HVAC is an acronym that stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. The term HVAC is used to describe a complete home comfort system that can be used to heat and cool your home, as well as provide improved indoor air quality.

The main purposes of a Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system are to help maintain good indoor air quality (IAQ) through adequate ventilation with filtration and provide thermal comfort. HVAC systems are among the largest energy consumers in schools. The choice and design of the HVAC system can also affect many other high performance goals, including water consumption (water cooled air conditioning equipment) and acoustics.

The following actions detail how engineers can design a quality system that is cost-competitive with traditional ventilation designs, while successfully providing an appropriate quantity and quality of outdoor air, lower energy costs and easier maintenance.