PERFORMANCE OF AIR CONDITIONING SYSTEM IN EDUCATIONAL BUILDING FOR ENERGY CONSERVATION

Abstract

Nowadays, the building sector has played an important role in global energy consumption. In Thailand, about half of energy used in building is generally supplied for cooling systems. The objective of this study, therefore, is to investigate the environmental performance of an air-conditioning (AC) system for an educational building and to propose strategies for mitigating GHG through energy efficiency measures toward campus-wide sustainable energy policy. The results of this building case study demonstrate that the existing AC systemconsumes about 70% of total energy consumption. As a consequence of the low energy efficiency of the existingAC system, the whole building’s performance has failedto meet the standard of Thai’s building energy code. To improve building energy efficiency, aside from replacing the current AC system with a high- efficiency AC system that would be needed, implementing alternative energy conservation measures, for instance changing window panes, walls, and roof tile materials and installing thermal insulation, were proposed to quantify the amount of energy savings as well as GHG emissions reductions. The findings will be useful for building owners, architects and policymakers as a guidelinefor demonstrating a building’s energy-efficiency.