Each year, building owners across the globe invest millions of dollars into heating and cooling system upgrades in an effort to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and remain green. All too often, however, these upgrades fall short of expectations, and owners are left right back where they were - struggling to improve the environmental friendliness and cost reduction of their operation.

Belimo Hydronic Simulator™ is a tool that simulates a hydronic system in a 4-story building with five terminal units on each floor. All terminal units, branches, and the raiser have a manual balancing valve that allows adjusting based on the valve opening. The Simulator identifies and illustrates when the system needs to be balanced and how the adjusting of the valve could impact the entire system. The main purpose of Belimo Hydronic Simulator is to educate on the importance of why pressure dependent valves are not recommended in a dynamic system.

Located in Goodhue County, Minnesota, on the western bank of the Mississippi River, the Red Wing Public School District is a model of energy efficiency in the educational sector. Over the last two decades, Red Wing has made a substantial commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability – leveraging the latest and greatest building technologies to reduce energy consumption and enhance the learning environment for its 2,700+ students. With the Belimo Energy Valves installed across the district, Belimo played an essential role in helping Red Wing achieve its sustainability goals. The Energy Valves help facility personnel optimize Delta T and HVAC system water usage and with cloud connectivity, the district can capitalize on the many benefits afforded by the Internet of Things (IoT).

In a water source heat pump (WSHP) application, a variable or constant speed pump accomplishes water distribution. The primary function of valves in a WSHP application is to allow a predetermined volume of water to enter each unit through either a water-to-refrigerant coil, water-to-air coil, or a water-to-water coil. The valves used are typically on/off control for full design flow when the WSHP starts. In most applications they are not required to control the amount of flow as in a traditional HVAC hydronic system.

Hydronic variable flow systems may reset supply water temperature, pump static pressure, or a combination of both to reduce plant energy consumption and to comply with building codes and standards. The information below illustrates how valve position feedback to the Building Automation System (BAS) is used to reset the pump pressure setpoint in accordance with ASHRAE 90.1 and California Title 24.

District cooling is the centralized production and distribution of cooling energy. Chilled water is delivered from a centralized energy plant through an underground pipeline to commercial, industrial, and residential buildings to air-condition using chilled water.  Excess heat is extracted from the building by the air conditioning systems’ heat exchangers. The water is then returned to the central energy plant.

District cooling plants operate to meet the cooling energy demand of their customers, which could be dozens of buildings in a college campus or municipality. District cooling systems offer lower up-front construction costs and eliminate the need for chiller plant maintenance at the building level.

Belimo Americas is excited to announce the release of the new Energy Valve that is now an IoT device utilizing advanced cloud-based analytics to leverage captured system data to the full potential providing savings and the most efficient operation. The Energy Valve is a pressure independent valve, which measures and manages coil energy by using an embedded electronic flow meter, along with supply and return water temperature sensors. It is ideal for water-side control of heating and cooling coils with programmable maximum flow settings from 1.65 - 713 GPM in valve body size ½” to 6”. Some of the key features include: