Hydronic radiant cooling: Overview and preliminary performance assessment

Technical Report · Sat May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1993

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6214501· OSTI ID:6214501

Feustel, H E

A significant amount of electrical energy used to cool non-residential buildings is drawn by the fans used to transport the cool air through the thermal distribution system. Hydronic systems reduce the amount of air transported through the building by separating ventilation and thermal conditioning. Due to the physical properties of water, hydronic distribution systems can transport a given amount of thermal energy using less than 5% of the otherwise necessary fan energy. This savings alone significantly reduces the energy consumption and especially the peak power requirement This survey clearly shows advantages for radiant cooling in combination with hydronic thermal distribution systems in comparison with the All-Air Systems commonly used in California. The report describes a literature survey on the system's development, thermal comfort issues, and cooling performance. The cooling power potential and the cooling power requirement are investigated for several California climates. Peak-power requirement is compared for hydronic radiant cooling and conventional All-Air-Systems.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE; CAIEE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States); California Inst. for Energy Efficiency, Berkeley, CA (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC03-76SF00098
• OSTI ID: 6214501
• Report Number(s): LBL-33194; ON: DE93016715
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS
COOLING
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
RADIANT HEAT TRANSFER
VENTILATION
WATER
BUILDINGS
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY TRANSFER
HEAT TRANSFER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
320107* - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Building Systems- (1987-)