How TherMOOstat Helps With Heating and Cooling

  • by Karen K Dang

Plant & Environmental Sciences Building

"This classroom is OVERLY cold every time. PLEASE fix this!!"
"Seriously, we are all freezing. There is a 3-hour lab in here. It is 90 outside, and people are trying to use their backpacks and random bits of paper for warmth."

Intro

Although buildings are classified as lab, office or classroom buildings, not all of its rooms are the same as the building type. Although the Plant & Environmental Sciences Building is classified as a lab space, there are still offices and classroom present inside. 

The classrooms and offices in the building should have different HVAC programming than the labs because the rooms have different purposes. For research labs, the HVAC system is typically set at a lower temperature than classrooms.

 

plant and environmental

 

Hypothesis

Room 1137 was classified as a research lab in our HVAC system; however, as needs changed it was converted into a computer lab. Students attending classes and doing work in this computer lab noticed that it was colder in the room.

Their comments in TherMOOstat prompted us to check the temperature and visit the room. We noticed it was no longer a research laboratory, so we reprogrammed the HVAC system to serve a classroom space. 

Computer Lab

"We have multiple computers in the room. When nobody is here the room gets very hot and causes hardware failure in the computers."

Intro

Sometimes rooms with unique uses require tailored HVAC programming. Typically, lab spaces fall under this category because of the research happening in these spaces requires a specific temperature or the equipment generates a lot of heat. ​HVAC programming needs to change when the room use changes so we're using energy efficiently and keeping people comfortable. 

Room 2355 was originally classified as a research lab, which typically requires special HVAC programming. Through a TherMOOstat comment from April 2017, we found this room was actually being used as a computer lab and hosts several servers and computers for research.
 

academic surge


Hypothesis

The room's measured temperature was at 80°F, which is high relative to other rooms on campus. Since the room only has the building's HVAC system and doesn't have any other form of air circulation, the occupant felt the elevated temperature of the room.

​The lack of air circulation, combined with a high temperature in the room raised a concern that the warmth could cause hardware failures.

As a result, we worked with the occupants to lower the heating and cooling setpoints remotely.

 

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An image inside Young Hall

Investigating Young
Lily, a Green Buildings Intern at the Energy Conservation Office, investigated Young Hall after we received countless cold and chilly complaints. Thanks to her work, the temperature went from consistently cold to normal.