Status and History
Current Status
To date, draft versions have been developed for three of the four energy-specific products proposed products of the CEC 2007-2009 project, namely:
- Adding energy and peak demand models.
- Adding EnergyPlus to the CBE tool
- Developing component models for boiler, chiller, cooling tower
A draft of the fourth proposed CEC product is now under development, and drafts of all four CEC products should be available for review by the end of calendar year 2008.
Interim Pre-Beta Release of Learn HVAC
Until very recently, Learn HVAC (and its predecessor HVAC ePrimer) were considered to be in early development mode. Software downloads were password-protected and available to only a few people on the development team.
Recently, about mid-June 2008, software public downloads have been made available for the "client" portion of the Learn HVAC software intended for student use. An interested person can open an account and download the "client" software by agreeing to the license provisions and terms of use, and by providing user name, password, and email address.
The web-based instructor site is not yet available publicly, but limited public access to this site may be available in the near future.
The currently available “public” version of Learn HVAC is limited in scope. It only contains the simulation and basic animation functionality developed under the NSF grant.
The new energy features being developed under the CEC 2007-2009 project, while in draft form, are not yet stable enough for widespread public use.
More Complete Release of Learn HVAC Expected late in 2008
We anticipate that more complete versions of Learn HVAC that include the new energy features will be available for widespread public review by the end of calendar year 2008.
Open Source Version Expected late in 2008
We anticipate that an open source version of … will be available the end of calendar year 2008. Several key elements of the software need to be refined first.
History and Previous Versions
Learn HVAC is a third-generation computer-based education (CBE) tool that is built upon two earlier first and second generation tools:
First Generation HVAC CBE Tool (1994-1999 and 2001)
The first generation HVAC CBE tool is HVAC Energy Primer (aka Energy Trainer). This was first developed during 1994-1999 as a CD-based product. It was funded by US DOD, US DOE, and US EPA, and was developed in Adobe Authorware as an interactive multimedia CBE tool by a team of The Deringer Group (TDG), CTG, and others. The software IP is shared by TDG and CTG.
HVAC EP was intended to provide an interactive version of the HVAC portion of the US FEMP Energy Manager’s training manual. HVAC EP contains 4 hours of energy efficiency technical content that span a number of topics. In addition it contains a Problem-Based Case Study exercise that allows users to improve the performance of an existing HVAC system with 8 faults.
In 2001, TDG modified to software to permit it to be accessed on the Internet as a web-based product. This has been available at no charge at www.ecoadvisor.org since 2001.
Second Generation HVAC CBE Tool (2004-2008)
HVAC ePrimer is the second generation of this set of HVAC CBE tools. This version was developed during 2004-2008 in two parts intended primarily as part of community college HVAC technician training programs and curriculum development. One part of HVAC ePrimer is downloadable package that runs locally on a MS Windows operating system and is intended for use by students and student teams. It uses 3D animations of accurate simulations to teach HVAC technician students how to better operate, maintain and troubleshoot increasingly complex, digitized HVAC systems and controls in buildings.
The HVAC ePrimer software is using the latest technical education approaches being promoted by the National Science Foundation’s Advanced Technological Education (ATE) program.
Major funding was provided via a 3-year NSF grant that was extended to a 4-year period (without additional funding). The Peralta College District (Laney College) in Oakland also provided $25,000 in funding and The Deringer Group provided in-kind funding of close to $75,000.
Third Generation HVAC CBE Tool (2007+)
Learn HVAC is the third generation of this set of HVAC CBE tools.This version is being developed via two-year CEC funding starting in late July 2007.
Learn HVAC has the following new features that were not in HVAC ePrimer:
- Builds upon several key aspects of the software already developed under the NSF-funded Laney-LBNL-TDG project described above.
- Has the same component models, second-by-second SPARK simulation capabilities, general animation views and sequences, and web-based builds upon.
- Adds energy and peak demand.
- Adds EnergyPlus analysis
- Uses a new, much more robust software development platform (Adobe Flex), new interactive multimedia software (Flash 9), new charting software (Flex Charts)
- Provides a much more flexible Graphic User interface, with multiple and movable popup windows that can adapt to user screens of varying resolution.
- Can store and retrieve of input and results files, thus permitting performance and energy comparisons to be made of initial and revised conditions.
