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HVAC Design online

This online course provides a comprehensive introduction to Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) design and applications for commercial buildings. The curriculum draws from several established InterPro HVAC courses and has been adapted for a flexible online format.

Participants learn about HVAC and refrigeration system components and how HVAC systems are designed to maintain comfortable, safe, healthy, and code-compliant indoor environments. The course also explores HVAC design considerations for healthcare facilities and data centers, two building types with high energy demands and significant opportunities for improved efficiency and performance.

Learning Outcomes:

Apply ASHRAE standards related to comfort, indoor air quality, and energy performance
Outline the key elements used in heating and cooling load calculations and energy modeling
Describe major HVAC system components and principles of equipment selection
Evaluate HVAC design considerations for healthcare facilities and data centers

Who Should Attend:

Facilities and building systems professionals seeking formal training in HVAC design and applications
Facilities managers, engineers, and operations staff working in commercial or institutional buildings
University, government, and industry professionals who prefer a comprehensive HVAC course delivered in an online format

Course Details: RA00105-D994

Course Outline

Review of HVAC Fundamentals

Welcome and introduction
The need for environmental controls
Abbreviations, units, and references
Survey of ASHRAE standards

Standard 55 – Thermal Environmental Conditions
Standard 62.1 – Ventilation and Acceptable IAQ
Standard 90.1 – Energy Standard for Sites and Buildings
Additional references: 15, 34, 90.4, 169, 170, and 189.1

Using a psychrometric chart
- Properties of moist air
- Sensible and latent heat
- Mixing of two air streams
Air handing units and distribution
Vapor compression refrigeration
Chilled water system components

Heat Transfer in Buildings

Modes of heat transfer
- Conduction
- Convection
- Radiation
Time delay effects
Weather data
- Selecting design conditions
- Dewpoint considerations
Load vs. energy calculations

Heating and Cooling Loads

Exterior envelope
- Wall and roof R-values
- Window U-factors
- Basement heat loss
Internal load components
- People
- Lighting
- Equipment
Infiltration and ventilation
Residential vs. commercial
Cooling load calculation methods
- CLTD / SCL / CLF method
- Example 11 on page 28.54
Hourly simulations
- Using simulation software
- Trane Trace 700 and 3D Plus

Air Systems

Ventilation and filtration
Air distribution systems
- Constant volume
- Variable Air Volume (VAV)
- Dedicated Outdoor Air Systems (DOAS)
Dilution air vs. displacement
Terminal air equipment
- Fan coil units
- VAV boxes
- Grilles, registers and diffusers
Exhaust air systems

Ductwork and Fans

Material specifications
- Construction
- Insulation
- Duct specialties
Ductwork sizing
Layout and distribution
Static pressure calculations
Fan wheel types
Fan laws and system curve

HVAC Equipment Selection

Motors
- Types and options
- Selection
Motor controls
- Disconnect switches
- Starters
- Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs)
Packaged equipment
- Packaged rooftop units
- Split D/X systems
Heating and cooling coils
- Coil performance
- Types and sizing
- Coil selection
Other terminal devices
- Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF)
- Radiant heating
- Chilled beams

Refrigerant Safety

ASHRAE Standard 34
- Safety group classes
- Flammability classes
ASHRAE Standard 15
- Updates in the 2024 edition
- System classifications
- Effective dispersal volume
- Class A2L refrigerants
Examples
- VRF system with A1 refrigerant
- VRF system with A2L refrigerant

Hydronics and Plant Equipment

Piping material, valves and fittings
Pipe sizing and distribution
- Pressure calculations
- Reverse return piping
Pump selection and performance
- Pump curves
- Parallel operation
Hydronic specialty sizing
- Expansion tanks
- Pressure relief valves
Primary plant cooling equipment
- Chillers
- Cooling towers
- Condensers
Steam and hot water heating

Control Sequences

Types of control
- Manual and automatic
- Pneumatic and DDC
- On / Off and modulating
Building Automation System (BAS)
Energy conservation measures
- Schedule and setback
- Demand Control Ventilation (DCV)
- Temperature and pressure reset
ASHRAE Guideline 36
Retro-commissioning

Healthcare

Healthcare codes and standards
- 2023 HVAC Applications – Chapter 9
- FGI – Facility Guidelines Institute
- ASHRAE 170 – Ventilation of Health Care Facilities
- NFPA 99 – Health Care Facilities Code
Examples of requirements
- Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA)
- Water treatment and circulation
- Indoor Air Quality and air filtration (IAQ)
- Air pressurization requirements
- Humidity requirements
  - Steam humidification
  - Adiabatic humidification
- Emergency power / standby
Authorities Having Jurisdiction
- Governing agencies
Facility types
- Hospitals
- Outpatient facilities
- Nursing homes and residencies
Healthcare-specific design considerations by space type

Data Centers

Data center facility and equipment topology
- Data center types
- ITE form factors
Data center power and cooling trends
- Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
ASHRAE thermal guidelines
- Air cooling (recommended and allowable)
- Liquid cooling (W and S classes)
- Contamination (particulate and gaseous)
Airflow distribution
Air cooling systems
- CRAC and CRAH unit
- Close coupled cooling
Liquid cooled IT equipment
Air- and water-side economizers

Defining Uptime Expectations

Standards and guidelines
Best practices
Mechanical system topologies
Electrical system topologies
Performance analysis and optimization
Risk and availability assessment

Energy Code Compliance

Overview of compliance paths
- IECC prescriptive
- IECC performance
- ASHRAE 90.1
Portions of the prescriptive energy code
- Building envelope requirements
- Simplified HVAC compliance
- Prescriptive compliance
  - Fan power
  - Duct leakage
  - Lighting
- Information required for COMcheck
- Building performance simulation paths
  - Performance Cost Index (PCI)
  - Building Performance Factor (BPF)

Prescriptive compliance package
Building performance simulation software

eQUEST
EnergyPlus

AI workflows for HVAC design and compliance

Building Information Modeling

Floor plans and sections
Equipment schedules
System layout and sizing
Revit load calculations
Design coordination

Course Schedule

Registration Date/Time:
11/9/2026 7:30am Central Time

Event Dates/Times:

11/9/2026 8:00am - 12:00pm Central Time
11/10/2026 8:00am - 12:00pm Central Time
11/11/2026 8:00am - 12:00pm Central Time
11/12/2026 8:00am - 12:00pm Central Time
11/16/2026 8:00am - 12:00pm Central Time
11/17/2026 8:00am - 12:00pm Central Time
11/18/2026 8:00am - 12:00pm Central Time
11/19/2026 8:00am - 12:00pm Central Time

Instructors and Program Director

Instructors
Douglas Reindl
Professor
Douglas Reindl, PhD, PE is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and a Program Director at the Office of Interdisciplinary Professional Programs at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He brings extensive expertise in mechanical systems, with a particular focus on industrial ammonia refrigeration. As the founding director of the Industrial Refrigeration Consortium, Dr. Reindl is dedicated to advancing the safety, efficiency, and reliability of refrigeration infrastructure. He holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, and both MS and PhD degrees in Mechanical Engineering from UW–Madison. A registered professional engineer in Wisconsin, Dr. Reindl is widely recognized for his leadership in refrigeration education and applied research.
Richard Schlosser
Senior Electrical Engineer
Richard Schlosser, principal at TiePoint-bkm Engineering in Baltimore, Maryland, is a registered professional engineer with more than 35 years of experience designing and commissioning Tier III and Tier IV power systems for computer and computer-related facilities. He served as a technical advisor to the Site Uptime Network for more than ten years. Richard holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Engineering degree from the University of Wisconsin—Madison.
Brian Clark
Registered Mechanical Engineer
Brian Clark, PE, is a registered mechanical engineer at the National Laboratory of the Rockies. His experience is extensive and includes HVAC design of health care, laboratories, clean rooms, manufacturing, office space, and indoor waterpark resorts to name a few. He now focuses on building energy security and resilience research. Brian received his BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Kyle Hansen
Design Technology BIM Manager
Kyle Hansen leads the BIM (Building Information Management) group in Affiliated Engineers, Inc.'s (AEI) Madison headquarters. Since joining the firm in 2004, Kyle has been instrumental in expanding the technical capabilities of the BIM software suite and related design technologies. He has been the BIM Lead for many of AEI's most prominent large-scale, technically complex projects involving coordination of extended multi-firm project delivery teams, primarily in the national healthcare and research markets. Kyle's firsts for AEI include: first use of Revit Server model sharing and the implementation of owner/contractor asset tracking for the UWHealth's The American Center facility, first use of the subsequent BIM 360 simultaneous design platform, and first use of virtual reality for the Caltech Tianqiao & Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience. He is a member of the National BIM Standards Committee.
Mark Malkin
Program Director and Teaching Faculty
Mark P. Malkin, PE, is a program director in the Office of Interdisciplinary Professional Programs in the College of Engineering at UW-Madison. He is a registered Professional Engineer with over 25 years of experience in university facilities project management and HVAC systems design. His course offerings include HVAC, plumbing and fire protection fundamentals, building code reviews, and design and operation of science labs, data centers, museums and libraries. Mark received his bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University, and his MS in Mechanical Engineering from UW–Madison.
Dustin Demetriou
Senior Technical Staff Member, Sustainability Data Center Innovation
Dustin W. Demetriou, PhD, is a Senior Technical Staff Member and Master Inventor at IBM where he leads the sustainability and data center innovation team. He has more than 15 years of experience focused on data center optimization and advanced electronics cooling technologies. He is an Uptime Institute Accredited Sustainability Advisor. He is the current Chair of the ASHRAE TC 9.9 IT Subcommittee, the past Chair of ASHRAE TC 9.9, and an ASHRAE Distinguished Lecturer
Dustin received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Manhattan College, and MS and PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Syracuse University.
Deanne Walz
Project Manager
Deanne is a Project Manager at Affiliated Engineers, a national MEP engineering consulting firm with 16 offices. She began her career in the firm’s Washington, DC office, where she contributed mechanical design expertise to several projects at the National Institutes of Health. Now based in Madison, Deanne focuses on healthcare projects, currently leading the design of a new 332,000-square-foot hospital for Bay Area Medical Center in Marinette, Wisconsin. Her recent work also includes MEP and utility infrastructure planning for Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee and the mechanical design of a 452,000-square-foot expansion at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware. Deanne is a licensed professional engineer and a LEED Accredited Professional, bringing a strong commitment to sustainable and high-performance building design.
Doug Showers
Senior Project Engineer
Doug Showers, PE, is a Project Engineer at Affiliated Engineers, Inc. in Madison, WI, focusing on the instrumentation and controls design for complex industrial, energy and utilities, and research building projects. Doug has experience managing control systems on a large University campus, including multiple heating and cooling plants, and is currently leading the control system design for several large research lab facilities. Doug is a registered engineer and holds a Power Plant Operating Engineer license from ASOPE.
Sagar Rao
Co-founder
Sagar Rao is a Co-Founder of NeuMod Labs in Madison Wisconsin, with a background in building physics, data engineering, and software development. As a Building Performance Consultant, he has successfully delivered over 50 high performance buildings for a clientele that includes federal agencies, state authorities, prominent healthcare systems, renowned universities, financial institutions, and national laboratories. Sagar provides leadership to several ASHRAE, International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA), and Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) committees.
Program Director
Mark Malkin

Total Credits:

CEU 3.2,

PDH 32,

Course Administration

Fee Information

Fee covers course materials and other: Online Instruction.

Payment Options

If you are planning to attend an Interdisciplinary Professional Programs course, payment is required at the time of registration. Below are the payment options:

Pay by Credit Card

Enroll online and pay by credit card.

Search for the course on the website and then click on the Enroll Now button from the course webpage.
Enter all necessary course attendee information and payment information on the course enrollment page.
You will receive an email to confirm successful enrollment and payment.

Enroll over the phone and pay by credit card.

Call CERC Registrations at 608-262-2451.
Provide the registrations representative with:
- the course name, dates, and/or course number.
- the necessary course attendee information and payment information.
You will receive either a mailed document or an email to confirm successful enrollment payment.

Pay by Check

Mail in a completed registration form and check payable to UW Madison.

Fill out a registration form (found either in the back of the course brochure you received in the mail or here).
Prepare a check, made payable to UW Madison.
Mail the registration form and check to: CERC Registrations 21 N Park St, Ste 7101 Madison, WI 53715
You will receive either a mailed document or an email to confirm successful enrollment and payment.

Pay by Purchase Order

Request Purchase Order information from registration@cerc.wisc.edu
- If a fee quote is needed, contact custserv@interpro.wisc.edu first
You will receive an invoice from UW–Madison Business Services for payment, usually within 3–5 business days

Military

If using SF-182 form, please call our registration number at 608-262-2451 or email registration@cerc.wisc.edu for details and instructions.

Event Cancellation

We reserve the right to cancel a course due to insufficient enrollment or unforeseen events. If we cancel a course, participants will be notified via email or phone and will be given the option for a full refund or to transfer their registration and any fees paid to another course. We are not responsible for non-refundable plane tickets, hotel reservations, and other travel related expenses. For enrollee Course Cancellation, refer to notes on course page.

Cancellation Policy

If you cannot attend, please notify us no later than one week before your course begins, and we will refund your fee. Cancellations received after this date and no-shows are subject to a $150 administrative fee. You may enroll a substitute at any time before the course starts.

Create a custom learning experience

We can deliver this course as an on-site learning experience tailored to your organization’s specific training needs.