Enhanced Sustainable Cooling for Low Energy Office Buildings in Continental Temperate Climate

Abstract

Developing efficient, sustainable, and affordable buildings requires combinations of passive and active measures that exploit specific onsite features. However, in temperate climates, reducing the heating demand (by south-oriented, triple-glazed curtain walls) has as a direct consequence an increased cooling demand. Using data collected over three years (2013–2015) in a mountain temperate continental climate, this paper analyzes the effect of (passive) natural night ventilation and (active) ceiling cooling on reducing the cooling demand in large office spaces in energy-efficient buildings. The results match those modeled using in-field climatic input data, whereas simulations using interpolated data lead to differences compared with experimental data. The results show that natural night ventilation decreases the cooling demand by 97% in June, and reductions of 33% are reached during the hottest month, August. When involving natural night ventilation and ceiling active cooling (heat pump in reversed mode), 88% coverage of the cooling demand is reached in August. A significant indoor temperature gradient (10°C) is registered during hot days, with peak differences in early afternoon, suggesting a need for customized cooling algorithms.