Variable Air Volume System Application in Museums

Relative humidity and temperature control is key in museums, galleries, libraries and archives. Normally constant volume (CV) air handling units (AHUs) with reheat coils are applied in these buildings. Setting a low supply air temperature limits the highest humidity level; however, reheat coils have to be used to maintain space temperature due to constant supply airflow. As a result, simultaneous heating and cooling exists with excessive energy consumption. It is well known that variable air volume (VAV) technologies can reduce simultaneous heating and cooling as well as fan power. This paper presents the detail VAV system retrofit for the existing CV system, control sequence development and system performance evaluation in a museum facility at Omaha, Nebraska. Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) were installed for the supply fan on the AHUs. Space humidity and temperature, heating and cooling energy consumption, and fan power were measured. The measurements showed that the space humidity and temperature was maintained within the required range under VAV operation while the reheat consumption was reduced by up to 85% and the fan power consumption was reduced by 90% under partial cooling loads.