Session: 09-07-01: Energy Sustainability for Buildings and Cities

Paper Number: 164823

Energy Analysis of McDonnell Douglas Hall 

This work will present an assessment of the energy efficiency of McDonnell Douglas Hall, the engineering building on Saint Louis University’s Main Campus. Similar studies have been conducted to evaluate thermal comfort and energy efficiency in university buildings [1], assess the thermal performance of vertical building envelopes on campuses [2], and explore the gap in achieving nearly zero-energy buildings using feature extraction methodologies [3]. 

This work focuses on determining energy losses stemming from building materials, construction constraints, and the HVAC. The analysis of this building consists of two primary components: data collection and impact assessment. During data collection, comfort variables such as indoor temperature, humidity, and air quality are recorded. Thermodynamic data from the operating conditions of the chiller and air handling unit (AHU) are also recorded. These data points serve as the foundation to identify areas where the thermal envelope of the building and HVAC operations fall economically short. Impact assessment builds on the data that was collected by evaluating the effectiveness of the AHU and identifying energy leaks.   

The first step of this study involved gathering essential building information, including construction plans, materials, and on-site data from one of three AHUs and a TRANE-SVHE320 chiller. This initial data collection facilitated an assessment of the chiller’s operational conditions, focusing on its mass flow rate, pressure levels, and thermal properties. 

Subsequently, a performance assessment of the chiller was conducted, assuming a conservative isentropic efficiency of 80%. The evaporator was modeled with low and high-pressure limits of 6 psia and 27 psia, respectively. Using measured pressures and temperatures, the enthalpy of the refrigerant (R123) was interpolated at various stages, and a mass flow rate of 3391.2 lbm/hour was calculated. These values enabled the determination of the chiller's coefficient of performance (COP), calculated as 5.23. 

In this project, we present partial results of the thermal analysis, which lays the groundwork for identifying and quantifying energy losses throughout the building, providing a basis for further analysis and efficiency improvements. In the future, a specific emphasis will be placed on reducing operational costs and environmental impacts. The exploration of feasibly implementing zero-emission strategies with broad goals for carbon neutrality are also included in that stage.   

References: 

[1] Balbis-Morejón, M., Rey-Hernández, J. M., Amaris-Castilla, C., Velasco-Gómez, E., San José-Alonso, J. F., and Rey-Martínez, F. J., 2020, "Experimental Study and Analysis of Thermal Comfort in a University Campus Building in Tropical Climate," Sustainability, 12(21), p. 8886.  

[2] Mahmoodzadeh, M., Gretka, V., Blue, A., Adams, D., Dallimore, B., and Mukhopadhyaya, P., 2021, "Evaluating Thermal Performance of Vertical Building Envelopes: Case Studies in a Canadian University Campus," Journal of Building Engineering, 40, p. 102712. 

[3] Salmerón-Manzano, E., and Manzano-Agugliaro, F., 2018, "Assessing the Nearly Zero-Energy Building Gap in University Campuses With a Feature Extraction Methodology Applied to a Case Study in Spain," Energy and Buildings, 9, pp. 227–247.  

Presenting Author: Danahe Marmolejo Saint Louis University

Presenting Author Biography: Danahe Marmolejo is a Chemical Engineer who earned her Ph.D. from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in 2012. Her research focuses on exergy analysis and process integration of thermal systems. In 2015, she joined the Division of Science and Engineering at the University of Guanajuato, where she taught chemical and physics engineering courses and contributed to research in energy systems. In 2022, she became an Assistant Professor at Saint Louis University, where she teaches first-year engineering courses, Thermodynamics, Statics, Dynamics, and Sustainable Energy Systems. Dr. Marmolejo is committed to hands-on and entrepreneurially minded learning in engineering education. She was recognized as a 2024 Campus Rising Star for KEEN and is an Engineering Unleashed Fellow for her innovative teaching approaches.

Authors:

Elizabeth Dolan Saint Louis University
Jessica Rutherford Saint Louis University
Danahe Marmolejo Saint Louis University