Analysis of radiant cooling system integrated with cooling tower for composite climatic conditions

Increased demand for cooling leads to consumption of a significant amount of energy by heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems in buildings. The building envelope acts as a thermal barrier and plays a significant role in improving building energy efficiency. Radiant cooling systems, which often use the building structure for thermal storage and to provide thermal comfort, have the potential for saving peak power in buildings. In the current study, both experimental and a simulation study were performed for two operational strategies of radiant cooling systems: a cooling tower–based system and a more conventional chiller-based system. The cooling tower–based radiant cooling system is compared with the chiller-based radiant cooling system for achieving annual energy savings. Experiments were conducted for the chiller and cooling tower–operated radiant cooling systems. Based on experimental data, whole building simulation models of both the cooling tower– and the chiller-based systems were calibrated. Simulations for both systems were carried out for 1 year. The annual simulation results show that the cooling tower–operated radiant cooling system saves 14% energy compared to the chilled water–operated radiant cooling system.