ASHRAE President's Blog

Mr. Kent Peterson, PE, Fellow ASHRAE, ASHRAE President, 2007-2008: "The Wausau School District has worked with one of our ASHRAE members, Mark Lentz, from Wisconsin. Mr. Lentz has spent years developing an innovative method to provide HVAC with substantially less energy. His strategy (Regenerative Dual Duct^TM/SM System) has been conceived to address the twin challenges of providing a high quality indoor environment while substantially reducing the system operational annual energy use.

The system uses a variable volume double duct configuration that utilizes only 100% outside air. The system uses a combination of direct/indirect evaporative cooling with energy recovery from the building exhaust system. These schools I visited are supplied with 100% outside air whenever they are in operation. The faculty and staff have noticed the improved indoor air quality provided and the school district has realized substantial energy savings when compared to their other schools.

The Wausau School District installed the first such system approximately five years ago and has the metered energy data to show the results. They now have these systems installed in both new and existing schools with similar results. It is also worth noting that these systems have been installed without a premium first cost. I also realized on my visit the importance of building owners who are willing to consider these alternative strategies. In this case the Director of Physical Plant for the school district, Dennis Wald, had seen this system used in another project and was interested in having his facilities benefit from its implementation.

These innovative systems at Wausau School District are a great example of an ASHRAE member who has utilized fundamental psychometrics to develop an innovative method to address both the IAQ and energy efficiency challenge." - ASHRAE President's Blog, ASHRAE Home Page, ASHRAE.org