Moving Ducts into Conditioned Space: Getting to Code in the Pacific Northwest

摘要

Changes in building practices in the Pacific Northwest have led to the installation of most components of central forced air heating systems outside of the conditioned envelope resulting in an overall degradation of distribution efficiency. Increases in fuel costs and efforts to reduce environmental impacts have resulted in an effort to encourage builders to place duct work within the conditioned envelope and regain lost distribution efficiency. Through a voluntary process supported by research and training, builders have learned to overcome obstacles and accept placement of ducts within conditioned space as a cost effective way to reach tax and utility incentive levels for energy efficiency. Growing acceptance has resulted in new compliance measures for ducts within conditioned space in Oregon and Washington energy codes. Modeling with SEEM software indicates substantial savings for the region across climate zones and system fuel types ranging from 9.0 to 28.4% system savings in heating and 7.7 to 17.0% savings in cooling.