• The Magazine of the Society of Air-Conditioning and Refrigerating Engineers of Korea
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• v.30 no.8
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• pp.54-59
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• 2001

바낙 공기 급기(UFAD, underfloor air distribution)는 사무실과 상업 건물의 공조를 위하여 바닥 하부 공간을 사용하는 혁신적인 기술이다. 북미에서는 UFAD가 기존 천장 공기 급기 방식에 비하여 많은 장점을 지니므로 그 수요가 날로 증가하고 있다. 잘 설계된 UFAD 시스템은 다음과 같은 장점을 지닌다. - 건물의 용도 변경에 따픈 유연성이 우수하므로 건물의 생애 주기 비용을 감소시킨다. - 개별 쾌적성 제어가 가능하므로 온열 쾌적성, 거주자의 만족도 그리고 생산성을 향상시킨다. - 거주자주변에 직접 선선한 공기를 공급하므로 환기 효율, 실내 공기질 그리고 건강 상태를 향상시킨다. - 이코노마이저 운전, 온도 성층화 그리고 낮은 정합 운전에 의하여 에너지 비용을 감소시킨다. - 설비 공간이 축소되고 표준 철골 구조에서는 콘크리트 구조체 변경이 가능하므로 새 건축 공법에서는 충고를 감소시킬 수 있다. 1995년까지만 해도 UFAD는 파격적인 설계 기법이라고 여겨졌지만, 이제 설계자와 건축업자들은 2004년까지 신축되는 사무용 건축품의 35%는 바닥을 높인 기법이 적용되며 이 중 반 정도가 UFAD를 채택할 것이라고 예측하고 있다. 2000년 2억불이라고 추정되던 바닥을 높이는 건축의 시장 규모가 2004년에는 최소 10억불이 되리라고 예측된다. UFAD는 기본 연구에 의한 정립된 표준화된 설계 기법과 지침이 아직 마련되지 않았음에도 불구하고 현재 설계, 시공되고 있다. 이라한 경향은 펄수적인 연구가 수행되어 관련 업계가 지식과 경험을 충분히 쌓기 전까지는 계속될 전망이다. 본고는 시스템 설계와 운영의 주요한 특징, 기존 방식과 비교하여 지니고 있는 잠재적인 장점, 한계와 기술 개발의 필요성, UFAD 기술 개발을 위하여 계속적으로 요구되는 연구 분야 등을 서술함으로써 현재 UFAD 기술에 대한 평가를 한다.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2013

The present study has been conducted for evaluating and comparing the performance of the underfloor air distribution system(UFAD) and the ceiling based air distribution system(CBAD) under cooling condition. Simulations and experiments were carried out for verifying the model by TRNSYS program about UFAD and CBAD. The results of simulation for various conditions of thermal load are summarized as followings. UFAD had an advantage for making thermal comfort because of lower temperature of the floor surface. Moreover, UFAD showed lower fan power about 30~50% than CBAD under the same conditions of thermal load. The energy saving rates of UFAD were increased to 17.7% in proportion to the thermal load on unoccupied zone(lighting). Ultimately, additional investigations should be done for analyzing optimized operating conditions of UFAD with considering the thermal performance of building envelop and the thermal load.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.211-216
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• 2005

The authors carried out experiment, Computer Fluid Dynamics(CFD) and energy simulation of simulator. As a results of experiment and CFD, diffuser velocity is very important design factor for occupied zone air conditioning in Under Floor Air Distribution(UFAD) system. Then, in contrast to energy consumption of the Overhead system, the UFAD system could reduce 6.4% of the total energy because of occupied tone air conditioning. It concluded that tile UFAD system is more effective in energy Performance than the Overhead system.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.826-831
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• 2006

In this paper, we discussed the energy performance of underfloor air distribution(UFAD) and overhead air distribution system according to outdoor air intake rates in a office building. For this, the laboratory(S lab.) is selected for measuring the thermal environments of UFAD system and overhead system. Based on the measured data, the TRNSYS simulation is used to evaluate the energy performance of UFAD system and the overhead system according to outdoor air intake rates. By increasing outdoor air intake rates from required outdoor air intake rates(100CMH) to maximum air intake rates, the energy savings of UFAD system comparing with overhead system are varied $15%{\sim}25.6%$ in summer, $12.8%{\sim}19%$ in fall/spring and not varied in winter(8%). As results of simulations on stratification height and cooling set temperature, the lower the stratification height and the higher cooling set temperature, the larger cooling energy savings of UFAD comparing with overhead system according to outdoor air intake rates.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.711-717
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• 2008

Despite the fact that UFAD(Under Floor Air Distribution) systems have many benefits and are being applied in the field in increasing numbers, there is a strong need for an improved fundamental understanding of several key performance features of these systems. This study numerically investigates the effect of supplied air temperature and supplied flow rate on the performance of UFAD, especially focused on thermal comfort. Also this study has compared UFAD with conventional overhead air distribution system. In contrast to the well-mixed room air conditions of the conventional overheat system, UFAD system produces an overall floor-to-ceiling airflow pattern that takes advantage of the natural buoyancy produced by heat sources in the occupied zone and more efficiently removes heat loads and contaminants from the space. Thermal comfort parameters were evaluated by CFD approach and then PMV was computed to detect the occupants' thermal sensation. Results show that radiative mean temperature plays crucial role on the evaluating PMV. Until now, the radiative temperature has been the missing link between CFD and thermal comfort, but the present study paves the way for overcoming this weakness.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2006.06a
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• pp.15-20
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• 2006

Despite the fact that UFAD (Under Floor Air Distribution) systems have many benefits and are being applied in the field in increasing numbers, there is a strong need for an improved fundamental understanding of several key performance features of these systems. This study numerically investigates the effect of design parameters on the performance of UFAD, especially focused on thermal comfort. The design parameters considered in this study include supplied air temperature, supplied flow rate, diffuser shape, swirl, diffuser location, and floor-to-floor height. Also this study has compared UFAD with over head system, on the point of thermal comfort by evaluating PMV using radiative mean temperature, which shows how inadequate the evaluation of thermal comfort can be when radiation is neglected. Until now, the radiative temperature has been the missing link between CFD and thermal comfort, but the present study paves the way for overcoming this weakness.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.25-33
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• 2020

It has been reported about the energy saving performance of UFAD(under floor air distribution) system and NPC(night purge cooling) system respectively which are applied for commercial buildings. However, when two systems are used at the same time, the effect of heat transfer from floor plenum to slab may vary depending on the operating conditions of NPC. In this study, cooling energy demands were analyzed for building models with UFAD and NPC by using TRNSYS 17 program. UFAD was applied as a cooling system of the base building model, and the cooling energy demands were compared for 64 cases in which the operating time, supply airflow rate, and outdoor air temperature(T_o) of NPC. As a result, it was confirmed that the cooling energy demands were reduced to 30 ~ 80% level compared to UFAD alone, and in particular, the energy demand was reduced in proportion to the supply airflow rate or the operating time while T_o was 16 ~ 20℃. However, when T_o was 22℃, the increase in the supply airflow rate or the operating time results in a disadvantage in terms of cooling energy demands. In addition, the cooling energy demands for UFAD+NPC model were analyzed by applying weather data from three regions with different average outdoor air temperatures. As a result, the cooling energy demand of operating NPC only when T_o was below 20℃ was reduced by 27% compared to that of operating NPC continuously for 8 hours.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.105-110
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• 2017

Underfloor air distribution (UFAD) is an air distribution strategy for providing ventilation and space conditioning in buildings. UFAD systems use the underfloor plenum beneath a raised access floor to provide conditioned air through floor diffusers that create a vertical thermal stratification during cooling operations. Thermal stratification has significant effects on energy, indoor air quality, and thermal comfort performance. The purpose of this study was to characterize the influence of a linear bar grille diffuser on thermal stratification in both interior and perimeter zones by developing Gamma-Phi based prediction models. Forty-eight simulations were carried out using a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) technique. The number of diffusers, the air flow supply, internal heat gains, and solar radiations varied among the different cases. Models to predict temperature stratification for the tested linear bar grille diffuser have been developed, which can be directly implemented into dynamic whole-building simulation software such as EnergyPlus.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Geothermal and Hydrothermal Energy
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.40-46
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• 2016

In order to improve air quality of indoor environment, studies of the underfloor air distribution (UFAD) system for application in buildings are actively in progress based on temperature and air flow distribution. However, although the age of air is the major evaluation parameter, there has been very little study on this parameter for the UFAD system. In this study, we investigated the age of air to reach the air diffuser, which is installed at the bottom of the interior by the UFAD system. Computational fluid dynamics simulations showed no regular pattern to the maximum value of the age of air in accordance with air flow rate and the velocity at air diffuser. These factors can be deduced from air movement by considering that air emitted from air conditioners was rotated according to the bottom shape of the floor, and then, the age of air in the rotation center was increased. The average age of air of internal interior was reduced considerably as the flow velocity at the underfloor air diffuser was increased from 0.5 m/s to 1.0 m/s However, the age of air was not substantially affected with change in the air volume. Moreover, when the flow velocity at the underfloor air diffuser was higher than 1.0 m/s, the age of air showed no significant difference with change in air volume or height of measurement. These results imply that indoor air quality is more substantially influenced by flow velocity than air volume, and the appropriate flow velocity is 1 m/s or more.

• Proceedings of the SAREK Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.69-69
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• 2004