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Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is the technology of indoor and vehicular environmental comfort. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HVAC system design is a subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer. "Refrigeration" is sometimes added to the field's abbreviation, as HVAC&R or HVACR or "ventilation" is dropped, as in HACR.
A heat pump is a device that transfers heat energy from a source of heat to what is called a thermal reservoir. Heat pumps move thermal energy in the opposite direction of spontaneous heat transfer, by absorbing heat from a cold space and releasing it to a warmer one. A heat pump uses external power to accomplish the work of transferring energy from the heat source to the heat sink. The most common design of a heat pump involves four main components – a condenser, an expansion valve, an evaporator and a compressor. The heat transfer medium circulated through these components is called refrigerant.
Hydronics is the use of a liquid heat-transfer medium in heating and cooling systems. The working fluid is typically water, glycol, or mineral oil. Some of the oldest and most common examples are steam and hot-water radiators. Historically, in large-scale commercial buildings such as high-rise and campus facilities, a hydronic system may include both a chilled and a heated water loop, to provide for both heating and air conditioning. Chillers and cooling towers are used either separately or together as means to provide water cooling, while boilers heat water. A recent innovation is the chiller boiler system, which provides an efficient form of HVAC for homes and smaller commercial spaces.
Designated as an American National Standard, the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) is a model code developed by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) to govern the installation and inspection of plumbing systems as a means of promoting the public's health, safety and welfare.
Underfloor heating and cooling is a form of central heating and cooling which achieves indoor climate control for thermal comfort using conduction, radiation and convection. The terms radiant heating and radiant cooling are commonly used to describe this approach because radiation is responsible for a significant portion of the resulting thermal comfort but this usage is technically correct only when radiation composes more than 50% of the heat exchange between the floor and the rest of the space.
Solar air conditioning refers to any air conditioning (cooling) system that uses solar power.
Energy recovery includes any technique or method of minimizing the input of energy to an overall system by the exchange of energy from one sub-system of the overall system with another. The energy can be in any form in either subsystem, but most energy recovery systems exchange thermal energy in either sensible or latent form.
A geothermal heat pump (GHP) or ground source heat pump (GSHP) is a central heating and/or cooling system that transfers heat to or from the ground.
Building officials of developed countries are generally the jurisdictional administrator of building and construction codes, engineering calculation supervision, permits, facilities management, and accepted construction procedures.
Designated as an American National Standard, the Uniform Swimming Pool, Spa and Hot Tub Code (USPSHTC) is a model code developed by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) to govern the installation and inspection of plumbing systems associated with swimming pools, spas and hot tubs as a means of promoting the public's health, safety and welfare.
A snowmelt system prevents the build-up of snow and ice on cycleways, walkways, patios and roadways, or more economically, only a portion of the area such as a pair of 2-foot (0.61 m)-wide tire tracks on a driveway or a 3-foot (0.91 m) center portion of a sidewalk, etc. They function even during a storm thus improve safety and eliminate winter maintenance labor including shoveling or plowing snow and spreading de-icing salt or traction grit (sand). A snowmelt system may extend the life of the concrete, asphalt or under pavers by eliminating the use of salts or other de-icing chemicals, and physical damage from winter service vehicles.
Uniform Codes are codes of practice developed and maintained by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) using the American National Standards Institute's (ANSI) accredited consensus development process working on a three-year cycle. This process brings together volunteers representing a variety of viewpoints and interests to achieve consensus. The Uniform Codes are used to meet the specific needs of individual jurisdictions both in the United States and abroad.
IAPMO Standards are the plumbing and mechanical standards of the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO). For more than thirty years, IAPMO’s standards-developing efforts have primarily focused on plumbing product standards. This concentration was primarily due to IAPMO members’ expertise from more than 50 years of writing and updating the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC). IAPMO is an American National Standards Institute (ANSI)-recognized Standards Development Organization (SDO).
IAPMO R&T was started in 1936 as a third-party listing agency specializing in plumbing and mechanical products. IAPMO R&T is accredited to certify products that meet the criteria of the Uniform Plumbing Code, Uniform Mechanical Code, Uniform Solar Energy Code, Uniform Swimming Pool, Spa and Hot Tub Code and other nationally recognized codes and standards in North America.
Leonard "Lynn" L. Northrup Jr. was an American engineer who was a pioneer of the commercialization of solar thermal energy. Influenced by the work of John Yellott, Maria Telkes, and Harry Tabor, Northrup's company designed, patented, developed and manufactured some of the first commercial solar water heaters, solar concentrators, solar-powered air conditioning systems, solar power towers and photovoltaic thermal hybrid systems in the United States. The company he founded became part of ARCO Solar, which in turn became BP Solar, which became the largest solar energy company in the world. Northrup was a prolific inventor with 14 US patents.
A hot water storage tank is a water tank used for storing hot water for space heating or domestic use.
The International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, or IAPMO, coordinates the development and adaptation of plumbing, mechanical, swimming pool and solar energy codes to meet the specific needs of individual jurisdictions both in the United States and abroad. IAPMO develops and publishes the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC); Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC); Uniform Swimming Pool, Spa and Hot Tub Code (USPSHTC); and the Uniform Solar Energy and Hydronics Code (USEHC), which as of 2018 is known as the Uniform Solar, Hydronics and Geothermal Code (USHGC).
Designated as an American National Standard, the Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC) is a model code developed by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) to govern the installation, inspection and maintenance of HVAC and refrigeration systems.
Solar power in Denmark contributes to a goal to use 100% renewable energy by 2050. The goal of 200 MW of photovoltaics by 2020 was reached eight years early, in 2012, and 36 MW was being installed each month. Denmark had 790 MW in late 2015. A total of 3,400 MW is expected to be installed by 2030. Many solar-thermal district heating plants exist and are planned in Denmark.
Radiant heating and cooling systems are temperature-controlled surfaces that exchange heat with their surrounding environment through convection and radiation. By definition, in radiant heating and cooling systems, thermal radiation covers more than 50% of heat exchange within the space. Hydronic radiant heating and cooling systems are water-based. It refers to panels or embedded building components. Other types include air-based and electrical systems. Important portions of building surfaces are usually required for the radiant exchange.