Analysis of Thermal Characteristics of Heat Source Equipment for HVAC Systems Installed in a Multi–functional Building and Improvement of Energy Efficiency

Abstract

This paper investigates the energy efficiency of heat source equipment (gas–fired absorption chillers/heaters) for HVAC systems by using long–range data (including cooling and heating periods) of a multi–functional building mainly composed of office space, which had been put into operation one year previously. The main approach for improving energy efficiency is to estimate the impact on energy consumption of operating strategies for heat source equipment that are easily adopted on–site and variation in thermal capacity ratio of its two or more units, the selection of which is important at the stage of HVAC system design. The results show that the impact on energy consumption is most significant during the cooling period, and can realize energy savings of up to 13%.