One important aim for the development of new air conditioning systems is the reduction of the total energy consumption. This can be reached by separation of cooling and ventilation in air conditioning systems, because it is more effective to transport energy by using water systems instead of air to deliver cooling energy to the consumers. This strategic was the base for the development of several chilled ceilling systems during the last years, so that at present there are many different systems on the market.
In many design cases, energy as well as occupant comfort are the relevant criteria which are studied using computer simulation programs. Comfort evaluations cover air quality, thermal, visual and acoustical comfort. For all these individual aspects, specific simulation programs are available today, but very few programs allow for the integrated evaluation of several or all relevant parameters. The more, heat transport, ventilation as well as lighting are physically coupled and therefore must be integrally modelled in the simulation process.
Ventilation and air conditioning systems mainly use fossile primary energies as gas, oil and coal for the heating and cooling processes. Air conditioning means heating and humidifying the supply air during the winter season and cooling and dehumidifying the supply air in the summer season. For these summer operations the supply air in general is cooled down lower than the dew point in order to dehumidify the air by condensation. Afterwords the supply air is reheated again to reach the required temperature level for room inlet.
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