Abstract
Arctic climates provide unique challenges for designers of HVAC, plumbing, and thermal energy systems. The importance of considering the operation outside air temperatures, system reliability, and building resiliency cannot be understated. The paper describes best practice examples of robust and reliable systems with the emphasis on their redundancy, durability, and functionality. The paper also discusses the most common heating and ventilation system approaches used in arctic climate with the emphasis on the importance of a maintenance program that allows building operators to successfully troubleshoot and maintain buildings in the arctic. More detailed discussion of concepts presented in this paper can be found in the Guide [1] where these concepts are illustrated by best practice examples from U.S. military bases in Alaska and Søndre Strømfjord, the international airport of Greenland that previously was used as a U.S. military base. The paper results from experts’ discussions during the Consultation Forum “Thermal Energy Systems Resilience in Cold/Arctic Climates” [2] and research conducted under the IEA EBC Annex 73, the Environmental Security Technology Certification Program (ESTCP) Project “Technologies Integration to Achieve Resilient, Low-Energy Military Installations” and U.S. Army Program project 633734T1500 under Military Engineering Technology Demonstration. The paper is complementary to the ASHRAE Cold Climate Design Guide [3] with a focus on resilience of thermal energy systems.
Highlights
Arctic climates can experience extremes with high summer temperature spikes to extensive periods of cold temperatures and darkness during the winter
The indoor environment can be a welcome relief for occupants and for many, there are more hours spent indoors than outdoors during the winter months
To prevent frosting of the heat recovery core, hydronic preheat coils can be installed in the outsideair duct prior to the Heat Recovery Ventilators (HRVs) heat exchanger
Summary
Arctic climates can experience extremes with high summer temperature spikes to extensive periods of cold temperatures and darkness during the winter. Crea ting a good indoor environment with comfortable, reliable, and sustainable spaces is a high priority and design decisions should consider the life cycle cost effectiveness of building and energy systems holistically, including current and future anticipated functions. To provide a design that is robust, adaptable, and a ffordable, it is important to understand the aspects of the geographic location that will impact equipment selections, operating hours, and maintenance needs. Another consideration is the ability of a building to withstand an outage in the heating plant, either locally or from a centralized source. The large thermal ca pacity of concrete a nd brick wa lls, internal water pipes, critical system redundancy, and a reasonable layer of outside insulation without weak point can all offer protection from unpredicted outages
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