Guest Bio
Sankar Padhmanabhan is a Global Applications Expert in air conditioning at Danfoss.
Episode Summary
Sankar Padhmanabhan, global applications expert in air conditioning at Danfoss, joins John Sheff, Danfoss’ former director of public and industry affairs, to discuss how variable -speed solutions can improve indoor air quality.
Main Points
- Before the pandemic, indoor air quality was about temperature and humidity. But COVID-19 has of course shown us that when we talk about indoor air quality, we need to think about how to mitigate health risks.
- ASHRAE and WHO have said that indoor air quality means bringing in fresh air from the outside.
- Improving IAQ is key to getting workers back into offices.
- Dedicated Outdoor Air Systems, or DOAS, bring in outside air to the occupied space.’
- There are operational and design constraints that prevent traditional HVAC systems from bringing in outside air efficiently. DOAS can handle any amount and are flexible depending on outside conditions.
- Bringing in large amounts of fresh air can require a lot of energy from an HVAC system, but variable-speed technology can make the process more efficient.
- Variable-speed means that the speed of the compressor changes as demand changes. It helps you match your capacity of the unit to the load of the building and what that effectively means is that energy is not wasted.
- Variable frequency drives on the fans and blowers can adjust the amount of outside air brought in, depending on need, resulting in energy savings.
- Including heat recovery in HVAC systems is another trend. On humid days in spring and fall, the system can remove the humidity from the air without cooling the building by using the compressor heat to reheat the air before discharging to the building, without using additional electricity or gas.
- Rooftop units will also become more efficient to meet the new standards.
- The pandemic has presented an opportunity to redesign our HVAC systems to be more efficient and to improve the quality of indoor air.
Links
Read how CaptiveAire used Danfoss variable-speed solutions to develop healthier and more efficient ventilation systems.
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Listen on YouTube
For more information and additional episodes of the EnVisioneering Exchange podcast, visit https://www.danfoss.com/en-us/about-danfoss/insights-for-tomorrow/envisioneering-exchange/