Security as a Design Parameter for Heating, Ventilation and Air- Conditioning Systems.

摘要

Heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are designed to meet a number of performance criteria including ventilation, energy consumption standards, and indoor air-quality. Recent biological weapons attacks on buildings and the prospect of chemical attacks due to terrorism have placed a new emphasis on security as a building design parameter. A number of government and private-sector organizations (e.g., the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, ASHRAE, NIOSH, and IFMA) have published guidelines for improving the resistance of buildings to airborne biological and chemical releases. These documents have not, to date, been critically compared in the literature. An extensive literature review reveals that existing guidance does not fully define a process that leads to affordable improvements in HVAC security. This thesis documents and evaluates the process of designing an HVAC system for commercial buildings with security as a priority. Each step in the procedure, from threat assessment to attack scenario modeling are analyzed and recommendations made for optimization in regards to HVAC system selection. The objective of this thesis is to provide enhancements to the HVAC design process and apply it to a case study utilizing a real building.