Th

herm
mal Lo
oads
The
ermal loadss are the amount
a
off energy needed
n
to be added or removed from a space by the
HVA
AC system
m to keep occupantss comfortable. Right-sizing the
e HVAC syystem the HVAC sysstem
requires understanding
g the heating and cooling lo
oads within the space. High performa
ance
buildings seek to reducce these lo
oads as mu
uch as posssible, and meet thesse loads ass efficiently as
posssible.

Thee building p
program deetermines whether
w
intternal or exxternal load
ds dominate.
By understand
ding the buildings
b
thermal loa
ads and itss intended use, you can
c more effectively use
ene
ergy from the sun and
a
wind to passive
ely heat, cool
c
and ventilate
v
your
y
buildiing, light your
y
building, and
d design efficient
e
HVAC syste
ems. You can even
n generate
e energy on-site using
reso
ources thatt would otherwise be
e thermal lo
oads that would
w
dem
mand energ
gy.
Exte
ernal therm
mal loads
Exte
ernal therm
mal loads come
c
from
m heat tran
nsfer throu
ugh the bu
uilding envvelope from
m the sun, the
eartth, and the outside environme
ent (and weather).
w
T
The
buildin
ng envelop
pe include
es walls, ro
oofs,
floo
ors, window
ws, and any other surfaces thatt separate inside and
d outside. They
T
are so
ometimes also
called envelop
pe loads, fa
abric loads,, skin loadss, or extern
nal gains/lo
osses.
The
ese loads in
nclude the energy em
mbedded in
n the moisture of the
e air (see se
ensible vs. latent heat).
Som
me commo
on ways tha
at heat flow
ws into or out of a bu
uilding are:
Heat cond
duction enttering or le
eaving the building envelope to
o outside air or groun
nd
Sunlight (rradiant ene
ergy) enterring throug
gh window
ws to heat interiors orr store energy in thermal
mass (dire
ect solar ga
ains)
Sunlight w
warming up
p exterior building
b
su
urfaces ("indirect solar gains")
Losing insiide air to the outside
e, or vice-ve
ersa, throu
ugh leaks and infiltrattion
Air being iintentionally introduc
ced to the building to
o provide fresh
f
air/ve
entilation or
o being
exhausted from poin
nt sources.
Matterial choicces, envelo
ope design
n, and envvelope sealing drama
atically affect the am
mount of solar
s
con
nducted an
nd convectted energyy that ente
ers and leaves the building
b
en
nvelope. The
T
degree
e to
which each of these impact the buildings
b
loads and the occup
pants comffort also depend
d
on the
tem
mperature and humid
dity differe
ences betw
ween indo
oors and outdoors,
o
which
w
are all consta
antly
changing by sseason and
d time of day.

Und
derstanding where heat
h
energ
gy is gaine
ed and losst in your design is an imporrtant first step
s
tow
wards succe
essful passsive design
n strategiess. When its hot and sunny, it can
c be veryy importan
nt to
reduce loads from solarr radiation by using properly designed
d
sh
hades and windows with low solar
s
hea
at gain. On
n the otherr hand, in a cold clim
mate or in the
t winter, its often desirable to
t capture this
free
e solar energy in som
me way.

All lightin
ng energy becomes
b
heeat eventua
ally

Inte
ernal Therm
mal Loads
Inte
ernal therm
mal loads come
c
from
m heat gen
nerated by people, lighting, an
nd equipme
ent. These
e are
also
o sometime
es called core loads or
o internal gains. Ligh
hting and most
m
equip
pment load
ds are senssible
hea
at, while th
he metabo
olic heat generated
g
by people
e bodies are a comb
bination off sensible and
late
ent loads. Some build
dings or sp
paces are dominated
d
by less co
ommon internal sourcces of senssible
and
d latent intternal load
ds such ass large kitcchens, swimming po
ools and lo
ocker room
ms and he
ealth
club
bs or indusstrial proce
esses.
The
e internal gains
g
from
m lighting and
a
equipment are generally
g
equal
e
to th
heir energy use: whe
en a
ligh
ht fixture cconverts a watt-hourr of electriicity into photons,
p
th
hose phottons bouncce around the
room until the
ey get abso
orbed, turn
ning their light energ
gy into heat energy.
Like
ewise, all the electriccal energy that the lighting fixtture did no
ot turn into photonss turns dire
ectly
into
o heat enerrgy, due to
o inefficiency.
The
e same is true
t
of equipment: electrical
e
energy
e
use
ed to move
e mechanical parts is transform
med
into
o heat via ffriction, energy used to power electronics
e
s turns into
o heat via electrical
e
re
esistance, etc.
e
The
e thermal lo
oad of peo
ople depen
nds on the
e number of
o people and
a their activity
a
leve
el. It can be as
little
e as 70-80
0 watts forr an adult sleeping to over 1,0
000 watts for
f an athllete engag
ging in inte
ense
exercise.

Theermal loadss from peop

ple doing different
d
acctivities

Actiivity

Watts
s

Sittin
ng

100

Stan
nding at ease
e / Conversa
ation

130

Eating meal

130

Stro
olling

160

Housekeeping

175

Hea
avy work (e.g
g. carpentry)

270

Fastt walking / Hiking

400

Long
g distance ru
unning

1,000

Sprinting

1,600

Tablle values from

m Starner, T. and Paradiso
o, J.A., "Huma
an Generated
d Power for Mobile
M
Electro
onics," in Pigu
uet, C. (ed), LowL
Pow
wer Electronicss, CRC Press, Chapter 45, 2004.

Inte
ernal vs. Exxternal Load
ds
Den
nsely popu
ulated buildings with high acctivity and//or energyy-intensive
e equipme
ent (e.g. offfice
buildings, mo
ovie theate
ers) are ge
enerally do
ominated by interna
al loads, while
w
sparsely popula
ated
buildings with
h little activvity or equ
uipment (e
e.g. single family
f
residences, wa
arehouses)) are generally
dom
minated byy external loads.
The
e building program and
a
massing also help
h
determ
mine how importantt internal heat
h
loads are
com
mpared to external lo
oads from sun,
s
wind, and ambie
ent temperratures.

Hea
ating and C
Cooling Loads
Inte
ernal and e
external thermal load
ds translate
e to heatin
ng and coo
oling loadss. This is ho
ow much heat
h
ene
ergy you ne
eed to heat and cool the building, and co
ontrol moissture within
n the building.
Loa
ads are usu
ually calcullated as th
he amount of energyy that need
ds to be moved
m
into
o or out off the
building to ke
eep the tem
mperature at a speciffied point (setpoint).
(
If heat gainss are greate
er than envvelope and
d ventilatio
on losses, th
he building
g or space has a net
co
ooling load
d (the build
ding is too
o hot).
If heat losses
s are greatter than the
e internal gains,
g
the building
b
orr space hass a net hea
ating
lo
oad (the bu
uilding is to
oo cold).
Th
he heating thermosta
at setpoint is often diifferent tha
an the coolling thermostat setpo
oint both to
t
sa
ave energy and becau
use of hum
man prefere
ence. The distribution
d
n of heating and cooling loads is
cliimate depe
endent.
Buillding perfo
ormance an
nalysis softtware can provide
p
ch
harts for he
eating and cooling loads that
provide a brea
ak-down fo
or what drives the he
eating and cooling en
nergy demand.

Mon
nthly heatin
ng and cooling load
charrts tell you where heat energy is
being
g gained and
a lost.
In Au
utodesk Reevit, the hea
ating and
cooliing loads are
a shown in
i separatee
bar charts.
c
It lissts heat con
nduction
throu
ugh windows separattely from so
olar
radia
ation heat gain throu
ugh window
ws,
as well
w as sepa
arating heat transfer
throu
ugh roofs, walls, and floors or
undeerground areas.
a

An explanation for how to

t interprett heating and
a cooling
g load charrts.
Example chartts from Auttodesk Revvit 2013

Wheen interpretting energyy load charrts,

pay attention to
t whether the biggesst
heatt losses and
d gains com
me from
interrnal or exteernal loads..

Also
o note thatt it is the PEAK
P
heatting and cooling loa
ads that arre used by engineers to size HV
VAC
equ
uipment. T
These energy analysis graphs are meantt to help understand
u
d energy fflows, not size
equ
uipment. However,
H
u
using
energ
gy analysis tools can allow you to better understand
u
d and calcu
ulate
ene
ergy use so
o that you can
c avoid oversizing
o
equipmen
nt and lookk past the typical
t
rule
es of thum
mb.

For guidance on how to make these calculations, look at the links provided below and reference
texts like Mechanical and Electrical Equipment for Buildings By Walter T. Grondzik, Alison G. Kwok,
Benjamin Stein, John S. Reynolds.
Using Energy to Meet Heating and Cooling Loads
The values in the heating and cooling load charts above represent the amount of heating or
cooling required, not the amount of energy a HVAC system would actually consume to generate
the required load.
Passive systems reduce the energy demand or meet it naturally. Active systems move heat and
moisture using gas or electricity. How much and what type of fuel the HVAC system will consume
depends on the system type and efficiency.
When using active systems, it usually takes more energy to meet heating loads than it does to
meet cooling loads. Heating systems based on combustion of a fuel are approximately 75%-95%
efficient efficient at converting the chemical energy in the fuel to heat delivered to the building.
The efficiency of cooling systems (and heat pumps in heating mode) is not measured in percent
efficiency because they do not convert potential energy to delivered heat, rather they use energy,
most commonly electricity, to move heat either into or out of a building. The Whole Building
Design Guide provides ranges of efficiency values and sizes that are typical for various types of
cooling systems see WBDG. Heat pumps and air conditioners use energy to move heat, they do
not generate coolth see Heat Pumps). The cooling effect that we feel is the removal of heat
rather than the addition of coolth.
Also, when you put cost into the equation it brings another level of complexity because heating
fuel is much cheaper per unit of energy than electricity. Building owners often spend more on
energy to cool their building than to heat their building. There are many reasons for this, but the
easiest to understand is that electricity typically costs three to five times more than heating fuel
per unit of energy.
Balance Points
The concept of a buildings balance point can help designers determine when heating or cooling is
required in the building. The balance point is the outdoor temperature at which the building makes
a transition from a heating need to a cooling need. It is calculated by comparing internal heat
gains (from people, equipment, etc) with external heat losses (from building infiltration, etc). It is
not the ideal comfort temperature inside the building. It is the temperature at which the building's
heat gains equal its losses.
If the temperature is BELOW the balance point, heating is required.
If the temperature is ABOVE the balance point, cooling is required.
If the temperature is AT the balance point, no heating or cooling is required, because the
building is gaining as much heat as it is losing.
For example, if the balance point of a building is 65 degrees and the outdoor temperature is 75
degrees, a passive cooling strategy like shading would be helpful at that time.
Buildings that have high internal heat gains (like offices), and low rates of heat loss (well-sealed
and well-insulated), will have a lower balance point.