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Guidelines & Technical Modules > Key Message: Air Conditioning

Air-conditioning is the most important reason for increasing energy consumption in non-residential buildings.  In North-West European climate, electricity consumption due to cooling - and the accompanying installations such as humidification, ventilation systems, etc. - increases the electricity consumption in offices about 40 kWh electricity per mē. This corresponds to 100kWh per mē additional primary energy consumption. As average electricity consumption of a non-cooled building amounts to about 311 kWh primary energy per mē, the additional primary energy consumption due to cooling of an office adds up to + 32%. In South-European countries, the energy consumption generated by air-conditioning is even higher.

The best way of reducing energy for air-conditioning is the choice for passive techniques such as solar protection, high thermal mass and night cooling.

If air-conditioning is unavoidable, the Technical modules developed in the frame of the GreenBuilding program describe a wide range of possible measures.

 A GB Partner should identify applicable energy savings measures by establishing an inventory of the air-conditioning equipment and major operating parameters. An assessment should be carried out which will identify the measures which are applicable to the air-conditioning system, and will include an estimate of the savings, the cost of the measure, as well as the payback time. An Action Plan for air-conditioning should be set up, presented to the Commission, and will result in a GB Partnership.

Useful links:

1. IOR, Institute of Refrigeration
www.ior.org.uk

2. IIOR, International Institute of Refrigeration
www.iifiir.org

3. RETA, Refrigerating Engineers and Technicians Association
www.reta.com

4. RSES, offeres educational and certification programs to HVACR professionals of all experience levels
www.rses.org

5. ASHRAE, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
www.ashrae.org

6. AHRI, The Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute
www.ahrinet.org 

7. Belgian HVAC federation in Dutch and French
www.atic.be

8. Australian Institute of Refrigeration Air Conditioning and Heating
www.airah.org.au

9. Federation of 28 European HVAC associations
www.rehva.eu

10. ThermCo is a project funded by the European Commission within the Intelligent Energy Europe programme and evaluates low-energy cooling concepts
www.thermco.org

Detailed information "Air Conditioning"

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