TY - GEN
T1 - Energy saving and payback period for retrofitting air conditioning systems in Taiwan
AU - Chang, Chung Yi
AU - Lin, Hsien Te
AU - Tzeng, Chun Ta
AU - Yang, Kuan Hsiung
AU - Chuah, Yew Khoy
AU - Ho, Ming Chin
N1 - Copyright:
Copyright 2012 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - In Taiwan, AC systems in buildings with central air conditioning account for over 45% of the total electricity consumed. Inefficient and poorly designed AC systems in existing buildings waste considerable amounts of money and energy. Therefore, retrofitting AC systems has become a widely adopted strategy to save energy while maintaining a comfortable indoor thermal environment. This study analyzes the potential energy savings and payback period of retrofitting AC systems in public buildings. In addition to the required Building Energy Management System (BEMS), several measures are introduced to reduce energy consumption during retrofitting. The main measures include testing, adjusting, and balancing (TAB) of existing AC systems; replacing over-designed chillers with chillers with smaller capacity; installing frequency conversion in original systems, such that they become variable water volume (VWV) and variable air volume (VAV) systems; and utilizing CO 2 concentration control and pre-cooling air systems. Based on analytical results, we conclude that AC system retrofitting can reduce total energy usage by 11.75%, while the average payback period for a retrofit project is 4.71 years, demonstrating that AC system retrofitting in Taiwan is economically sound.
AB - In Taiwan, AC systems in buildings with central air conditioning account for over 45% of the total electricity consumed. Inefficient and poorly designed AC systems in existing buildings waste considerable amounts of money and energy. Therefore, retrofitting AC systems has become a widely adopted strategy to save energy while maintaining a comfortable indoor thermal environment. This study analyzes the potential energy savings and payback period of retrofitting AC systems in public buildings. In addition to the required Building Energy Management System (BEMS), several measures are introduced to reduce energy consumption during retrofitting. The main measures include testing, adjusting, and balancing (TAB) of existing AC systems; replacing over-designed chillers with chillers with smaller capacity; installing frequency conversion in original systems, such that they become variable water volume (VWV) and variable air volume (VAV) systems; and utilizing CO 2 concentration control and pre-cooling air systems. Based on analytical results, we conclude that AC system retrofitting can reduce total energy usage by 11.75%, while the average payback period for a retrofit project is 4.71 years, demonstrating that AC system retrofitting in Taiwan is economically sound.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=81255198822&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=81255198822&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.121-126.2850
DO - 10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMM.121-126.2850
M3 - Conference contribution
AN - SCOPUS:81255198822
SN - 9783037852828
T3 - Applied Mechanics and Materials
SP - 2850
EP - 2854
BT - Frontiers of Manufacturing and Design Science II
T2 - 2nd International Conference on Frontiers of Manufacturing and Design Science, ICFMD 2011
Y2 - 11 December 2011 through 13 December 2011
ER -