The effect of materials used in office building envelope on the capacity and performance of a solar‐assisted cooling heating and power system

Abstract

The calculation of heating and cooling loads to office buildings is different due to the presence of many people and also their activity at certain times of the day. In this research, a model office building is first simulated in Semnan, Iran using Design Builder software. After applying the necessary assumptions about the presence of people and building activation time, the heating and cooling loads of the base sample building are calculated with the specified envelope configuration. In the next step, some changes are applied to the thermal insulation of the envelope and the roof as well as the configuration of the windows. Then, for obtained heating and cooling loads for each case, hybrid solar‐assisted cooling heating and power (CCHP) system are designed. Thus, for different envelope configurations, the best case for the capacity of the power generation unit (PGU), the ratio of PGU‐generated energy to solar energy, and fuel consumption saving of the solar‐assisted CCHP system is determined. Results show that the use of appropriate window configuration and the suitable insulation of the walls and roof can save 24.8% of PGU capacity and 53.48% of fuel consumption in the solar‐assisted CCHP system.