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Project
Cooling 2.0 (Koeling 2.0)
Until recently, cooling systems were avoided as much as possible in sustainable construction in northwestern Europe, but here too guaranteeing summer comfort with purely passive measures is increasingly a challenge. As a result of global warming, heat waves are becoming less and less of an exception during the summer. After such a summer, we see more and more air conditioners appearing on roofs, which in turn heat up the environment in dense areas. In addition, there are conflicts with other sustainability goals, such as those towards more compact housing, where rising internal heat loads lead to overheating. Staying blind to the increasing comfort-driven demand for cooling in buildings is therefore not sustainable and gives free rein to inefficient and environmentally harmful cooling systems. In this project we therefore want to provide the installation world with tools to put sustainable and correctly designed building cooling into practice.
A challenge in refrigeration installations is to limit the amount of refrigerant in view of the associated environmental and/or safety risks. This can in many cases be achieved through central cold production and distribution through indirect (hydronic) cooling systems. It also offers the possibility to efficiently integrate sustainable cooling sources and has the potential to combine heating and cooling functions in distribution and delivery systems (e.g. surface systems, climate bars, fans, …). Due to the flexibility that characterizes hydronic systems, costs can be reduced or extra value can be created for certain techniques.
In addition, there are also a number of specific items/unanswered questions about collective systems, such as simultaneity of the cooling demand in the dimensioning of a multi-zonal building, optimal hybrid generation, alternatives in terms of distribution system (2-pipe, 3-pipe, 4-pipe ), in combination with heating. In short, there is a need for various reasons to focus further on cooling in collective buildings, and by extension in energy networks.Solid guidelines for the correct selection and dimensioning are still lacking for cooling in buildings. Moreover, these are all the more urgent as both the cooling technician and the heating technician will have to expand or pool their knowledge in order to be able to provide a sustainable answer to the increasing cooling demand in buildings.
A challenge in refrigeration installations is to limit the amount of refrigerant in view of the associated environmental and/or safety risks. This can in many cases be achieved through central cold production and distribution through indirect (hydronic) cooling systems. It also offers the possibility to efficiently integrate sustainable cooling sources and has the potential to combine heating and cooling functions in distribution and delivery systems (e.g. surface systems, climate bars, fans, …). Due to the flexibility that characterizes hydronic systems, costs can be reduced or extra value can be created for certain techniques.
In addition, there are also a number of specific items/unanswered questions about collective systems, such as simultaneity of the cooling demand in the dimensioning of a multi-zonal building, optimal hybrid generation, alternatives in terms of distribution system (2-pipe, 3-pipe, 4-pipe ), in combination with heating. In short, there is a need for various reasons to focus further on cooling in collective buildings, and by extension in energy networks.Solid guidelines for the correct selection and dimensioning are still lacking for cooling in buildings. Moreover, these are all the more urgent as both the cooling technician and the heating technician will have to expand or pool their knowledge in order to be able to provide a sustainable answer to the increasing cooling demand in buildings.
Date:1 Oct 2021 → 30 Sep 2023
Keywords:Cooling, climate control, cooling systems, release systems, hydronic systems, summer comfort
Disciplines:Energy in buildings and built environments
Project type:Collaboration project