Advanced Building Efficiency Testbed Initiative/Intelligent Workplace Energy Supply System; ABETI/IWESS

Abstract

ABETI/IWESS is a project carried out by Carnegie Mellon's Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics, the CBPD, supported by the U.S. Department of Energy/EERE, to design, procure, install, operate, and evaluate an energy supply system, an ESS, that will provide power, cooling, heating and ventilation for CBPD's Intelligent Workplace, the IW. The energy sources for this system, the IWESS, are solar radiation and bioDiesel fuel. The components of this overall system are: (1) a solar driven cooling and heating system for the IW comprising solar receivers, an absorption chiller, heat recovery exchanger, and circulation pump; (2) a bioDiesel fueled engine generator with heat recovery exchangers, one on the exhaust to provide steam and the other on the engine coolant to provide heated water; (3) a ventilation system including an enthalpy recovery wheel, an air based heat pump, an active desiccant wheel, and an air circulation fan; and (4) various convective and radiant cooling/heating units and ventilation air diffusers distributed throughout the IW. The goal of the ABETI/IWESS project is to demonstrate an energy supply system for a building space that will provide a healthy, comfortable environment for the occupants and that will reduce the quantity of energy consumed in the operation of a building space by a factor of 2 less than that of a conventional energy supply for power, cooling, heating, and ventilation based on utility power and natural gas fuel for heating.