Hello! I'm modeling an existing office building in eQUEST. The proposed model system type is Variable Air Volume, fan power is entered as kW/cfm, and I am using the part-load fan performance curve from 90.1-2010 Table G3.1.3.15. I originally let eQUEST autosize the proposed model airflows and am now entering them per the actual design. The AHU design airflows are about 50% larger than eQUEST's autosized flows so I expected to see a fan power savings due to the fans hitting lower on the part-load fan power curve. However, when I entered the design fan airflows in eQUEST, with no other edits to the model, the fan power and cooling energy actually increased. Upon further inspection, I see that the eQUEST supply airflows are now about 15% higher during summer months. Also, the zones are now being maintained at a slightly cooler temperature compared with the autosized airflow model. (The cooling setpoint is 75F, and the zones are maintained around 76F in the autosized airflow model and around 75F in the design airflow model.) I'm not sure why this is happening because I made no changes to the model except for entering design supply airflow.
I've looked at the following so far and haven't found an explanation: disabled air-side economizer, set the fan min turndown very low, looked at design supply air temperatures and reset for heating and cooling (these haven't changed between the models), looked at zone throttling range (this is 4F in both models). Also, unmet load hours are very similar in both models.
I couldn't figure out how to upload an image to this post but graphs of the two scenarios can be found here: http://tinypic.com/r/zkhe28/8
Any ideas of what could be happening or other things to check? Thanks in advance!
Holly
