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ABSTRACT
Space cooling is a significant energy consumer in office buildings in the subtropical climate zone. An adequate energy policy for indoor spaces should accordingly incorporate both energy conservation and an acceptable level of indoor environmental quality (IEQ). This study investigates the cooling energy consumption for IEQ acceptance in Hong Kong offices adopted for four space-cooling strategies: the ventilation strategies of conventional constant air volume (CAV) systems with a fixed fresh air flow rate; demand-controlled ventilation (DCV) by indoor CO2 concentration; adaptive comfort temperature (ACT) set-point adjustment; and a combination of DCV and ACT operations. Numerical equations and multiple regression formulae were used to evaluate the cooling energy consumption and IEQ acceptance in the target offices, respectively. The results show that systems equipped with DCV are more energy efficient than conventional CAV systems, while a temperature set-point adjusted between 22°C and 23°C should satisfy the occupants’ thermal requirements at a reasonable rate of energy expenditure. Meanwhile, the DCV + ACT method was found to be an effective ventilation strategy in terms of its energy saving potential (21.4%--24.3%) and an “average” IEQ acceptance, as presented in the sample office. The results of this study could be useful for the promotion of energy saving measures with IEQ consideration in air-conditioned office buildings in Hong Kong.
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K W Mui
Ir Dr K W Mui, Ph.D., BEng (Hons), MHKIE, MCIBSE, MASHRAE, CEng, R.P.E., obtained his BEng (Hons) and Ph.D. degrees in Building Services Engineering from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in 1996 and 2001, respectively. After gaining industrial work experience in building services design and project management while working at an international electrical and mechanical consulting company, he joined the Department of Building Services Engineering at the PolyU as an academic staff in 2000 and was promoted to an Associate Professor in 2010. He also founded an IAQ bioaerosol laboratory at the university. Over 100 of his refereed SCI and journal papers in relation to building environmental performance and environmental systems for built environments have been published in various academic journals and conference collections. Ir Dr Mui is a recipient of the 2011 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence and his papers are recognised as being amongst those that were cited the most from Elsevier’s journal Building and Environment between 2005 and 2008. His current roles include Honourable Advisor to the Hong Kong Indoor Air Quality Society (HKIAQS), Co-Chairman of the ASHRAE Technical Working Group (Moisture and Mold Control), Affiliate Faculty Member of the School of Nursing at the PolyU, Corporate Member of some local and international professional bodies, and Member of many local and international scientific committees.
L T Wong
Ir Dr L T Wong, Ph.D., BEng (Hons), MHKIE, MCIBSE, CEng, R.P.E., is an Associate Professor at the PolyU. He obtained his BEng (Hons) and Ph.D. degrees in Building Services Engineering from the PolyU in 1992 and 1997, respectively. His research interests include water management and IEQ for buildings. He is a Secretary of the Asian Saving Water Council (Japan) and a Working Commission Member of W062-water supply and drainage for buildings of the Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB). He organised the 34th CIBW062 International Symposium of Water Supply and Drainage for Buildings in Hong Kong in 2008. He is a recipient of the 2006 Hans B. Thorelli Award for Excellence, and the highly commended award winner at the 2011 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence.
C T Cheung
Ir C T Cheung is a Postdoctoral Scholar from the Berkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore (BEARS). He received his BEng and Ph.D. degrees in Building Services Engineering from the PolyU in 2009 and 2015, respectively. His thesis highlights a hybrid physical-statistical approach for housing cooling energy simulation, covering the areas of building energy simulation, building-occupant interaction and statistical modelling. His current research work in BEARS focuses on personal thermal comfort and air quality, wearable sensor experimentation and mega database analysis. He has recently begun working with the Center for the Built Environment on an ASHRAE project to develop the world’s largest thermal comfort database.
H C Yu
Mr H C Yu obtained his M.Sc. degree from the University of Warwick, the UK in 1997. He is studying as a Ph.D. candidate under the supervision of Ir Dr K W Mui at the PolyU. His research interests focus on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation for bioaerosol movement in ventilated environments.