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Evaluation of Ground-Source Variable Refrigerant Flow System for U.S. Office Buildings

Author

Listed:
  • Byung Chang Kwag

    (Commercial Air Conditioning, LG Electronics USA, Alpharetta, GA 30022, USA)

  • Moncef Krarti

    (Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering Department, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA)

Abstract

This paper evaluates the energy performance of ground-source variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems to condition office buildings located in various U.S. climates. Specifically, the performance of the ground-source VRF systems was determined and evaluated against that achieved by conventional space heating and cooling systems, including packaged terminal air-conditioners (PTACs), water-source heat pumps (WSHPs), ground-source heat pumps (GSHPs), and water-source VRF systems. A comparative analysis shows that ground-source VRF systems require significantly lower source energy uses than other heating and cooling systems in all U.S. climates, ranging from 21% to 50% for PTACs, from 36% to 52% for WSHPs, from 22% to 49% for GSHPs, and from 4% to 19% for water-source VRFs. These results indicate that ground-source VRFs can be suitable heating and cooling systems for all U.S. climates when designing high-energy-performance commercial buildings.

Suggested Citation

  • Byung Chang Kwag & Moncef Krarti, 2018. "Evaluation of Ground-Source Variable Refrigerant Flow System for U.S. Office Buildings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-21, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:5:p:1621-:d:147427
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