Lesson 1Fundamentals of heat transfer for HVAC loads: sensible vs latent, conduction, convection, radiation, and solar gainsReviews heat transfer basics for HVAC loads, separating sensible and latent heat, and explaining conduction, convection, radiation, solar gains for building envelopes and internal sources.
Sensible versus latent heat definitionsConduction through building assembliesConvection at interior and exterior surfacesLongwave and shortwave radiation effectsSolar gains and their interaction with loadsLesson 2Solar heat gain calculations: orientation, shading factors, glass properties, and use of solar heat gain coefficientsDetails solar gains through glazing, effects of orientation and shading on radiation, and applying glass properties and SHGC for hourly solar cooling load estimates.
Solar geometry and surface orientationShading devices and shading coefficientsGlass types, coatings, and visible transmittanceUsing SHGC and area to find solar gainsTime-of-day and seasonal solar variationsLesson 3Presenting load calculation worksheets: unit conversions, consistent units (IP), and step-by-step example structureGuides organising load worksheets, keeping IP units consistent, handling conversions, and structuring examples for traceable assumptions and results.
Standard worksheet layout and sectionsConsistent IP units and common pitfallsKey unit conversions for load workDocumenting assumptions and inputsStep-by-step example presentationLesson 4Equipment and plug load calculations: inventorying, duty cycles, diversity factors, and internal heat distributionExplains estimating equipment and plug loads from power ratings, duty cycles, diversity, and splitting heat into sensible/latent for zone distribution.
Identifying equipment and plug inventoriesConnected load, demand, and duty cycleDiversity factors for receptacle loadsSensible versus latent equipment gainsZonal distribution of internal equipment heatLesson 5Ventilation and latent loads: outdoor air sensible and latent contributions, using humidity ratios and psychrometric principlesFocuses on ventilation loads from outdoor air, using humidity ratios and psychrometrics to split sensible and latent, and code airflow into cooling/dehumidification loads.
Ventilation airflow from codes and standardsOutdoor and indoor design conditionsHumidity ratio, enthalpy, and psych chartsSensible versus latent ventilation loadsPreconditioning and energy recovery impactsLesson 6Infiltration and unbalanced ventilation: estimating infiltration rates, impact on latent and sensible loadsCovers air leakage and unbalanced ventilation effects on loads, infiltration estimation methods, and stack, wind, mechanical influences in calculations.
Drivers of infiltration: wind and stackACH, CFM, and envelope leakage metricsEstimating infiltration for load designSensible and latent load from infiltrationUnbalanced ventilation and pressure effectsLesson 7Latent load estimation and psychrometrics: dew point, specific humidity, calculation of latent heat loads from people, ventilation, and processesBuilds latent load skills using psychrometrics, dew point, humidity, computing heat from people, ventilation, and building processes.
Dew point, humidity ratio, and RHPsychrometric chart navigation basicsLatent gains from occupantsLatent loads from ventilation airProcess moisture sources and dehumidificationLesson 8Load calculation approaches: manual cooling load calculations, heat balance overview, and simplified methodsIntroduces key load methods: manual calculations, heat balance, simplified rules, with accuracy, inputs, and use cases.
Design objectives and required accuracyManual component-by-component methodsHeat balance and radiant-time-series ideasSimplified and rule-of-thumb approachesComparing methods and selecting an approachLesson 9People load calculations: sensible and latent contributions per occupant and per area, using ASHRAE tablesDetails occupant heat using ASHRAE tables, factoring activity, clothing, schedules, converting to area-based design values.
Metabolic rates and activity categoriesASHRAE tables for sensible and latent gainsOccupancy density and diversity factorsSchedules and peak occupancy selectionConverting per-person to per-area loadsLesson 10Combining loads and safety factors: coincident load summation, diversity, temperature delta selections, and peak load extrapolation from one floor to whole buildingShows combining loads into system totals, applying diversity/safety, temperature deltas, extrapolating floor to building peaks.
Coincident versus noncoincident load summationApplying diversity to internal gainsChoosing indoor and outdoor design deltasSafety factors and avoiding oversizingScaling floor loads to whole buildingsLesson 11Envelope heat gains: conduction through walls, roof, windows using UA method and solar heat gain through glazingCovers envelope gains via UA method for walls/roofs/windows, temperature differences, solar on glazing assemblies.
U-values, R-values, and UA calculationsWall and roof conduction with design deltasWindow conduction and frame effectsSolar gains through glazing systemsThermal mass and time lag considerationsLesson 12Lighting load calculations: converting lighting power density to sensible heat, diversity, and control impactsConverts lighting power to sensible gains, applies diversity/controls, accounts for schedules, dimming, losses.
Lighting power density and fixture dataConverting watts to sensible heat gainsLighting schedules and diversity factorsControls: occupancy and daylight dimmingBallast, driver, and luminaire losses