Choosing the most suitable air conditioning system for your environment is very important for maximum living comfort.

 

Choosing the most suitable air conditioning system for the characteristics of a given environment is a very important task for the designer, who must take into account many factors without ever losing sight of the primary objective: achieving living comfort. Yes, because if it is true that energy saving plays a key role when making a choice, ensuring the psycho-physical well-being of people living or working in a specific environment is even more important.

But what exactly does living comfort depend on? On a perfect mix of subjective and environmental variables. The former refer to typical characteristics of individuals, such as metabolism, clothes worn and activity performed within the environment. The latter are objective parameters and concern air temperature and relative humidity, but also air purity and speed. It is no coincidence that when we talk about air conditioning systems we refer not only to heating and cooling systems, but also to controlled mechanical ventilation systems, which ensure a constant renewal of air in the rooms.

Designing an air conditioning system: the main phases

There are several evaluations that the designer must make before choosing the ideal air conditioning system for a particular environment. 
Firstly, it is essential to analyse the type of user, because depending on whether it is a single home, an office or a large commercial building, certain requirements will be demanded of the system. Next, an analysis of the climate where the installation will take place must be carried out and the building's data, such as its height, the number of windows and the uniformity of the floor plan, must be known. 

Only after this first preliminary phase can the building's energy requirements be calculated, which is the starting point for determining the sizing of the air conditioning system. Energy demand is defined as the energy required to maintain both the air temperature and humidity in optimal conditions. Next, the amount of air required for proper renewal must be defined in the best possible way.

Once these checks have been completed, the most suitable air conditioning system can be chosen from the many types on the market, and the various components that characterise the system can be selected.

The importance of sizing and the different types of systems

The correct sizing of the air conditioning system is a key element of the design, since an error in the sizing of the entire system, but also of a single component, could compromise its operation and cause major damage. This operation is intended to calculate, on the basis of the evaluations indicated above, the capacity demand of the system in order to function in the best possible way and ensure the best living comfort inside the building.

There are numerous possibilities on the market for air conditioning systems, which differ mainly according to the heat transfer fluid used to bring the thermal or cooling energy produced by a generatordistribution terminals (e.g. fan coils, radiators, radiant systems).

The designer will therefore be able to choose between water systems, which are most commonly found in hydronic systems, systems that use a refrigerant fluid, such as VRF (Variable Refrigerant Flow)systems, and those that use only the air produced by the Air Handling Unit (UTA).

Water systems:
the evolution of the hydronic system according to Clivet

Designing a hydronic system has clear advantages, both in terms of reduced consumption (the system works at a low temperature) and environmental sustainability (the convector fluid is water and is therefore 100% ecological). Compared to a direct expansion or boiler system, however, it has a longer start-up time and a higher cost due to the installation of piping with a very high flow-rate to supply all terminal units.

To support the design of the system and to make it even easier to install, Clivet has developed a more advanced hydronic system variant. Compared to the traditional version, which for air renewal entails a series of air handling units fed by one or more chillers, Clivet's evolved hydronic system entrusts the air renewal to the independent full outdoor air unit with active thermodynamic recovery system ZEPHIR3. The result? The system is simplified and implementation costs are reduced, as the thermal power and central cooling plants only have to be sized to fulfil the building's heat load and not its air renewal.

Air systems:
Clivet’s Packaged and Rooftop solution

Among the quick-to-install, versatile and, above all, economical solutions for air conditioning and air handling inside small and large commercial buildings, Clivet's Packaged system must be mentioned.

This type of system features a range of packaged units that produce the thermal and cooling energy required to air-condition a room only when and where it is needed, through a distribution system consisting of ducts and distribution terminals. Each area supplied is therefore independent from the others, so as to achieve the best living comfort even in environments with different air renewal requirements.

Clivet's Packaged system includes a wide range of units, for medium or high crowded areas and full outdoor air units (chemical laboratories, commercial kitchens, morgues, etc.), with capacities from 13 to 376 kW and airflows from 600 to 16,700 l/s. Furthermore, the system can be extended and expanded over time, as the various packaged units are independent from each other.