ASHRAE journal · 2001 · 22 citations · 0 references
A new government study has found that auxiliary equipment in commercial-building HVAC systems uses much more energy than previously thought. The Department of Energy (DOE) report conservatively estimates that auxiliary fans and pumps use 1.5 quadrillion Btu (quads) nationwide-about 10% of all energy used in the commercial sector. This equipment has been largely overlooked in energy-efficiency research, development & deployment (RD&D) programs, which have mainly focused on improving the efficiency of primary heating and cooling equipment such as chillers, refrigerant compressors, boilers and furnaces. 1 Furthermore, auxiliary energy consumption most likely is increasing, even as primary equipment is showing vast improvements in efficiency.