HVAC design informed by organizational simulation

One of the major factors in HVAC design is the occupant load, both in terms of heat gains and fresh air needs. Internal heat gains that result from human occupancy, commonly use a predicted maximum occupancy and an estimated occupancy diversity factor. This may have two problems. First, the maximum number may be far away from true value, Secondly, in a dynamic organizational environment, it is not easy to get a good estimate of the occupancy diversity factor. This paper comes up with a new approach that informs the HVAC design process by organizational simulation. By augmenting the traditional load design procedure with organizational information, it is expected that a more accurate building load estimate can be achieved, resulting in more accurate HVAC sizing. This paper investigates this expectation.