Energy and water efficient design of an air-conditioning system for an institutional building

IF 5.4 3区工程技术 Q2 ENERGY & FUELS

Thermal Science and Engineering Progress Pub Date : 2025-09-11 DOI:10.1016/j.tsep.2025.104095

Arun Kumar Shukla, Ashwini Kumar Yadav, Ravi Prakash

{"title":"Energy and water efficient design of an air-conditioning system for an institutional building","authors":"Arun Kumar Shukla, Ashwini Kumar Yadav, Ravi Prakash","doi":"10.1016/j.tsep.2025.104095","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The present study proposes an energy-efficient air-conditioning system for an institutional building located in north India. The proposed design first includes the reduction in the cooling load of the building through passive retrofitting measures (PRMs) such as the application of commercially available gypsum-based cow dung plaster on walls, installing double-glazed windows, and applying cool paint on the rooftop. Further, it proposes to improve the Coefficient of Performance (COP) of the mechanical air-conditioning system (ACS) by using rainwater cooled condenser available from the building rooftop to save water lost in a cooling tower usually fitted with a water-cooled condenser. The eQuest modelling of the building was done to calculate the base and proposed cooling loads. In both cases, an experiment was also conducted to measure the equivalent thermal conductivity of the wall, roof, and glazing. These measures collectively reduced the cooling load of the building from 175 TR to 125 TR for the peak summer month. Overall, the proposed PRMs contributed to a 28 % reduction in the cooling load of the building. The study includes the design of a dedicated underground Rain Water Harvesting System (RWHS) for the building with a roof catchment area of 1200 m<sup>2</sup>, capable of collecting up to 1.19 million liters of water annually. The RWHS-cooled condenser enhanced the COP by 32 % during peak operating months. The warm water returning from the condenser outlet was cooled through evaporation by a dedicated fountain with a 2 m basin and a height of 4 m. A shallow underground RWHS was designed to store rainwater, which was utilized to cool the condenser. During peak summer conditions, the water temperature in the RWHS was maintained between 22 °C and 28 °C. Combined with passive features and the RWHS cooled condenser, the total energy savings achieved were 110,566 kWh/year, representing a 45 % reduction in overall energy consumption. Furthermore, the building’s energy performance index EPI improves significantly, representing a 55 % reduction with payback period of 3.7 years.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23062,"journal":{"name":"Thermal Science and Engineering Progress","volume":"67 ","pages":"Article 104095"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Thermal Science and Engineering Progress","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451904925008868","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENERGY & FUELS","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

The present study proposes an energy-efficient air-conditioning system for an institutional building located in north India. The proposed design first includes the reduction in the cooling load of the building through passive retrofitting measures (PRMs) such as the application of commercially available gypsum-based cow dung plaster on walls, installing double-glazed windows, and applying cool paint on the rooftop. Further, it proposes to improve the Coefficient of Performance (COP) of the mechanical air-conditioning system (ACS) by using rainwater cooled condenser available from the building rooftop to save water lost in a cooling tower usually fitted with a water-cooled condenser. The eQuest modelling of the building was done to calculate the base and proposed cooling loads. In both cases, an experiment was also conducted to measure the equivalent thermal conductivity of the wall, roof, and glazing. These measures collectively reduced the cooling load of the building from 175 TR to 125 TR for the peak summer month. Overall, the proposed PRMs contributed to a 28 % reduction in the cooling load of the building. The study includes the design of a dedicated underground Rain Water Harvesting System (RWHS) for the building with a roof catchment area of 1200 m², capable of collecting up to 1.19 million liters of water annually. The RWHS-cooled condenser enhanced the COP by 32 % during peak operating months. The warm water returning from the condenser outlet was cooled through evaporation by a dedicated fountain with a 2 m basin and a height of 4 m. A shallow underground RWHS was designed to store rainwater, which was utilized to cool the condenser. During peak summer conditions, the water temperature in the RWHS was maintained between 22 °C and 28 °C. Combined with passive features and the RWHS cooled condenser, the total energy savings achieved were 110,566 kWh/year, representing a 45 % reduction in overall energy consumption. Furthermore, the building’s energy performance index EPI improves significantly, representing a 55 % reduction with payback period of 3.7 years.

查看原文本刊更多论文

某机构建筑空调系统节能节水设计

本研究为位于印度北部的一个机构建筑提出了一种节能空调系统。提议的设计首先包括通过被动式改造措施（PRMs）来减少建筑的冷负荷，例如在墙上应用市售的石膏牛粪石膏，安装双层玻璃窗，并在屋顶上涂冷漆。此外，建议使用建筑物屋顶的雨水冷却冷凝器，以改善机械空调系统的性能系数，节省通常装有水冷冷凝器的冷却塔的水损失。该建筑的eQuest建模是为了计算基础和建议的冷负荷。在这两种情况下，还进行了一项实验，以测量墙壁，屋顶和玻璃的等效导热系数。这些措施共同将建筑物的冷负荷从175 TR降低到夏季高峰期的125 TR。总的来说，拟议的PRMs有助于减少28%的建筑冷负荷。该研究包括为建筑设计一个专用的地下雨水收集系统（RWHS），屋顶集水面积为1200平方米，每年能够收集119万升水。在高峰运行月份，rwhs冷却冷凝器将COP提高了32%。从冷凝器出口返回的温水通过一个2米高、4米高的专用喷泉蒸发冷却。设计了一个浅层地下RWHS来储存雨水，用于冷却冷凝器。在夏季高峰期，RWHS的水温维持在22°C至28°C之间。结合被动特性和RWHS冷却冷凝器，总能耗达到110,566千瓦时/年，总能耗降低45%。此外，该建筑的能源绩效指数EPI显著提高，投资回收期为3.7年，减少了55%。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

Thermal Science and Engineering Progress Chemical Engineering-Fluid Flow and Transfer Processes

CiteScore

7.20

自引率

10.40%

发文量

327

审稿时长

41 days

期刊介绍： Thermal Science and Engineering Progress (TSEP) publishes original, high-quality research articles that span activities ranging from fundamental scientific research and discussion of the more controversial thermodynamic theories, to developments in thermal engineering that are in many instances examples of the way scientists and engineers are addressing the challenges facing a growing population – smart cities and global warming – maximising thermodynamic efficiencies and minimising all heat losses. It is intended that these will be of current relevance and interest to industry, academia and other practitioners. It is evident that many specialised journals in thermal and, to some extent, in fluid disciplines tend to focus on topics that can be classified as fundamental in nature, or are ‘applied’ and near-market. Thermal Science and Engineering Progress will bridge the gap between these two areas, allowing authors to make an easy choice, should they or a journal editor feel that their papers are ‘out of scope’ when considering other journals. The range of topics covered by Thermal Science and Engineering Progress addresses the rapid rate of development being made in thermal transfer processes as they affect traditional fields, and important growth in the topical research areas of aerospace, thermal biological and medical systems, electronics and nano-technologies, renewable energy systems, food production (including agriculture), and the need to minimise man-made thermal impacts on climate change. Review articles on appropriate topics for TSEP are encouraged, although until TSEP is fully established, these will be limited in number. Before submitting such articles, please contact one of the Editors, or a member of the Editorial Advisory Board with an outline of your proposal and your expertise in the area of your review.