ASHRAE Journal - ACMA Supplement - Fall 2013 - 2

Choosing the Right Road
By Wade Smith, P.E., Executive Director, AMCA International

Lewis Carroll, who wrote Alice
in Wonderland, once commented,
“If you don’t know where you are
going, any road will get you there.”
That’s why it’s so important for HVAC industry players to
become aware of the earthshaking changes impacting the air
systems industry—driven by concerns for air quality, fire-life
safety, and energy efficiency.
Your company faces a new set of alternatives, because some
of the old familiar routes will be blocked. Which new road will
you choose? Of course, that depends on where you want to go.
No longer can building operators reduce energy by closing
the outside air intake. New refrigerant and water-based systems
must be augmented with ducted outside air—ventilation cannot
be overlooked. Energy efficiency concerns dictate consideration
of airside economizers, now mandated in some codes down to
5 tons. In the newest version of California’s commercial energy
code, Title 24, outside air and return and exhaust dampers must
be third-party certified for low leakage rates.
Air systems also protect lives when fires happen, by pressurizing escape routes with life-giving fresh air, starving fires
of oxygen, and minimizing the spread of deadly smoke and
fumes. Fires destroy property, but smoke kills; refrigerant and
water-based systems cannot address this critical issue.
Fan efficiency grades must exceed 67 in the 2013 version of

Fa l l 2 0 1 3

ASHRAE 90.1 and have been proposed for the 2015 International
Energy Conservation Code. Fans must be selected within 15%
of peak efficiency. Other roads will be blocked by regulations.
Variable speed controls will be reconsidered in many fan applications that have traditionally been constant volume. Ducted
fans can and should be selected based on total pressure, not static
pressure, and duct systems can and should be designed to exploit
static regain of velocity pressure.
These are new approaches—roads less traveled for sure. The
question is, Where do you want to go?
If you want to optimize efficiency, air quality, comfort, productivity, and life safety, new, more efficient comprehensive air
system design approaches will serve you well. They use less
energy, provide more value, and cost less than alternatives that
have been getting more publicity.
Some roads look rough. Some are under construction. Some
are being blocked by regulation. All roads lead somewhere.
Which approach will you choose?
AMCA’s role is to provide a road map, aid in the construction
of new approaches, and assure design professionals and regulators that products perform as advertised. Our mission is to
advance the health, growth, and integrity of the air movement
and control industry—a mission that is more important when
industry professionals are required by regulation to wrestle with
decisions they never faced before.
Please enjoy the many articles we have prepared with this
mission in mind, and as you read, give careful consideration to
where YOU want to go.

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http://WWW.AMCA.ORG

ASHRAE Journal - ACMA Supplement - Fall 2013

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