BUILDING CONTROL AND COMMISSIONING

(15CVP307)
Summer 2016 Two hours

Answer three questions

All questions carry equal marks
Candidates may use any Loughborough University approved calculator

1. a)  Using equations, describe proportional control action in terms of the control
setpoint (SP), the value of the controlled variable (CV), the proportional
band (PB), and the controller output (U). Illustrate your answer with a
diagram that shows the relationship between SP, CV, and U. [5 marks]

b) The airflow rate for natural ventilation is controlled using a parallel blade
damper. The pressure drop of the air-duct following the damper is equal to
that of the damper.

i) Calculate the authority of the damper. [3 marks]

ii) Describe why a parallel blade damper will provide better control than an
opposed blade damper at this authority. [4 marks]

c) State briefly the purpose of an optimum start controller. [2 marks]

d) Describe the purpose and benefit of adopting a cascade control scheme for
the control of zone air temperature by a simple heating and ventilating
system. Illustrate your answer with a diagram of a simple heating and
ventilating system and its control components configured for cascade
control. [6 marks]

2. a) Describe various elements of Building Energy Management Systems

(BEMS) together with the structure of an outstation. [10 marks]

b) Briefly explain networks used for BEMS communications and describe

different topologies used for local area networks. [10 marks]

Continues/…

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3. a) Describe four characteristics of natural ventilation in non-domestic

buildings that make it more difficult to control than mechanical ventilation?
[8 marks]

b) Describe (in words) how a ramp function might be used to open windows in
a naturally-ventilated building based on CO2 control alone. Your answer
must include values for any set points. [4 marks]

c) During commissioning, complete system performance checking involves

global performance checks, system level checks and sub-system level
checks. Give two examples for each of these three commissioning checks.
[6 marks]

d) State two reasons why fine tuning is so important following commissioning.

[2 marks]

4. a) Comment on the other building systems that integrate with the heating and
ventilation systems. Discuss how the readiness of these affects the
commissioning of the mechanical systems. [8 marks]

b) Describe the eight stages of the commission process as set out in the
BSRIA guide ‘The Building Services Job Book’. Discuss the role of the
engineer in these stages. [12 marks]

5. a) Display energy certificates (DECs) must be displayed in large public

buildings in Europe.

i) What information do DECs contain?

ii) Where does the data to produce a DEC come from?
iii) How do they help reduce energy demand and CO2 emissions?
[8 marks]

b) It is mandatory to measure the end-use, energy demand of new non-

domestic buildings. Figure 5.1 shows a hierarchy of five methods of
measurement.

i) Briefly describe each of the five methods.

ii) For each method, note the advantages and disadvantages.
iii) Give one example to illustrate each method’s application. [12 marks]

Question 5b continues/…

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Fig 5.1 Five methods of determining building energy end use

J. Wright
M. Eftekhari
M. Cook
R. Buswell
K. Lomas

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