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UnderFloor Air Distribution (UFAD)

Elie Tawil, PE, LEED AP


Course Outline

This course presents a brief overview of underfloor air distribution (UFAD) systems which are raised floor systems within which plenums are used to deliver conditioned air to the space through floor grills. This course also describes the costs associated with installing UFAD systems.

In this course, you need to review “Alternative Air Conditioning Technologies: Underfloor Air Distribution (UFAD) “of the Department of Energy (DOE) publication DOE/EE-0295 and FEMP provided below.

This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of the course materials.

Learning Objective

At the conclusion of this course, the student will:

Intended Audience

This course is intended for mechanical engineers, designers, contractors, building professionals, and all personnel interested in gaining a better understating of UFAD systems.

Benefit to Attendees

Attendee of this course will realize the full potential of underfloor air distribution systems

Course Introduction

In the 1970s, underfloor air distribution was introduced into office buildings in West Germany as a solution to cable management and heat load removal issues caused by the proliferation of electronic equipment throughout the office. In these buildings, the comfort of the office workers had to be considered, giving rise to the development of occupant-controlled localized supply diffusers to provide task conditioning. Some of the first UFAD systems in Europe used a combination of desktop outlets for personal comfort control and floor diffusers for ambient space control.

Course Content

This course material is based on “Alternative Air Conditioning Technologies: Underfloor Air Distribution (UFAD) “of the Department of Energy (DOE) publication DOE/EE-0295 and FEMP.

UnderFloor Air Distribution (UFAD) 

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Course Summary

Recent trends in today’s office environment make it increasingly more difficult for conventional centralized HVAC systems to satisfy the environmental preferences of individual office workers using the standardized approach of providing a single uniform thermal and ventilation environment. Since its original introduction in West Germany during the 1950s, the open plan office containing modular workstation furniture and partitions is now the norm. Thermostatically controlled zones in open plan offices typically encompass relatively large numbers of workstations in which a diverse work population having a wide range of preferred temperatures must be accommodated.

Modern office buildings are also being impacted by a large influx of heat-generating equipment (computers, printers, etc.) whose loads may vary considerably from workstation to workstation. Offices are often reconfigured during the building’s lifetime to respond to changing tenant needs, affecting the distribution of within-space loads and the ventilation pathways among and over office partitions. Compounding this problem, there has been a growing awareness of the importance of the comfort, health, and productivity of individual office workers, giving rise to an increased demand among employers and employees for a high-quality work environment.

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.