Climate change implications for HVAC&R systems for a large library building in Malaysia

Abstract

The air conditioning systems play an important role in providing a comfortable and safe environment for occupants as well as a suitable condition to store books in the library via proper control of the indoor conditions. This paper presents the research conducted on the maximum required cooling load based on the climate change scenario in the future for a large building. In order to present the worst-case condition inside the library, the maximum number of heat gain from occupants and electrical devices is considered. For this research, the main library of University of Malaya is selected for data collection, analysis and simulation. The existing air conditioning systems are modelled via TRNSYS software as a baseline model. Three sets of future Typical Meteorological Year (TMY2) data files for Kuala Lumpur are developed in the UK to be used for simulation in the TRNSYS to analyse the maximum required cooling load for two sections of the main library building. Based on the comparison of the result in the year 2000, it can be estimated that the required cooling load for years 2020 and 2050 is estimated to be increased from 4.1% to 4.8% and 10% to 11.8%, respectively.

Practical application: The good amount of technical information of real application conducted on the required maximum cooling load in a large building for years 2020 and 2050 is estimated to increase from 4.1% to 4.8% and 10% to 11.8% respectively in the tropics could be used as an important guide for building services engineers and researchers who are intending to optimise HVAC&R system design in large buildings operating in tropical countries in the future.