Development of an FDD Test Method for Commercial HVAC Packaged Units

This project intends to break new ground in the world of fault detection and diagnostics (FDD), and improved heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) performance through enhanced maintenance. FDD and HVAC maintenance show ample opportunity to achieve and maintain significant energy and demand savings in support of strategic initiatives, goals, and policies across California. The project’s goal is to develop a laboratory test method for FDD technologies for a commercial packaged rooftop unit (RTU) air conditioner. The test method presented in this report is part of many ongoing efforts needed to continually explore solutions to the complex issues inherent with FDD and HVAC maintenance. The test method imposes single and multiple cooling-mode faults under steady-state conditions. The test method is used to explore the outputs of three FDD technologies in project ET13SCE7040 (“Laboratory Assessment of Fault Detection and Diagnostics Technologies on a Commercial Packaged Rooftop Unit”), and evaluate HVAC fault impacts in project ET13SCE7050 (“Evaluating the Effects of Common Faults on a Commercial Packaged Rooftop Unit”). The Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) 2008 Standard 210/240 provided the foundation for this test method. This project leveraged industry knowledge through engagement of a Technical Advisory Group (TAG) and the Western HVAC Performance Alliance (WHPA) FDD committee. Experience was also leveraged from a previous FDD/HVAC maintenance study by Southern California Edison’s (SCEs) Technology Test Centers (TTC).VIII The test method was implemented by a third-party AHRIcertified lab, with some additional follow-up testing conducted at SCE’s TTC. This project successfully developed a steady-state test method suitable for replicating HVAC faults in a laboratory environment, but is not intended to be the final and universal solution to fully understand FDD and HVAC maintenance. This lab test method does not capture transient impacts of faults, and cannot inform of the actual severity, incidence, and prevalence of faults experienced by equipment in the field. The overwhelming permutations of fault severities, fault combinations, indoor/outdoor conditions, and HVAC equipment characteristics make laboratory testing a potentially large burden for directly exploring FDD technologies via lab testing alone.