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Industry

HVAC

Heating, ventilation and air conditioning: the equipment and controls that regulate temperature, air quality and humidity in a building, usually its largest energy load.

HVAC systems include boilers, chillers, heat pumps, air handling units, ductwork, terminal units and the controls that tie them together. In most commercial buildings they account for the largest share of energy use, which makes them the main target of efficiency programs. The building automation system runs them day to day.

IoT adds granularity. Wireless temperature and CO2 sensors in every zone allow demand-controlled ventilation; current sensors on fans and compressors enable condition monitoring; and data exported to an analytics platform reveals simultaneous heating and cooling or equipment running out of hours. Utilities also use HVAC as a flexible load in demand response. The trade-off is comfort versus savings: aggressive setpoints cut energy but generate complaints, so good deployments measure occupant feedback too.

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