Quality, Consequences and the Construction Industrial Complex (part 453). Our guest this episode is Niss Feiner,…
Tip of the Hat – Moduline VAV
Quality, Consequences and the Construction Industrial Complex (part 233).
Its throw back Friday………what if I told you there is a VAV system that is:
• Capable of working in VAV or CV applications
• System powered i.e. no field power or controls wiring required
• Autonomous local control with no wall mounted control unit
• Low cost to install, run and maintain
Well there was and is such a system, it is the Carrier Moduline system. During the 1980’s and part of the 1990’s these systems were popular in the UK. The Carrier UK website still has info on them here!
I have not seen Moduline installed since the 2000’s. I think this is because HVAC design engineers feel that the best response to the demand for high performance buildings is adding complexity and vastly extending the BMS system.
Whilst I am a huge fan of measuring as much as possible I believe the best design response to deliver high performance buildings is simplicity and very targeted measurement and control.
IMHO, VAV systems are outdated 1970’s technology that we should have moved on from. However, VAV systems persist due to:
• Path dependency (the most powerful influence you are not aware of)
• Entrenched supply chains (the largest influence on design decisions)
• Rewards for maintaining status quo i.e. zero risk taking (the second largest influence on design decisions)
• Energy modelling rewarding VAV (incorrectly in my view)
I was reminded of how good Moduline is on a building audit and RCx project in Canada. Sometimes it is good to be old and experienced. I was the only person who recognized the VAV system as Moduline and knew how to test and set it up. I even found my old Moduline technical manual which can be downloaded from my website here.
So to recap, there is a VAV system that has no field controls or small power wiring, no wall thermostats, minimal BMS points, is easy to maintain and run mostly because there are less options for maintenance technicians to change BMS set points.
All hail the Moduline system!
Stay inside and be safe everyone.
Twitter: @BLDWhisperer
Related Posts & Links
#94 – VAV Box Sizing – Rules of Thumb Vs Engineering
#101 – VAV Control Sans Duct SP Sensor
Edifice Complex Podcast
#Cx #nomad #Cxnomad #RICS #property #ACG #edificecomplexpodcast
#ProjectManagement #makingbuildingswork #podcast #VAV
Comments (1)
Leave a Reply
More to Explore
Interesting points. From my perspective (system design) Modulines are an inferior version of shut-off VAV: energy penalty to maintain high static at all times, no air heating at the terminals, not enough space ventilation in heating mode.