After the design of the building envelope, HVAC design can have the biggest impact on energy performance. There are a few basic decisions have an enormous effect on energy use:  

Air handler inside the envelope

As opposed to... attic or garage where it loses heating and cooling to extreme temperatures.

The handler is in the basement.

All ducts are inside the envelope

As opposed to...ducts in attics, basements, crawl spaces and inside exterior walls where they are not heavily insulated.  Ducts located in those spaces leak or conduct heating a cooling to temperature swings.  ​​

All ducts are inside the conditioned air space.

Highly insulated and air sealed buildings need smaller equipment

As opposed to...oversized equipment to meet the high demands of a leaky building. 

The high insulation and air sealing levels in 4310 4th leads to a lower heating and cooling load. Dropping the heating and cooling translates directly into smaller HVAC equipment.  The original design included a 3 ton system.  With the insulation we were able to install a 2 ton unit...a 30% drop in size!

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