Sustainable cooling alternatives for buildings

Abstract

Four sustainable alternative-energy cooling system options are investigated to quantify the actual energy that may be saved when employed in conjunction with conventional air conditioning systems. The four systems considered are active mass cooling, night flushing, roof-spraying and a roof-pond. A one-room building configuration is assumed of which the hourly cooling load and temperature is modelled for both a base case and different combinations of the four sustainable cooling alternative systems. Active mass cooling, night flushing and the roof-spray system proved to be viable options in which the cooling load of an air conditioner may be reduced to maintain a constant room temperature. The roof-spray system showed the most effective results in limiting heat gains to the one-room building and keeping peak room temperatures low.