HVLS Fans: Energy Efficiency & Occupant Comfort

This course is no longer active. AEC Daily will not report completion information for this course.

HVLS fans work in tandem with natural ventilation or HVAC systems, reducing or eliminating many of the challenges associated with these systems while offering significant energy efficiencies. This course examines high volume, low speed (HVLS) fans and includes discussions on the indoor environmental benefits of air movement; thermal comfort; supplementing a traditional HVAC system with HVLS fans; innovations in fan design and technology; and the standards that govern fan performance.

Upon completion of this course, the Learner should be able to:

Describe the environmental benefits that can be achieved by specifying HVLS fans over traditional small high speed fans.
Define thermal comfort and list the factors that affect it.
Summarize how HVLS fans can be used in conjunction with an HVAC system to improve energy efficiency and indoor environment quality, and reduce costs.
Discuss how fan energy use is influenced by blade design, number of blades, and type of motor.
Outline the standards that govern fan performance and list the LEED® v4 credit categories where HVLS fans can help contribute to points earned.

Approximately 1 hour. Delivered online, at your own pace.

Presented by James R. Stahl on behalf of MacroAir. View the Privacy Policy .

Presenter Information

Name: James R. Stahl

Title: Application Manger, MacroAir Technologies, Inc.

Background:

Mr. Stahl was born in Central PA. Growing up he was surrounded by the construction trades, with his grandfather a builder, and his father a masonry contractor. The value of hard work was learned, not impressed upon. Since his birth he has questioned, studied, tore apart, and ruined many items in his quest to satisfy curiosity in understanding the world at large.

In his high school years the family moved to Yuma, AZ where he became involved in electronics and general mechanical machines. With an aptitude for mechanics and an eagerness to learn, he began his collegiate period.

Mr. Stahl entered the ranks of tax paying citizen with an offer to work from a regional office out of the Walmart home office in Bentonville, AR. While employed at Walmart for their HVAC/R and Energy Management group, the ability to work on state of the art equipment and techniques allowed any ambitious persons the opportunity to gain an understanding and perspective to the extent desired. Many of the items in the scope of responsibility included, but not limited to: supervision of all construction as it related to HVAC/R and Building Automation systems; full responsibility of all these systems at the time occupancy was conveyed; and maintaining a system of 24/7 service resources in the event of breakdown.

Mr. Stahl left his employ to return to school, and on completion of his BS, was ready for a new challenge. This opportunity came in the form of a Sales Rep role with a fledgling company named MacroAir Technologies, the inventors of the High Volume Low Speed fan system. The moment I looked at what this group was creating and the potential of the large fans to transform conventional thought I was ready to spread the word. In a world that was hurried to make all things micro, it was Walter Boyd, the founder, who applied a Macro thought to fan design. The resulting effects are transforming designs all over the world. My fifteen years in the HVLS fan trade have been fantastic and satisfying.