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Potential application of radiant floor cooling systems for residential buildings in different climate zones

  • Research Article
  • Building Systems and Components
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Abstract

A radiant floor cooling system (RFCS) is a high-comfort and low energy consumption system suitable for residential buildings. Radiant floor systems usually work with fresh air, and their operating performance is affected by climatic conditions. Indoor and outdoor environmental disturbances and the system’s control strategy affect the indoor thermal comfort and energy efficiency of the system. Firstly, a multi-story residential building model was established in this study. Transient system simulation program was used to study the operation dynamics of three control strategies of the RFCS based on the calibrated model. Then, the performance of the control strategies in five climate zones in China were compared using multi-criteria decision-making in combination. The results show that control strategy has a negligible effect on condensation risk, but the thermal comfort and economic performance differ for different control strategies. The adaptability of different control strategies varies in different climate zones based on the consideration of multiple factors. The performance of the direct-ground cooling source system is better in Hot summer and warm winter zone. The variable air volume control strategy scores higher in Serve cold and Temperate zones, and the hours exceeding thermal comfort account for less than 3% of the total simulation period. Therefore, it is suggested to choose the RFCS control strategy for residential buildings according to the climate zone characteristics, to increase the energy savings. Our results provide a reliable reference for implementing RFCSs in residential buildings.

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Abbreviations

A :

building area (m2)

C p :

annual carbon reduction by carbon sink system of building green space (kgCO2/m2)

EFi :

carbon emission factor

E i,j :

annual consumption of building energy (unit/a)

H cons :

condensation risk hour (h)

H disc :

discomfort hour (h)

h c :

heat exchange coefficient by convection (W/(m2·K))

h r :

heat exchange coefficient by radiation (W/(m2·K))

i :

iteration number

m i :

calibrated data

\({\overline m}\) :

average value

PD:

percentage dissatisfied (%)

\({\hat {s}}_{i}\) :

predicted data

T idew :

dew point temperature (°C)

T in :

indoor air temperature (°C)

T iset :

indoor air temperature set-point (°C)

T out :

outdoor air temperature (°C)

T r :

radiant temperature (°C)

T f :

floor surface temperature (°C)

T sa :

supply air temperature (°C)

T sw :

supply water temperature (°C)

V 0 :

minimum supply airflow (m3/h)

V sa :

supply airflow (m3/h)

y :

design life of the building (a)

ACH:

air change rate (h−1)

CEs:

carbon emissions (kgCO2/m2)

CR:

condensation risk

EC:

energy consumption (kWh/m2)

EHp :

uncomfortable hours indoors during working hours (h)

EHr :

total hours with condensation risk of the radiant floor (h)

HSCW:

hot summer and cold winter zones

HSWW:

hot summer and warm winter zones

SC:

severe cold zones

TC:

thermal comfortable

WB:

wet bulb temperature (°C)

a:

indoor air

c:

convection

idew:

indoor dew point

i :

type of terminal energy consumed by the building

iset:

set-point

j :

type of building energy consumption system

r:

radiation

f:

radiant cooling surface

sa:

supply air

sw:

supply water

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province (ZR2021ME199, ZR2021ME237) and the Support Plan for Outstanding Youth Innovation Team in Colleges and Universities of Shandong Province (2019KJG005). This work was also supported by the Plan of Introduction and Cultivation for Young Innovative Talents in Colleges and Universities of Shandong Province, and Funding for Domestic Visiting Scholars at Shandong Jianzhu University.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Thermal Engineering, Shandong Jianzhu University, Jinan, 250101, China

    Mengying Cui, Yang Song, Yudong Mao, Kaimin Yang & Jiying Liu

  2. School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Zhe Tian

  3. Key Lab of Building Environment and Energy of Tianjin, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China

    Zhe Tian

Authors
  1. Mengying Cui
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  2. Yang Song
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  3. Yudong Mao
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  4. Kaimin Yang
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  5. Jiying Liu
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  6. Zhe Tian
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Contributions

Mengying Cui: investigation, methodology, data curation, modeling, writing, and original draft. Yang Song: investigation, data curation. Yudong Mao: investigation, data curation, writing. Kaimin Yang: data curation, modeling, writing. Jiying Liu: supervision, conceptualization, methodology, funding, review and editing. Zhe Tian: supervision, conceptualization, methodology, review and editing.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jiying Liu or Zhe Tian.

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Cui, M., Song, Y., Mao, Y. et al. Potential application of radiant floor cooling systems for residential buildings in different climate zones. Build. Simul. 17, 543–560 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-023-1098-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-023-1098-x

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