Handbook of Green Building Design and Construction, 2nd Edition

9.4. Mechanical Systems: Air Conditioning, Heating, and Ventilation

Most tenants living today in urban American cities now take for granted that the buildings they live and work in will have appropriate mechanical HVAC systems in place. It is understood that these systems are designed to provide air at comfortable temperature and humidity levels, free of harmful concentrations of air pollutants (Fig. 9.8). Moreover, the technological advances and continuous development of air conditioning systems have brought about fundamental changes in the way we design projects because it has allowed investors to build larger, higher, and more efficient buildings than was previously possible. But even though buildings today are being designed with increasingly ...