Developing a Control Strategy for Minimum Airflow Setting Considering CO₂ Level and Energy Consumption in a Variable Air Volume System

In an office building equipped with a Variable Air Volume (VAV) system, this paper introduces a novel method for controlling the minimum supply airflow fraction in each zone’s VAV box, having a capability to consider indoor CO₂ level and energy consumption. The EnergyPlus simulation using the medium office prototype model was employed, which evaluated the performance of the energy and CO₂ concentration for five VAV box airflow control strategies. The paper focuses on CO₂ concentration-based airflow control method and compares it with other four methods including conventional single-max, reduced minimum single-max, demand-controlled ventilation(DCV), and dualmax control methods according to guidelines and common practices. The newly proposed control strategy directly correlates the minimum airflow fraction to CO₂ concentration. A general trend emerged when comparing CO₂ concentrations—lower minimum airflow fractions were associated with higher concentrations. The proposed control method effectively maintained low CO₂ concentrations and enabled a lower airflow fraction contributing to energy consumption reduction. It was confirmed that heating energy consumption in climate zone 4A, 5B, and 6A showed a maximum saving of approximately 30% compared to the conventional single-max and dual max control strategies. It was found that cooling energy consumption in climate zone 4A and 6A can achieve a maximum saving of approximately 10% compared to the conventional control strategies. The proposed CO₂ concentration-based control logic is promising as it not only improves the indoor air quality lowering the CO₂ concentration in the occupied spaces, but also contributes to HVAC energy savings.