Evaluation of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems performance in ORNL's flexible research platform (FRP).

This paper discusses a research project that evaluates energy performance of a Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) system that has been installed and operated in Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s new research facility, Flexible Research Platform (FRP). The performance of the VRF system has been monitored since the summer of 2014, and analyzed and compared with a baseline system, a conventional rooftop variable air volume (VAV) system with terminal electric reheat that is installed in the same facility. The baseline rooftop and VRF system were operated, and monitored every week alternately, and the system performances were compared. The hourly and daily energy consumption of both systems were characterized based on corresponding outdoor air temperatures. The analysis shows that the VRF system uses 17% and 73% less energy than the rooftop system in cooling and heating seasons, respectively.