WHITE PAPER

Recent advances in flow sensor

technology help deliver more
advanced HVAC test instruments

White Paper - HVAC Page 1 of 10 FL-002301-SM-1, 2022-11-11

 EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY

The Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) sector is

facing the challenges of Net Zero, a growing demand for cooling
technologies, and needing to ensure good indoor air quality within
buildings.

HVAC legislation is already complex and ever changing but it tends

to be focused primarily on developing tougher energy-efficiency
requirements for new installations and equipment. And in the case
of new buildings, HVAC installations have to comply with the latest
building regulations for energy efficiency and CO2 emissions.

Although current HVAC systems are more Eco-friendly, smarter

and more responsive to environmental changes than their
predecessors, they still need to be regularly checked to ensure
continued operation at peak performance. But what about older
existing installations?

There are still very few regulations forcing building and

homeowners to have their systems regularly maintained, when
it could often lead to almost immediate and significant cost and
energy savings.

Today’s HVAC field service engineers rely on a range of different

instruments to help check system performance. But some of
those measurement devices are difficult to use or their accuracy
depends on factors such as the particular fan being tested.

In this white paper, Flusso argues that recent advances in small,

low cost and low power flow sensors could help deliver a new
generation of more accurate, robust and easier to use smart
HVAC test equipment.

Using smarter test instruments, together with routine system

performance and maintenance checks, could deliver significant
savings in HVAC system operating costs, energy consumptions and
carbon emissions.

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 The Heating, Ventilation and
Air Conditioning (HVAC) industry is
facing three urgent global challenges

1
Transition to Net Zero: is forcing many countries to pass staged
net zero targets into law. Some governments, for example in
France, are also implementing new regulations requiring owners
of buildings to ensure their systems continue to perform at
peak performance. In the case of France’s Tertiary Decree, the
regulations apply to all tertiary use buildings with floor areas over
1,000 m2 such as offices, shops and schools [1].

2
Growing demand for cooling: The EU estimates that by 2030 the
energy used to cool buildings will rise by 72%; and the International
Energy Agency (IEA) predicts global energy demand from air
conditioning (AC) could triple by 2050 [2, 3].

HVAC already accounts for around 10% of all global energy

consumption and 70% of a building’s energy consumption. But it’s
set to soar and we need to find new ways to help keep people cool
while meeting demanding net zero targets.

Most of today’s homes with AC

India
systems tend to be located in Percentage of households
equipped with AC in
a small number of countries South Africa selected countries,
where ownership is based 2018. Most homes in hot
Indonesia countries have not yet
more on income than on need. purchased their first unit
But AC sales are expected to Brazil Source:
grow rapidly in emerging The Future of Cooling/IEA
Mexico
economies as a result of rising
incomes and to help China
counteract rising global
temperatures [4]. Saudi Arabia

Korea

United States

Japan

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

White Paper - HVAC Page 3 of 10 FL-002301-SM-1, 2022-11-11

 3
Worries about indoor air quality (IAQ): which is now widely
accepted as an important determinant of the health and wellbeing
of a building’s occupants.

Increasing use of synthetic and composite construction materials

within buildings has led to steadily growing concerns about IAQ
over many years. To the point that adequate ventilation and
filtration solutions are now seen as essential in reducing
exposure to hazardous air contaminants, such as volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) like formaldehyde or small inhalable particulate
matter (PM) [5].

But the Covid-19 pandemic and extensive research into HVAC’s

potential role in disease transmission has made IAQ one of today’s
top priorities. So much so that the professional HVAC association;
the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and others
have issued guidance recommending home and business owners
now keep their HVAC systems running for longer to enhance air
exchanges [6, 7].

Today’s HVAC equipment and system manufacturers are under pressure to develop
much more climate-friendly and cleaner cooling technologies as the potential
benefits could be huge.

Predictions from the IEA, for example, suggest that doubling the energy efficiency
of equipment by 2050 could prevent up to 460 gigatonnes (Gt) of greenhouse gas
emissions from being released into the atmosphere and save trillions of dollars [8].

But developing new technologies takes time, and right now many major countries are
facing a more immediate predicament: a deepening energy crisis and soaring energy
prices.

It’s been described as a ‘blessing for the climate’ but it could also unlock a significant
new opportunity in helping home and business owners to better understand just how
efficient their existing systems are and to find ways to improve their energy efficiency.

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 Efficiency regulations
target new systems

HVAC legislation is already complex and ever changing but it’s

still centred predominantly on forcing tougher targets for the
energy-efficiency of new installations and equipment, as well as
more strictly defined requirements for building air tightness and
ventilation system performance.

The EU’s EcoDesign requirements for air heating and cooling

products and the International Energy Conservation Code are two
of the latest sets of regulations to undergo further tightening [9, 10].
And in both cases they have set tougher performance standards
for new equipment.

In the case of new builds, HVAC installations now need to comply

with the latest building regulations and specifications for energy
efficiency and CO2 emissions.

For example:
• EN12599:2012 specifies the checks, test methods and
measuring instruments required to verify the fitness for purpose
of a new system when it is handed over [11].
• The US Department of Energy’s new efficiency standards,
which come into force from 1 January 2023, require an
additional 15% efficiency increase over previous ratings set in
2018 for any new installations
or replacements of
commercial AC and heat
pump equipment [12].
The UK’s latest energy performance
of building regulations go one step
further for existing installations by
requiring a system inspection by an
accredited assessor every five years.
However, there is still no legal
requirement to act on their
recommendations [13].
New installations, such as this heat recovery ventilation system,
have to comply with increasingly strict specifications for energy
efficiency and performance.
Credit: Shutterstock/ronstik

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 Innovations help improve
working environments

Several well established technology innovations are already helping

to ensure existing HVAC systems can deliver maximum comfort for
a building’s occupants with minimum energy consumption, as well
as healthy and safe working and living environments for all.

Advances such as:

• Increasing use of building automation systems for building
retrofits to provide improved environmental control and
monitoring.
• Heat and energy recovery ventilation systems that work by
transferring energy between the outdoor supply air and exhaust
stream to significantly increase energy efficiency. In effect to
prevent energy being wasted by exhausting already cooled or
heated air from a building.
• Demand control ventilation systems with room occupancy and
CO2 sensors to automatically adjust the ventilation rate in
response to changing occupancy rates.

The increasing use of AI-driven sensor networks, integrating flow

and gas sensing technologies, and the transition to digitised
building management systems are likely to become major driving
forces in defining buildings of the future.

It’s an approach that allows all

the building’s systems – such
as fire detection; lighting control;
safety, security and access
control; and energy
management – to be brought
together in a cloud-based
solution (often termed as ‘under
one pane of glass’) that promises
to deliver new energy and cost
savings.

Smart IoT-monitoring systems are helping home and building

owners to take more control of their HVAC systems.
Credit: Shutterstock/sdecoret

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 Routine maintenance can
save significant costs
Current HVAC systems are certainly more energy-efficient, smarter and more
responsive to environmental changes than their predecessors. They have integrated
features such as enhanced filtration with active filter monitoring; HVAC economisers
with logic controllers and sensors to get an accurate reading of outside air quality;
and real-time performance monitoring. All of which helps ensure the optimal balance
of IAQ, energy consumption, and occupant safety and comfort.

But systems still need to be fully and regularly tested by HVAC maintenance
engineers to check and verify their performance after installation and to help
pinpoint areas for improvement. Because the potential and almost immediate energy
and cost savings can be significant.

For example, some HVAC professionals have calculated that an undetected leaking
duct on the return path of a residential system (effectively drawing unconditioned
outside air into the system) could potentially reduce efficiency by as much as 40%
[14, 15].

It’s perhaps surprising then that regulations compelling commercial and residential
building owners to commit to routine HVAC system performance and energy-
efficiency checks are still some way behind the increasingly stringent requirements
for new installations. There are already agreed HVAC test standards for use in
verifying system performance – such as EN 16211:2015 specifying methods to
measure airflows and ASHRAE 111-2008 to measure, test, and balance systems.

And in AC systems with water-cooling towers or where there is a risk of water

pooling, there is a requirement to regularly test for Legionella. But there is no
requirement for ongoing performance and energy-efficiency checks [16, 17].

At Flusso we believe firstly that every installed HVAC system, which is effectively
a complex electro-mechanical system, should be regularly checked to ensure
it continues to operate at peak performance. And secondly, that investing in a
programme of routine performance checks should become an urgent priority for
every building and homeowner.

It’s an approach that will need a

combination of new regulations
and more advanced test
equipment but it’s also where
recent advances in low cost and
miniaturised flow sensor
technology could help.
But it is also exactly where
recent advances in low cost
and miniaturised flow sensor
o
R utine maintenance is vital in helping to identify and pinpoint
technology could help. equipment and system faults that could significantly increase
energy consumption.
Credit: Shutterstock Roman aiets

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 HVAC test equipment
and instruments
Today’s field service engineers rely on a range of different test instruments to test,
adjust and balance an HVAC system and to help identify potential faults. Their list of
specialist equipment includes:
• Hot-wire and vane (or turbine) anemometers – to measure airflow rates and
direction with hot-wire devices tending to be more common because of their
ability to measure a wider airflow range.
• Airflow capture hoods (or balometers) – to measure the volume of air being
discharged from grilles and diffusers.
• Duct leakage tester – to measure the air tightness of forced air HVAC ductwork.
• Borescope inspection cameras – to inspect inaccessible areas and ductwork.
In addition, they also need to carry around with them a variety of different
thermometers, a multi-meter, IAQ meter, refrigerant leak detector and often a
specific data logger. And sets of ladders too for access to ceiling-mounted air ducts,
grilles and diffusers.

Some existing tests

are ‘conditional’
The difficulty with some existing performance test procedures is that they rely on
what can best be described as ‘conditional methods’. In other words, where the
accuracy of airflow measurement is dependent on factors specific to the particular
fan being tested and the measurement device being used.

Using a measurement device introduces a resistance to the airflow being measured

compared to normal operating conditions so it requires a correction factor to
calculate the actual flow rate.
And different measurement
devices can affect airflow rates
in different ways too.

We believe the industry urgently

needs a new generation of more
accurate, robust and easier to
use smart HVAC test equipment
using some of the latest
advances in flow sensor
technology.
Vane anemometers are typically calibrated to measure flow in
one direction only. Engineers need to adjust them depending
on whether they are measuring supply or extract air.
Credit: Shutterstock R fin

White Paper - HVAC Page 8 of 10 FL-002301-SM-1, 2022-11-11

 Recent advances in
low-cost flow sensing

Flusso manufactures the world’s smallest and least expensive flow

sensors with class-leading accuracy, repeatability and robustness.

It offers sensors for air velocity, volumetric flow, differential

pressure and air temperature that are ideally suited for tight
integration into highly multifunctional, portable, and
battery-powered test instruments.

For example, the FLS122 was launched in May 2022 as the

world’s smallest thermal air velocity sensor and to support
bi-directional flow sensing for real-time air speed and temperature
measurement. It measures air velocity directly or can be calibrated
to report airflow rate.

The FLS122 offers multiple benefits over today’s existing HVAC

testing technologies including lower power consumptions for
extended battery lives; less drift for longer intervals between
recalibration; and exceptional robustness.

In addition, Flusso flow sensors can be used for multiple

applications elsewhere within HVAC systems such as active filter
monitoring and as embedded flow sensors throughout buildings
to enable smarter and more responsive climate control systems.
Flusso flow sensors are small, low cost and low power so they can
be easily integrated for example into IoT devices connected via WiFi
or Bluetooth LE.

For further information on the

FLS122 and Flusso’s other
sensor innovations please
contact sales@flussoltd.com,
one of the company’s
distributors or visit flussoltd.com Flusso FLS122 air velocity sensor

White Paper - HVAC Page 9 of 10 FL-002301-SM-1, 2022-11-11

 References
1. Decree No. 2019-771 of July 23, 2019 relating 11. EN 12599:2012 - Ventilation for buildings - Test
to obligations for actions to reduce final procedures and measurement methods to hand
energy consumption in buildings for tertiary use over air conditioning and ventilation systems
www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/ www.en-standard.eu/bs-en-12599-2012-
JORFTEXT000038812251/ ventilation-for-buildings-test-procedures-
and-measurement-methods-to-hand-over-
2. International Renewable Energy Association - air-conditioning-and-ventilation-systems/
Heating and cooling
www.irena.org/heatingcooling 12. 2023 Regulatory requirements guidebook
www.johnsoncontrols.com/-/media/jci/
3. Population-weighted degree-days: The global campaigns/2022/doe/jci-doe2023guidebook.
shift between heating and cooling pdf
www.doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2022.112315
13. The Energy Performance of Buildings (England
4. International Energy Agency: The future of and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2020
cooling report www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2020/1422/
www.iea.org/futureofcooling/ contents/made
5. Building materials can be a major source of 14. Leaking Ducts Can Reduce HVAC System
indoor air pollution Efficiency by 40%
www.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24260944/ www.contractingbusiness.com/rob/
article/20866894/leaking-ducts-can-reduce-
6. Review of component designs for post-COVID-19 hvac-system-efficiency-by-40
HVAC systems: possibilities and challenges
www.doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09001 15. Predictive Maintenance for HVAC Plays a Key
Role in the Life of Your System
7. Air-cleaning and filtration: address the unseen in www.buildingsiot.com/blog
the ‘new normal’
Published by Carrier, June 2020. 16. EN 16211:2015 - Ventilation for buildings -
Measurement of air flows on site - Methods
8. International Energy Agency: Climate-friendly www.en-standard.eu/bs-en-16211-2015-
cooling could cut years of greenhouse gas ventilation-for-buildings-measurement-of-air-
emissions and save trillions of dollars flows-on-site-methods/
www.iea.org/news/climate-friendly-cooling-
could-cut-years-of-greenhouse-gas- 17. ASHRAE 111-2008 – Testing, Adjusting, and
emissions-and-save-trillions-of-dollars Balancing of Building HVAC Systems
www.civilnode.com/download-standard/
9. EU 2016/2281 - EcoDesign requirements for 10636763452297/ashrae-111-2008-testing-
air heating and cooling products adjusting-and-balancing-of-building-hvac-
www.eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/ systems-ansi-approved
PDF/?uri=CELEX:32016R2281&from=EN
10. 2021 International Energy Conservation Code
https://codes.iccsafe.org/content/IECC2021P2

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