DA09 Air Conditioning Load Estimation and Psychrometrics


This is the fourth edition of AIRAH’s DA09 Air Conditioning Load Estimation and Psychrometrics Design Application (DA) manual.


How can this DA manual help?

DA09 is one of a series of application manuals prepared to assist mechanical engineering designers and maintenance engineers with their day-to-day tasks, and the discharge of their duties. This manual seeks to set down knowledge of the art and current practice in air conditioning load estimation and psychrometrics, as at the date of publication. The document will also be of use to all those engaged in the energy-efficient planning, design, construction, operation, servicing, and management of buildings and air conditioning systems.

The manual covers heat and moisture flow through building elements; solar and transmission loads; internal heat gains from people, lights; and equipment; quantifying infiltration and outdoor ventilation impacts; and quantifying system effects. DA09 also explains air conditioning process psychrometrics including plotting air states and interpreting psychrometric data to generate air conditioning system design/selection/operation criteria. The manual is also a source of data and default values for the estimation of internal and external loads on an air conditioning system.

Released in October 2022, DA09 covers:
  • Building survey and load estimate
  • Design conditions
  • Heat storage, glazing, solar loads, diversity, and stratification
  • Solar heat gain through glass
  • Heat and water vapour flow through structures
  • Infiltration and ventilation
  • Internal and system heat gains
  • Applied psychrometrics.

DA09 is designed for:

AIRAH’s DA09 manual is the most comprehensive technical resource available for Australian air conditioning load estimation. It is a must-read reference for anyone involved in, or interested in, the design, selection, installation, operation, maintenance, and assessment of buildings or comfort systems, anywhere in Australia.

DA09 release schedule

Pre-order your hard copy of DA09 and save!

  • October 27, 2022 – Regular pricing begins; digital release of DA09
  • November 8, 2022 – Hard copy release

Pricing 

  AIRAH members  Non-members
Digital access
(from October 27)
 FREE N/A
Hard copy regular
(from October 27)
 $110 $250

GST included


Access the digital version (from October 27)   |  Order a hard copy


Hard copy orders will be dispatched from November 8.

About DA09


This is the fourth edition of the AIRAH air conditioning load estimation manual. The method outlined in this edition continues to follow the principles of the Carrier Method of load estimation, originally developed by the Carrier Corporation prior to 1972, but has incorporated several modifications not included in the original version. The manual provides a range of information and design data that can be used in any load estimation calculation.

The method outlined is not the only load estimation method available nor the latest, but the Carrier Method does have a long history of use in Australia (through the CAMEL software) and lends itself well to manual calculations for simple rooms, zones, and buildings. Those new to load estimation are advised to conduct a few entirely manual load calculations prior to reliance on any software method. This promotes a better understanding of the load estimation processes and the impact that individual loads have on the design of air conditioning services.

The topic of building heating and cooling load estimation is explored in detail in this manual and the psychrometrics of the fundamental air conditioning processes, which are needed to design systems that will provide specified indoor design conditions for a defined range of occupancies and climate profiles, are explained. Although this is a load estimation and not an air conditioning design manual, it does draw strong connections between the choices a building/system designer (or load estimator) makes and the magnitude of the cooling and heating loads. This edition provides additional guidance on the load implications of building design elements, strategies for reducing the loads, climate appropriate architecture, and controlling the use (and overuse) of safety and engineering design factors in both the load estimation and subsequent air conditioning design calculations.

Air conditioning load estimation is all about predicting and quantifying the peak heating and cooling loads for a building and facility. An accurate load estimation is the first and most critical step in the design and construction supply chain for an air conditioning system. It affects equipment selection, system size and design. It is critical for system functionality, future service satisfaction and energy performance. Sometimes more art than science, load estimation aligns the demands of climate, building form and building function with the health, comfort, and productivity of the occupants or the process.

Peak cooling and heating loads can’t be measured or physically tested, they can only be estimated (calculated or modelled) based on a range of assumptions, including many operating assumptions (people, lights, appliances), climate assumptions (sun, wind, moisture and temperature), and building architectural and construction assumptions (sealing, insulation, mass). Fundamentally, any heat gain and loss must be equally balanced by heat removal and addition to achieve a desired indoor comfort condition.

DA09 covers heat and moisture flow through building elements; solar and transmission loads; internal heat gains from people, lights, and equipment; quantifying infiltration and outdoor ventilation impacts; and quantifying system effects. The manual also explains air conditioning process psychrometrics including plotting air states and interpreting psychrometric data to generate air conditioning system design/selection/operation criteria. The manual is also a source of data and default values for the estimation of internal and external loads on an air conditioning system.

This application manual is the most comprehensive technical resource available for Australian air conditioning load estimation and is a must-read reference for anyone involved in, or interested in, the design, selection, installation, operation, maintenance, and assessment of buildings or comfort systems, anywhere in Australia. Smoke control or smoke hazard management is a very serious business. These are real systems that can save real people in real fire events.





This page was last updated September 28, 2022