Life Cycle Saving Analysis of an Earth-Coupled Building without and with Roof Evaporative Cooling for Energy Efficient Potato Storage Application

Abstract

Preservation of potatoes in a controlled cool environment (i.e., in cold storage) consumes a substantial amount of energy. The specific energy consumption in Indian cold storage has been estimated to be between 9 and 26 kWh/ton/year. In this article, the potential for minimizing the energy consumption in the refrigeration process of cold storage through passive cooling concepts (i.e., roof evaporative cooling and the earth integration of the storage building) was explored. These passive concepts of cooling have shown significant potential for lowering the cooling loads and the energy consumption in different types of buildings. Therefore, a feasibility analysis for a potato storage building, considering the effect of the passive cooling concepts, was conducted for three different climatic conditions (i.e., hot–dry, warm–humid, and composite) in India. The energy saving potentials in the cold storage were assessed by quantifying the thermal energy exchange between the indoor and outdoor environments using the modified admittance method. The effect of heat transfer through the building envelope on total energy consumption was estimated for the building having various sunken volumes (buried depths) without and with roof evaporative cooling. Further, the economic feasibility of adopting passive concepts was assessed in terms of life cycle saving compared to the base case. Results indicate that earth coupling without and with evaporative cooling has substantial potential to reduce the cooling load and can produce significant savings.

Sensitivity Analysis for Decisive Design Parameters for Energy and Indoor Visual Performances of a Glazed Façade Office Building

“…In recent years, various energy-efficient glazing and window options, including thermochromic [12], electrochromic [13], doubleskin façade [14], double-pane [15] and triple-pane windows [16], fixed [17] and dynamic shading devices [18], etc., have been explored to minimize the heating and cooling energy usage, particularly in highly glazed buildings. Also, the policy makers, building designers, developers, and researchers have increased their focus on designing and developing energyefficient glazed façades along with other energy-reducing approaches in buildings [19][20][21][22][23][24]. However, designing a glazed component that improves the energy and indoor visual performance is highly desirable but complicated.…”