Alan McIntosh HVAC Consulting Services
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Alan McIntosh HVAC Consulting Services
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Introduction The Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system plays a vital role in addressing most issues relating to the comfort, health, well being, and satisfaction of a homeowner. When you look at the cost breakdown of building a home, the HVAC system represents a very small percentage of the total construction cost. When one considers the overall value that the HVAC system brings to a home, paying a little more for a good system, blended in to the total cost is negligible. Fortunately, many contractors and homeowners have wakened to this realism. I believe that a Alan McIntosh engineered HVAC system provides many advantages to a builder as well as the HVAC subcontractor. My designs provides a system design supported by practical knowledge of the industry and actual in the filed experience and applications. In regard to energy use, I find from my viewpoint is that the general public is unaware of the benefits that what a total energy efficient HVAC system brings. Most homeowners that I have come in contact with believe that it is the energy efficient rating (SEER, AFUE) of the HVAC equipment alone that reduces energy use, thereby reduces their energy bill. The SEER rating of the cooling equipment and the AFUE rating of the heating equipment does in fact play a large role in reducing ones energy bill, there is a larger and greater savings available to the homeowner through a "Total Energy Efficient HVAC System installation". A total energy efficient HVAC system encompasses the complete installation:
The HVAC business is changing due to recent events that have taken place over the past couple years (i.e. added energy regulations, greater requirements mandated on local jurisdictions, tighter home construction, a more educated consumer, greater consumer awareness, publicized class action lawsuits, mold issues, etc.) All of these factors and more have led to the increased requirement that the RNC Builder and HVAC Contractor become more educated and attain a much higher degree of technical ability and skill. Under the old standards, historically, in the past and even now, a Builder or homeowner employs an architect or draftsman with no knowledge or wherewithal to design the HVAC system. The architect or draftsman would provide an arbitrary HVAC plan as part of the construction drawings, along with the Title 24 Energy Calculations, only because an HVAC layout was required to get a building permit. In most cases the typical residential HVAC contractor would disregard the HVAC plan that was provided, set aside the Title 24 Energy Calculations, and install his own system with his own installation standards based upon his/her rule-of-thumb experience; all with limited knowledge of the homes real requirements, much less the requirement of each room. Typically the residential HVAC contractor is not very sophisticated when it comes to engineering a homes HVAC requirement. Most have been taught to select cooling equipment capacity and air distribution layouts the easy way, based upon tons per square feet and cfm distribution per square feet, without any specific consideration for glass area, ceiling heights, building materials, U-Values of assemblies, or building orientation. In some cases this practice works, or the homeowner has adapted and accepted their systems deficiencies. Unfortunately, in my 35 years of experience in both the consulting engineering side of the business as well as the construction side of the business has shown me that what you see on paper and print is not necessarily what you get in actuality or as a final product. Each and every contractor has his/her installation standards and practices, which may vary drastically from contractor to contractor. There are several design features that should be incorporated into every HVAC design and specifications:
As far as someone asking me what should have been a basis for the original HVAC design. Ten years ago, I would have said having reliance on a reputable contractor with whom one could trust to do a good job. In today’s environment it’s become much more sophisticated. Today, I would recommend a contractor or homeowner demand professional engineering services which have traditionally been provided to commercial accounts. As a minimum:
Wrightsoft Manual J and Manual D, when combined with experience and knowledge, will perform the above tasks satisfactorily. Manual J and Manual D is accepted nation wide as a standard in the HVAC Industry. Not only is Manual J and Manual D accepted nation wide, the State of California provides energy credits to developers and contractors who utilizes these tools as a part of their design process.
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