"Dr. Iyengar is a High Performance Building Designer who believes in the philosophy “An Integrated & Sustainable Approach to the Design of the Built Environment.”
His company Services Consultants is Head Quartered in Bangalore, India and has presence across India and in the USA. Their specialization is in Planning, Design, MEP design, Sustainable design & Zero Energy building design of private and public projects. Many of his projects have won global awards. He is currently designing various Townships, Airports, 5 star hotels, Residential apartments, Commercial offices, Pharma Units, Industrial Buildings, Aerospace projects and Hospitals across Asia & India. He is an accredited professional for various state governments in India for design of high rise buildings up to 300m height. He is a Sustainable Technologies expert partner with United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) in their Climate and Clean Air Coalition Initiative. He has published 2 books titled ‘Decentralized Approach to High Performance Building Design in tropics’ in Germany by SVH Verlag and ‘Asia’s Cities: Necessity, Challenges and Solutions for Going Smart’ in USA by Springer. In addition to being an ASHRAE DL, he is a part of ASHRAE’s Planning committee and an ASHRAE BOG member at Bangalore Chapter. Rupesh is also a founding member of Forum Of Critical Utility Services (FOCUS), India; a CWC committee member of ISHRAE @ Bangalore & member of Indian Plumbing Association @ Bangalore.
He has published more than 20 research papers in top international journals & conferences in USA, UK, India, Singapore, Switzerland, Philippines, and Australia. He has collaborated with ETH Zurich, NUS Singapore, Concordia University Canada, University of California Berkeley, USA and Princeton University, USA on various research projects. He is a university topper in Mechanical Engineering @ BMS College, Bangalore and holds a Gold Medal in Sustainability from the National University of Singapore. He has a Doctorate of Science in Sustainability and Zero Emission Design from ETH, Zurich and The Future Cities Laboratory."
Integrating HVAC Systems using IBMS Control Techniques
In complex, large, multi-story buildings such as hotels, hospitals, office spaces etc. the need for all engineering systems like Chillers, AHUs, FCUs, Pumps, Cooling towers, PICVs, Valves, VAVs, Dampers etc. to perform optimally is an operational requisite. Most air conditioned buildings have a dynamic space usage requirement. Multiple rooms maybe occupied at some hours and not for many following hours. This dynamism in user pattern puts a rather complicated operational matrix on the integrated functioning of building systems; more so the HVAC systems to operate at maximum efficiency. The control needed to distinguish between occupied and un-occupied zones and the respective support needed from AHUs / CSUs / Chiller units / valves / cooling towers etc. thus becomes very imperative. Such strenuous variation in the operation of dampers, PICVs, VFDs, pumps etc. cannot be achieved manually. The need for automation is thus highly recommended in such scenarios. An integrated building management control system is therefore needed so one point automated control is achieved. Some techniques, communication protocols, equipment etc. that are used to achieve these control strategies are discussed through this presentation.
Audience: ASHRAE Members, HVAC Engineers, Control System Professionals, IBMS End-users
Combining Passive and Active Design Strategies to achieve Net Zero Energy buildings
A large percentage of most countries’ energy demand goes to power its buildings. Urbanization will only increase building constructions and in-turn cause an increase in energy demand. Designing buildings, which are self-sustained, is therefore logical and very important. A building that can satisfy its own energy demand by generating the energy it requires is called a Net Zero Energy Building and one that can generate more energy than its needs is a Net Positive Energy Building. Net Positive Designs can help feed energy to the grid thus acting as a mini power plant inside the city. Designing such buildings need innovations in engineering design and architectural approach. The aim is to first reduce the energy demand of the building to the minimum; and then generate that energy at the building. Some of the concepts that can be used are: Using innovative materials for walls, slabs, roofs etc., selecting high performance glazing based on a balance achieved between U-value, SHGC, and VLT, enhanced day-lighting, free air-conditioning, natural ventilation, effective sensors, CFD simulations, an intelligent demand control strategy etc. The key though is to combine such strategies in the right proportions to achieve a workable solution.
Audience: ASHRAE Members, Planners, Architects, Engineers, Builders, Stakeholders
Splitting Sensible and Latent Heat Loads to increase energy efficiency of buildings
Air conditioning systems are responsible for more than 50% of any typical business building’s energy demand. The burgeoning growth of cities around the world will only increase this demand in the years to come. Investing, therefore in serious time and money to strategize ways to improve building HVAC systems is the call of the day. Traditional systems use large centralized Air Handling Units (AHUs) to move cool air to building interiors. But the movement of water, which is more effective than air in removing heat owing to its higher heat capacity, could be a better solution. The transition from a conventional all air centralized air conditioning to slab integrated water based radiant cooling systems coupled with decentralized ventilation could be the future of air conditioning. This type of a system could reduce false ceiling heights to minimum and increase floor to floor height by about 20%. The advantage is that, radiant cooling employs high temperature cooling techniques, with chilled water at 15°C to 17°C, to achieve temperature control. This is in contrast with traditional systems which use 6°C to 8°C chilled water. Decentralized ventilation units that are coupled to such radiant systems can take care of moisture control. Some of the design aspects that are investigated in this presentation are: challenges posed by addition of internal humidity from building materials; characteristics of air leakage through floor joints and infiltration; cooling capacity of radiant panels; risks of condensation on radiant panels and the energy required to run decentralized systems.
Audience: ASHRAE Members, Engineers, HVAC Designers, Building Operators
How a well-coordinated MEPF Design combining HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, Fire & Safety, IBMS and Low Voltage Parameters impact energy and water efficiency of buildings
A modern day building today can be compared to a very complex machine. The overall efficiency of this machine depends on various elements of engineering working together in a cohesive way. These elements are namely HVAC systems, Electrical systems, Plumbing systems, Fire Detection and Life safety systems and Automation systems. Each of these elements may singly run very efficiently, but a well-coordinated effort on the part of the engineer/designer is required to make sure that the combination of these elements retain their efficiency cumulatively. Basic requirements like Energy and Water are going to become scarce in the future if we do not develop strategies to prevent their inefficient use. It is therefore our responsibility as building engineers to design efficient buildings that impact energy use & water use positively. This can only be achieved when all elements like HVAC, Electrical, Plumbing, IBMS and Fire Safety are looked at as one well-coordinated design effort. Some such efforts achieved will be discussed through this presentation.
Audience: ASHRAE Members, Architects, Engineers, Developers, End-user clients
Resilient Buildings: Design Parameters to be considered for achieving long term Sustainability
Climate change is seen as the greatest challenge to mankind. The first impact of such a change will be reflected in the cities and buildings we live in. So we have to start thinking and prepare ourselves to adapt and become resilient to this change. We should relook at the way we design buildings. We need to look at strategies where we design high performance building that performs not only today, but also thirty years hence when a two degree Celsius rise in air temperature is predicted. We need to establish a meticulous balance between architectural quality and performance matrix. With the use of parametric architectural software, thousands of design options can be generated having energy, day-lighting, ventilation, thermal comfort etc. as their plugins. This is where the concept of ‘form follows performance’ is realizable. Designers today are interested not only in the form; a cultural expression of the artist-creator but in an articulated understanding of the built environment. A different design process, considering a broader set of parameters oriented towards performance from the very beginning could be the answer.
Audience: ASHRAE Members, Planners, Architects, Engineers, Builders, Stakeholders
