MIT implements Aircuity's OptiNet ventilation measurement system to analyze indoor environment quality

Aircuity, the smart airside efficiency company, today announced that it has been engaged by MIT to develop a ventilation optimization program that will significantly improve overall energy efficiency and optimize building ventilation across its Hayden Library facility. Leveraging Aircuity's OptiNet^® system, MIT will be able to cost effectively reduce energy use in support of its Institute-wide initiative to significantly reduce electricity across all of its facilities.

“Aircuity's Demand Control Ventilation (DCV) technology will allow colleges and universities to make significant progress toward their sustainability goals, and the rapid payback based on energy savings enables them to reinvest in many more efficiency programs.”

In May, MIT and NSTAR announced the 'Efficiency Forward' program, an aggressive initiative to reduce electricity use by 15% over the next three years. In effort to do this, MIT is looking to modernize its existing equipment, with a significant focus on heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC).

MIT will implement Aircuity's OptiNet system, a comprehensive suite of intelligent ventilation measurement and optimization technologies, to continuously sense and analyze the building's indoor environment and provide intelligent inputs to the building management systems, making adjustments to the ventilation flow as needed and allowing the facility to optimize airflow as efficiently as possible. The project is anticipated to save approximately $100,000 in total annual energy costs by reducing electrical, heating and cooling energy use.

"The combination of new, more efficient air handling equipment with Aircuity's intelligent monitoring system will provide MIT with significant cost savings while maintaining comfortable levels of indoor environmental quality," said Gordon Sharp, chairman, Aircuity. "Aircuity's Demand Control Ventilation (DCV) technology will allow colleges and universities to make significant progress toward their sustainability goals, and the rapid payback based on energy savings enables them to reinvest in many more efficiency programs."

The Aircuity OptiNet system is also installed in the new Sloan School of Management building to help optimize ventilation. Accurate measurements of indoor and outdoor enthalpy levels insures the proper operation of the HVAC system's economizer mode, while other indoor environmental quality measurements drive the DCV system to optimize ventilation rates saving significant energy costs, while maintaining overall occupant comfort and productivity.