ASHRAE’s student design competition recognizes outstanding student design projects, encourages undergraduate students to become involved in the profession, promotes teamwork and allows students to apply their knowledge of practical design. Awards will be presented at ASHRAE's 2009 Winter Meeting Jan. 24-28 in Chicago, and winning student groups will each have a poster presentation to display their projects at the meeting.

This year's competition featured architectural design as well as selection and design of HVAC&R systems for a 60,000-square-foot community recreation center. Among others, first place in the HVAC system selection category was awarded to students of the Pennsylvania State University (advisor: William Bahnfleth, Ph.D., P.E), chose a ground-source heat pump with active chilled beams or fan coils in a four-pipe system configuration for both heating and cooling and a dedicated outdoor air system for all spaces with an enthalpy wheel for energy recovery and a solar assisted LiCl dehumidification unit in the natatorium space, reveals the association’s press release. "This solution uses heat transfer from the earth as opposed to burning fossil fuels and utilizes solar energy from the solar thermal collection panels, reducing the amount of energy supplied to the building and the energy footprint of the facility,” the students wrote.

Also, first place in the HVAC system design category went to students from Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand (advisor: Chirdpun Vitooraporn, Ph.D), who chose an electric air-cooled chiller system with 134a as a primary refrigerant and water as a secondary refrigerant. Elements of the system include variable-speed drives, outside air units, CO2 sensors, and heat pipe and heat recovery wheel units. “The relative energy consumption as well as relative operating and maintenance costs determined that the system is not only beneficial for the building owner and users but for the environment as well,” the students wrote.