Abstract
The radiant cooling system has a substantial energy-saving effect and can be widely applied in different kinds of low-energy buildings. This article reports the experimental study of the design strategy of the radiant cooling system in low-energy buildings from the perspective of thermal response characteristics of an indoor environment. Two types of a modular radiant cooling system, namely, the copper tube radiant cooling (CTRC) and the capillary radiant cooling (CRC) systems, were investigated. The experiments were conducted in two office rooms characterized by low energy consumption. In total, 16 cases (eight for CTRC and eight for CRC) were analyzed, covering supply water temperature with a range of 12–19 °C. The experimental results show that the supply water temperature has a more substantial effect on the temperature distribution of the envelope for CTRC, than that of CRC. The indoor air temperature stratification is acceptable in the active area of the occupant with a modular radiant cooling system. Moreover, the thermal response of the envelope is highly sensitive to the lower supply water temperature (below 16 °C) using CTRC and to the higher supply water temperature (above 15 °C) using CRC. The low supply water temperature (below 15 °C) can improve the thermal stability speed of indoor air to a greater degree using CTRC, than that of CRC. The supply water temperature for CTRC with 15–16 °C, and 18–19 °C for CRC in low-energy buildings can exert an optimal cooling benefit.
Highlights
China’s urbanization process has promoted the rapid development of the air conditioning industry.Building’s energy consumption accounted for about 23% of total energy consumption in 2015, of which the energy consumption of air-conditioning units accounted for more than 30% [1]
The results show that during the experiments of room cooling with two kinds of radiation terminal, respectively, the indoor air temperature distribution in the horizontal and vertical directions was uneven
Results show that the difference in attenuation delay time and stabilization time of the interior and exterior envelopes decreased at low, and increased at high supply water temperatures
Summary
China’s urbanization process has promoted the rapid development of the air conditioning industry.Building’s energy consumption accounted for about 23% of total energy consumption in 2015, of which the energy consumption of air-conditioning units accounted for more than 30% [1]. China’s urbanization process has promoted the rapid development of the air conditioning industry. Sustainable development required high-efficiency heating/cooling technologies to satisfy the indoor thermal comfort with low energy consumption [2]. The radiant cooling system has a high potential for energy-saving and economy, compared with the air-based cooling system [3]. The former has been applied in different types of buildings, such as office buildings and airports for its reduced energy consumption and high thermal comfort. With the merits of the radiant cooling system and the rapid development of low-energy buildings, its popularity has increasing over the last several decades [4]
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