What Is HVAC Zoning and Why Is It Important?

While standard commercial HVAC systems can only control facility temperatures as a whole, zoning systems can regulate multiple sections within a given space. This heightened level of control is achieved using various thermostats and motorized dampers inside the ductwork that can open and close depending on specified inputs, which blocks or diverts airflow accordingly.

There are many reasons you may want to utilize HVAC zoning, especially if your commercial building contains multiple floors. The more rooms your building has, the harder it is to control a singular temperature, and installing a zoning system is the best way to ensure that your employees can work comfortably while avoiding hot and cold spots. Alternatively, suppose your facility contains many unoccupied rooms that are wasting energy by being heated or cooled. Zoning can help save energy and reduce costs by shutting off the air conditioner or heat to these spacers.

Some environments where you may find an HVAC zoning system helpful include:

• Buildings that contain many windows 
• Commercial buildings or residential homes with several floors or closed spaces
• Buildings with expansive open rooms and tall ceilings
• Areas that are heated to by amounts of natural light
• Gyms that are constantly trying to keep large areas cool

Installing an HVAC zoning system into your commercial building can drastically improve working conditions and provide additional cost savings for your business with the following benefits:

The amount of energy a commercial HVAC system uses is massive, especially during the winter and summer seasons when the temperatures are at their most extreme. However, HVAC zoning allows users to control the temperatures of specific spaces using multiple thermostats, as opposed to the entire building or floor compiling with a single setting. Instead of pumping air conditioning or heat to vacant rooms, you can achieve better energy savings—and money—with controlled zoning.

Nobody is happy when some employees are sweating and others are shivering. Uncomfortable employees have a more challenging time focusing on tasks and are generally less motivated. Luckily, HVAC zoning accommodates the needs of everyone by giving employees the option to set temperatures that suit their preferences. Additionally, indoor air quality is improved by reducing the spread of pollen, dirt, dust, and mold that cause allergies and other health risks.

Standard HVAC systems that continuously pump hot or cold air throughout the year tend to break down fast and require frequent repairs to remain functional. By limiting the strain put on your heating and cooling systems, HVAC zoning increases the longevity of your equipment and cuts maintenance costs dramatically.

Having the ability to set the specific temperatures of individual spaces within a building is invaluable. No other type of HVAC system allows you to tailor the temperature of each room to your liking without impacting other spaces, giving employees the highest level of customization when it comes to creating a comfortable environment.

HVAC zoning allows you to completely customize the temperature settings of specific rooms within commercial buildings and is extremely simple to use. You don’t have to be a professional to operate zoning systems, as they are just as simple to use as traditional cooling equipment. Thanks to the integration of smart technology, using HVAC zoning is easy and accessible.

Because commercial heating and cooling need to work hard to pump air throughout entire buildings, it tends to produce a fair amount of noise. Continued rumbling and rattling can distract employees and prevent them from focusing on their work. However, HVAC zoning systems don’t need to work as hard to heat and cool spaces, significantly reducing noise while in use.

While HVAC zoning offers many cost-savings and quality-of-life improvements, it also provides a secondary environmental benefit. By consuming less energy to reach desirable temperatures, units produce less carbon dioxide that contributes to greenhouse gases. HVAC zoning systems are energy efficient and less environmentally harmful than standard heating and cooling.

After learning more about commercial HVAC zoning systems, you may be tempted to install them in your own facility, but to do that, you’re going to need a professional that’s not only capable of doing the job, but doing it efficiently. If that’s the case, consider turning to A&G Piping.