Development of Advanced Cooling Technologies for Sustainable Future

Abstract

Buildings consume approximately 40% of annual worldwide energy consumption. While air-conditioning, heating and refrigeration systems are responsible for approximately 40% of building energy usage, their share is projected to grow dramatically due to expanded adoption of air-conditioning and refrigeration for better thermal comfort and food safety, respectively, especially in developing countries under hot climate zone. To mitigate direct and indirect CO₂-equivalent emissions from those systems, which is about 7.8% of global emissions, the development of advanced cooling technologies with more environmentally friendly low-GWP refrigerants is urgently needed. This chapter provides updates regarding the latest research efforts on the development of highly efficient advanced cooling technologies toward near-zero energy buildings. Three case studies were presented to explain integrations of advanced cooling systems: a clothes dryer based on novel heat pump technology, a residential air conditioner based on separate sensible and latent cooling technology, and a solar house based on integrated high-efficiency design. The studies also demonstrated how academia could integrate energy research into educational programs.