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Sustainable Design |
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| Chilled Beams |
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In the last several years chilled beam technology has emerged in the U.S. as one heating ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) alternative to historically conventional systems such as variable air volume (VAV). Chilled beams are available in three major categories: Passive Chilled Beams, Active Chilled Beams, and Multi-Service Chilled Beams (MSCB). Common to each category is a radiator element which provides radiant cooling via circulated cool water. The primary distinction between passive and active beams is the mechanism by which air flow is promoted and how fresh air is introduced in the occupied space.
This technology is most applicable to interior environments where heat gain in the space (solar radiation, equipment heat, etc) is the primary impetus for determining air flow quantities. For a complete overview of each Chilled Beam category follow the links below. |
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| Passive Chilled Beams |
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Passive Chilled Beam
Click on the image to view animation |
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Passive chilled beams can be thought of simply as a fin tube radiator that is located in the ceiling cavity. Passive beams are located above perforated metal tiles so that air can flow from the occupied zone to the beam in the ceiling cavity. They use the principles of natural convection - air between the coils cools and falls into the occupied zone while air that is heated in the occupied zone rises and is drawn into the void created by the descending cool air. Their primary applications have been as a mechanism to treat a building's perimeter heat gain and for an augmentation to a displacement ventilation system (underfloor air distribution).
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| Active Chilled Beam |
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Active Chilled Beam
Click on the image to view animation |
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Active Chilled Beam
Click on the image to view animation |
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Active chilled beams are considered "Active" because they are
connected to an air handling unit and provide ventilation air to a space through nozzles. The nozzles are referred to as "induction nozzles" because as they supply primary air into the occupied space they create a pressure differential in the beam across a cooling coil. This pressure differential "induces" air flow across the coil thus providing cool, recirculated air into the space. |
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| Multi-Service Chilled Beams |
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| A variation on the active chilled beam is referred to as the "Mutli-Service Chilled Beam". It is multi-service as it also can integrate a wide variety of other building services such as lighting, speaker systems, IT systems, fire protection (sprinklers and detectors), photocells, etc. |
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