Optimizing the Curriculum in a Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning Class With Realistic Labs, Projects and Interesting Realistic Problems to Enhance Learning

Abstract

Abstract The primary purpose of a Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) course is to provide the details and principles necessary to design a HVAC system. This encompasses the study of the many aspects of the various heating and air conditioning systems such as the moist air properties and conditioning processes, the comfort and health concerns, the cooling and heating loads and the system design including duct sizing, equipment and controls selection. This also includes the learning and using of software such as Trane Trace or Carrier HARP to calculate the heating and cooling loads for a commercial building and applying the applicable American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) standards. It is important to develop a method of dissecting a project to its essentials and solving it in a logical, organized manner. In our institution, we offer a one-quarter long HVAC class for the Mechanical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering Technology students. This is a comprehensive course which teaches our students the various aspects and topics of HVAC along with completing several realistic projects to help the students to learn real world applications of the design. This includes using the blueprints of a commercial building to design a HVAC system. Also included are labs, field trips, and guest speakers to help our students learn even more about HVAC. It is hoped that, after taking this course, students, if they choose, will be well prepared for a HVAC career. This paper will discuss and explore the many ways in which a HVAC class should be taught in order to make it a successful class. This includes teaching the basic principles and applying it to several real-world projects. One of the projects we have our students do at our university is to calculate the heating and cooling loads of a car dealer’s building which consists of an upstairs a front lobby, offices, kitchen, restrooms, and several car bays and to then recommend the equipment and controls necessary for the design. We also have the students complete a separate duct sizing project using both the equal friction and equal velocity methods. Further, we have several labs, including a refrigeration lab, calculating the coefficient of performances (COP) for various operating conditions. In addition, we explore alternate methods of energy savings such as ground source heat pumps, evaporative cooling combined with vapor compression refrigeration etc. Included in this course we have at least one guest speaker from ASHRAE as well as other professionals in the field. We also have our students visit our own universities’ steam and chilled water plant used for our heating and air conditioning as well as other relevant field trips.