducts in heating, air conditioning and ventilating systems. In this course the student will learn about applications requirements and recommendations for the use of flexible air ducts including  more...

Air Movement and Fire Protection ...air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are significant. Fire isn? t the only hazard ? the smoke generated by the fire can be much more dangerous. Protection is needed from the spread of fire and smoke due both to fires starting inside an HVAC system and fires starting outside an HVAC system. Fire performance of materials for HVAC components is required, and fire dampers and smoke dampers are  more...

Energy Conservation ...insulation, and vapor barriers. Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems (HVAC) are covered in detail including explanations of the various types of HVAC systems and some of the most promising energy saving concepts associated with HVAC systems. Other topics include how to use lighting products efficiently and ways to save energy with miscellaneous home and office equipment. The  more...

Air Conditioning Systems ...job is just to add "cold? air to the space. Actually air-conditioning is a process by which air is cooled and dehumidified by mechanical means. In a broader sense, air conditioning includes both the cooling and heating of air, cleaning it and controlling its moisture level, and conditioning it to provide maximum indoor comfort. Engineers define the process as one in which a system of  more...

HVAC - Ventilation Exhaust Systems Ventilation systems supply and remove air to/from buildings and other structures. In doing so, these systems control the quality of breathing air and protect personnel and sensitive equipment from potentially hazardous airborne contaminants, fires, explosions, and excessive heat/cold. Ventilation systems include a supply, or makeup air system and an exhaust system. Supply systems replace  more...

HVAC - Variable Air Volume Systems In central air conditioning systems there are two basic methods for delivering air to the conditioned space: constant air volume (CAV) systems, and variable air volume (VAV) systems As the name implies, constant volume systems deliver a constant air volume to the conditioned space irrespective of the load. VAV systems, on the other hand, are designed to simultaneously meet a variety of  more...

Application of Psychrometrics to Heating and Cooling Psychrometry is the study of moist air. It is significant in terms of thermal comfort and is a major consideration in the design of air conditioning systems. Air conditioning engineers use the psychrometric chart to predict changes in the environment when the amount of heat and/or water in the air changes. A psychrometric chart provides a convenient way to look at the air conditioning processes  more...

Cooling Towers ...air-conditioning systems for buildings generate tremendous amounts of heat, which must be continuously dissipated if these machines and processes are to continue to operate efficiently. Water cooling is the most efficient method of dissipating heat. A cooling tower is a device used in industry to cool hot water (by partial evaporation) before reusing it as a coolant. Water directly contacts  more...

Commercial HVAC ...em's job is just to cool the spaces. Actually, a complete air-conditioning system is capable of maintaining temperature and humidity below or above that of surroundings and provides fresh air into spaces free of contaminants, dust and odorants. Air-conditioning systems are bifurcated in two broad categories: comfort air conditioning and process air-conditioning. Comfort air conditioning  more...