MET 465 Cooling Load Calculation Example

Given: Single story, slab-on-grade office building located in Bozeman Montana.

Floor plan as shown below.
Flat roof, weight = 40 lb/ft2, color = light
Infiltration rate = 0.50 air changes per hour (ACH)
Roof U value = 0.112 BTU/hr-ft2-'F
Wall U value = 0.128 BTU/hr-ft2-'F, heavyweight, dark color
Window U value = 0.580 BTU/hr-ft2-'F
Door U value = 0.470 BTU/hr-ft2-'F
Room
Office 1
Office 2
Office 3
Office 4
Conference Room
Halls

Dimensions
22 x 22
22 x 25
22 x 25
22 x 25
22 x 50
6 x 97

Determine the cooling load for this building

Design
Occupancy #
2
2
2
2
20
0

Heating Load Calculation Process:

1.

Select outdoor design weather conditions.

Bozeman, MT.: DB = 87F, WB = 62F, (W = 0.0086 lbm/lba)

2.

Select indoor design conditions.

Comfort Level:
3.

DB = 76F, RH = 30% (W = 0.0069 lbm/lba)

Develop zoning plan for the building.

Zone
1
2
3
4

4.

Select or compute heat transfer coefficients for outside walls, roof, doors, windows, etc.
(Given in problem statement)
Component
Walls
Roof
Doors
Windows

5.
Component
Roof
N. Wall
E. Wall
S. Wall
W. Wall
N. Window
E. Window
S. Window
W. Window
N. Door
E. Door
S. Door
W. Door
6.
Per site plans

Rooms
1
2,3
4
Conf. , halls

U (BTU/hr-ft2-F)
0.128
0.112
0.470
0.580

Determine corresponding areas for outside walls, roofs, doors, windows, etc.
Office #1 (ft2)
484
170
170
0
0
50
50
0
0
0
0
0
0

Office #2 (ft2)
550
0
170
200
0
0
50
50
0
0
0
0
0

Office #3 (ft2)
550
0
0
200
0
0
0
50
0
0
0
0
0

Office #4 (ft2)
550
0
0
200
170
0
0
50
50
0
0
0
0

Determine building location, orientation, and external shading.

Conf. Rm. (ft2)

1100
400
0
0
170
100
0
0
50
0
0
0
0

Halls (ft2)
582
18
18
0
60
0
0
0
0
42
42
0
0

7.

Obtain schedule of lighting, occupants, internal equipment, appliances, and processes that would
contribute to the internal loads.

Per owner / occupancy information

8.

Calculate peak cooling load due to conductive and solar effects (rooms 1st, zones 2nd, total last) .
Calculate conductive heat gains through walls, roof, glazing, etc.
Calculate solar gains through glazing (windows).
Component
Roof
Walls
Windows
Doors

Equation
Q = Uroof * Aroof * ETDt
Q = Uwall * Awall * ETDt
Q = Uwindow * Awindow * TD (conductive)
Q = SC * Aglass * SF (solar)
Q = Udoor * Adoor * TD

These loads must be calculated for each hour of occupancy in order to determine the peak load for the building. See
spreadsheet (MET 465 Cool Load Example Calcs.) for summary of calculations
9.
Infiltration:

Ventilation:

Compute heat gain due to air exchange (infiltration / ventilation).

Qsensible = 0.91 * cfm * TD

where cfm = (Volume * ACH) / 60

Qlatent = 0.68 * cfm * GD

where GD = (Win Wout) * 7000

Qsensible = 0.91 * cfm * TD

where cfm = (Volume * ACH) / 60

Qlatent = 0.68 * cfm * GD

where GD = (Win Wout) * 7000

Note: Use largest of these two values (reference pg. 203 of text).
See spreadsheet (MET 465 Cool Load Example Calcs.) for summary of calculations
10. Calculate internal heat gains due to people, equipment, lights, etc.
Gain
People
Equipment
Lights

Equation
Qsensible = # Occupants * BTUH for activity level (p. 216)
Qlatent = # Occupants * BTUH for activity level (p. 216)
Per manufacturers specifications
Per building plans or
Estimate per table on page 216 of text

See spreadsheet (MET 465 Cool Load Example Calcs.) for summary of calculations
11. Sum all heat gains for peak zone loads.
Zone

Room

1
2
3
4

1
2,3
4
Conf.,
hall

Peak
Time
8:00 am
10:00am
4:00 pm
4:00 pm

Sensible Load
(BTU/hr)
13151
26067
16280
35542

Latent Load
(BTU/hr)
626
1342
671
6237

Total Load
(BTU/hr)
13778
27409
16951
41779

These loads represent the peak loads for each zone. Notice that the peak time varies. See spreadsheet (MET 465
Cool Load Example Calcs.) for summary of calculations.

12. Determine the building peak load.

Time
Component
Roof
Walls
Doors
Windows (conductive)
Windows (solar)
Infiltration/Ventilation
People
Lights
Equipment
Total Sensible Load
Latent Loads
Total Building Load

8:00
Qsensible
(BTU/hr)
1282
2765
434
3190
25798
2948
7000
18023
1100
62540
8876
71416

10:00
Qsensible
(BTU/hr)
6411
2860
434
3190
25436
2948
7000
18023
1100
67402
8876
76278

12:00
Qsensible
(BTU/hr)
11540
2859
434
3190
21866
2948
7000
18023
1100
68960
8876
77837

2:00
Qsensible
(BTU/hr)
15386
3149
434
3190
25680
2948
7000
18023
1100
76912
8876
85788

4:00
Qsensible
(BTU/hr)
15386
3021
434
3190
24087
2948
7000
18023
1100
75190
8876
84066

Peak building cooling load = 85788 BTU/hr at 2:00 pm

See spreadsheet (MET 465 Cool Load Example Calcs.) for summary of calculations.
13. Adjust as necessary to account for building diversity, setback recovery, etc.
Should we adjust?

6:00
Qsensible
(BTU/hr)
11540
3021
434
3190
16150
2948
7000
18023
1100
63407
8876
72282

8:00
Qsensible
(BTU/hr)
162
2765
434
3190
0
2948
7000
18023
1100
35623
8876
44499