UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State architectural engineering students received first- and second-place honors in the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Student Design Competition, the technical society announced on Aug. 1.
The ASHRAE competition recognizes outstanding student design projects, promotes teamwork and allows students to apply their practical design knowledge of energy-efficient heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, according to their website. The focus of this year’s competition was a new energy-efficient performing arts building on a university campus in Sydney, Australia.
Penn State teams competed in two of three categories. The HVAC System Selection team developed and evaluated system options and recommended the one that best met the owner’s requirements. They won first place and $2,000. The Integrated Sustainable Building Design (ISBD) team took second-place honors for designing the building and its systems for efficient use of energy and water, low environmental impact and high indoor environmental quality.
Over the course of the spring semester, students in AE 455: Advanced HVAC System Design, an upper-level undergraduate and graduate-level course offered by Penn State’s Department of Architectural Engineering, worked in teams to develop their designs for the competition. The HVAC System Selection team developed and modeled three HVAC system proposals that would optimize energy efficiency, occupant comfort and safety, and total operating cost.
“We determined that our system consisting of chilled beams and dedicated outdoor air — coupled with water-cooled chillers utilizing latent thermal storage and a seater heat rejection loop from the nearby Sydney Harbor — was the best choice,” said team member Donnie Black, who expects to graduate in May 2023 with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architectural engineering. “Throughout the three-month process, we were able to learn about HVAC system and plant components, energy modeling, codes and standards and lifecycle cost analysis.”
Joining Black on the HVAC System Selection team were Mason Blank, Sarah Halstead, Isabella Zuccaro and Weston Kimmey, all of whom are enrolled in the dual bachelor and master of architectural engineering program with a mechanical focus.
Penn State’s ISBD team, also students in AE 455, developed a design that fostered sustainability in several aspects of the Sydney building, including site selection and access to public transportation, material selection and building orientation to minimize energy demand, renewable energy with rooftop solar panels positioned for maximum electricity generation, efficient HVAC systems and equipment to minimize water usage.
“Economic, financial and social sustainability were all considered in our design recommendations,” said Jacob Seiler, a doctoral student in architectural engineering who has a bachelor’s degree in engineering science from Penn State. "The project was a unique opportunity to use and develop our engineering skills for a real-world application. Sustainability should be a focus in the classroom and throughout the world.”
Seiler’s ISBD teammates included Mark Basehore, Hyeonjun Lee, and Xiaoyu Ning, all of whom are enrolled in the dual bachelor and master of architectural engineering program with a mechanical focus.
“It is a great accomplishment and honor for our students to place highly in this international competition, and a pleasure for me to teach and advise them,” said William Bahnfleth, professor of architectural engineering at Penn State, and the instructor for AE 455. Bahnfleth advises the project teams with assistance from industry mentors.
Steve Oskin, director of mechanical engineering at Barton Associates, who earned a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering from Penn State in 2002, was industry mentor to the HVAC System Selection team. Luke Leung, director of sustainable engineering at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, who earned bachelor's and master's of architectural engineering degrees from Penn State, provided support for the ISBD team.
The winning teams will be recognized during the 2023 ASHRAE Winter Conference, which will take place in Atlanta Feb. 4-8.