Modelling and simulation of the effects of passive cooling technologies on energy savings for building systems in subtropical climate

The paper aims to investigate different measures of passive cooling that are compatible with existing buildings in order to reduce the energy consumption and peak demand associated with the cooling. Both the existing conditions and envisaged thermal comfort preference of the occupants of the building determine which retrofitting technology is most suitable in a particular case. Measures focusing on chilled ceiling, pre-cooling of building thermal mass and economiser usages are taken into account to evaluate the energy consumption, the indoor environment and green house emission by office buildings in the subtropical climate in Queensland, Australia. This study found that energy simulation process can provide a good projection of base loads of energy use and a reasonable projection of cooling energy savings by different passive cooling technologies.