Page 55 - JCAU-5-2

Journal of Chinese

Architecture and Urbanism

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Building energy-saving mechanism for indoor

cooling temperature set-point with different
envelope: A case study in Guangzhou

Jianwu Xiong, Yin Zhang*, Meng Han, Jing Wu, and Zexuan Tian

School of Architecture, Southwest Minzu University, Chengdu 610225, China
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Advanced Technologies and Practices in Built Environment
and Cultural Heritage)

Abstract

The temperature set-point of air conditioning system is a crucial parameter for
behavior adjustment. Nevertheless, the thermal characteristics of building envelopes
are different at varied construction ages. In this context, there are already several
systematic studies demonstrating the differences in energy savings as a result of
raising the same temperature set-point for air conditioning. In this study, an office
building was used under four assumed envelopes representing different construction
ages, and the characteristic temperature method was applied to simulate the hourly
dynamic air-conditioning load before and after the set temperature rise of 1°C
presenting monthly and annual cooling consumption. We then explored the energy-
*Corresponding author:
Yin Zhang saving effect and difference in the mechanism of air conditioning with increasing
(cdzhangyin@163.com) indoor temperature set-point. The results showed that, provided that the temperature
set-point is increased by 1°C under the same climatic conditions, the worse the
Citation: Xiong, J., Zhang, Y.,
Han, M., Wu, J., & Tian, Z. (2023). thermal performance of the envelope, the higher the annual air-conditioning energy
Building energy-saving mechanism and the higher the annual energy-saving rate of air conditioning, which indicates that
for indoor cooling temperature set- the behavioral energy-saving guidance for the groups with the poor performance of
point with different envelope: A case
study in Guangzhou. Journal of the older envelope has more immediate effects. The hourly load reduction of different
Chinese Architecture and Urbanism, envelopes at the outdoor temperature between 26°C and 27°C constitutes the
5(2):0877. behavioral energy-saving effect, which is the main contribution of air-conditioning
https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0877
energy saving (58 – 79%), while the energy-saving effect contribution of temperature
Received: April 28, 2023 difference reduction is secondary. The newer the construction age, the better the
Accepted: June 14, 2023 performance of the envelope, the smaller the hourly load reduction amount of
the building, and the smaller the relative energy-saving rate, but its energy-saving
Published Online: July 21, 2023
behavior in the total energy saving ratio is greater, and the contribution of the energy-
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s). saving behavior is greater. The results of this study can provide a reference for guiding
This is an open-access article
distributed under the terms of the occupant energy-saving behavior and standard formulation.
Creative Commons Attribution-
Non-Commercial 4.0 International
(CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits all Keywords: Building simulation; Cooling load; Temperature set-point; Energy saving;
non-commercial use, distribution, Thermal performance
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience
Publishing remains neutral with 1. Introduction
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Energy conservation, emission reduction, and environmental protection have always
affiliations. been hot issues in the world. The fifth report of the United Nations Intergovernmental

Volume 5 Issue 2 (2023) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.0877