Cooling applications and the use of “cool” materials in buildings

Description

Cooling of buildings currently represents a considerable fraction of the total energy consumption in the world. The temperature rise from global climate change but also local microclimate changes, in combination with the projected population increase and economic development is expected to increase tremendously the future cooling energy load of buildings and make it even more of a dominant energy component.

This is nowhere more so that the GCC region countries where temperature extremes appear often. Cooling applications will be implemented wider and will be used more often and for higher energy loads as climate change takes its toll.

The main technological, economic, environmental and social drivers that determine the market of air conditioning need to be identified and their impact evaluated.

The potential future evolution of the main parameters that define the cooling energy consumption and in particular climate change, the population increase, income growth, potential technological improvements and the main socioeconomic drivers have to be investigated.

Based on the explored inputs and forecasts, a model to predict the future cooling energy consumption of both the residential and commercial sector had to be developed.

 

Publications List

Materials for Energy Efficiency and Thermal Comfort in Buildings (Woodhead Publishing Series in Energy)

The use of Phase-Change-Material as cooling-strategy for buildings (Università degli Studi Roma Tre)

25 Years of cooling research in office buildings: Review for the integration of cooling strategies into the building façade  (Elsevier Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews)

Using Cool Roofs to Reduce Heat Islands | Heat Island Effect | US EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency)