ASSESSING DISCREPANCIES IN CURRENT PRACTICES FOR SELECTING HEATING, VENTILATING AND AIRCONDITIONING SYSTEMS IN BUILDINGS

Abstract

The selection process of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) systems is a crucialprocess that irritates decision makers. In Egypt the selection process of such systems is mostlybiased by the perception of the owner, his intuition and the pre- set budget by the manager. Thenon- objective decision making and the inappropriate selection of (HVAC) systems cause severeproblems that range from changes in the space requirements to adapt with the chosen system, theprovision of accessibility for maintenance and finally affecting their cost effectiveness. Both thearchitect and the electromechanical team are the primary stakeholders concerned with the actualselection process of the HVAC system. The divergence between their views is obvious in themethods and priorities of their selection process. Thus managing good understanding between thearchitect and the electromechanical team is crucial. This study intends to access the currentpractices used in the selection process of HVAC systems in buildings, through showingdiscrepancies among both perceptions; the architect's and the electromechanical. To achievethe objective of the paper a questionnaire was conducted. The target groups included students,graduates and experts in architecture and electromechanical disciplines. The results of this studyshowed remarkably how differences between the selection processes conducted by the target groupshad a great impact on the efficiency of selected HVAC systems in buildings