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Module 5 · HVAC Control Sequences

HVAC Control Sequences

Economizer control, supply-air and static-pressure reset, optimized start-stop, VAV box sequences, and central-plant staging — the sequence of operation as the contract that turns integrated hardware into coordinated behavior.

Modules 2 through 4 covered the architecture, protocol, and controllers a building automation system runs on. This module covers what actually runs on top of that hardware: the sequence of operation, the plain-language document that specifies exactly what an AHU, a VAV box, or a chiller plant does under exactly what conditions — and the contract that determines whether a controls contractor's programming matches an engineer's real design intent or merely their best guess at it.

By the end of this module you should be able to explain why integrated economizer operation recovers free cooling capacity a non-integrated sequence discards, why dual-maximum VAV reheat logic beats single-maximum on energy use, and how trim-and-respond logic ties supply-air-temperature reset, static-pressure reset, and chilled-water reset together as one repeating pattern rather than three unrelated sequences.

Free related reading in this studio
→ BAS Sequence Simulator→ Chiller Plant Optimization→ VAV Airflow Setpoints→ Concept Explainer: Setpoint vs. Deadband vs. Throttling Range

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