English

This paper presents a model-based optimal control strategy for multi-zone air-conditioning systems with strict humidity control. An adaptive full-range decoupled ventilation strategy is adopted for optimizing the set point of the outdoor air flow rate to minimize the energy cost as well as to achieve the temperature and humidity controls. Tests were conducted to evaluate the energy performance of the proposed control strategy.

There are two types of air conditioning systems, convective and radiant air conditioning system. Radiant air conditioning systems have attracted many people’s interest due to the high capabilities of energy saving and maintaining a comfortable indoor environment at the same time. However, it is difficult to install this system and maintain system performance. There is also a problem about the drought from convective air conditioning system.

Air Handling Unit (AHU), as a system for space heating and cooling is one of the most relevant causes of energy consumption in both residential and tertiary sector buildings. As the energy efficiency of AHU is closely linked to the climate conditions, a special attention should be given about varying yearly climate conditions in different geographical locations.

In this paper a new ventilated window with a PCM heat exchanger is proposed. In winter, the heat exchanger works as a solar collector to store heat for pre-heating of the ventilated air. In summer, it works in cooperate with night ventilation to pre-cool the ventilated air. In this work, the prototype of the heat exchanger is built and tested experimentally. The PCM heat capacity measured by differential scanning calorimetry DSC is used to help understand the phase change processes. The PCM temperature at different heights in both melting and freezing processes is measured.

The extremes of arctic climate pose severe challenges on housing ventilation systems, energy consumption and demand for space heating for northern remote community residential buildings. As a part of the overall effort to reduce space heating requirements, dwellings are built air tight to reduce heat losses. However, airtight homes require energy efficient and effective ventilation systems to maintain acceptable indoor air quality and comfort, and to protect the building envelope from moisture damage.

Research shows that, despite compliance with building codes, residential ventilation systems do not deliver the requested air exchanges in the individual rooms. One of the reasons for this can be found in the way the building codes are composed. In general building codes only specify the minimum ventilation capacity that need to be installed in the various rooms. The actual performance of the ventilation system is left to the market.

The AcouReVe Project aimed to improve the knowledge and the quality of acoustic calculation in ventilation ductworks. Such calculations are based on simplified models and the main issue is the input data. For each component of the ductwork, acoustic insertion loss and/or sound generation due to air velocity has to be known. Some components are well described by manufacturers, such as terminal devices, silencers, but others are not known. Sometimes, literature exists and can help to assess the input data, but the values may be out of date or no longer reflect current practices.