Energy Savings potential of energy recovery ventilation in an Animal Housing Facility

This paper summarizes efforts to identify economically viable strategies to reduce HVAC-related energy use while improving the indoor air quality for a public zoo facility that houses primates and large cats. The primary focus of energy conservation strategies for the facility centered on use of airto-air energy recovery devices. Computer simulations, validated with experimental data from the facility, were used to estimate energy savings for alternative energy conservation strategies. The findings suggest that more than 80% of the heating energy and 45% of the cooling energy can be saved by implementing air-to-air energy recovery equipment coupled with alternative temperature control settings. An extension of the energy analysis to environmental impacts suggests that up
to 73 tons of CO2 emissions can be saved annually by implementing the equipment and operating strategies identified in this study.