Analysis of Daily Energy Demand for Cooling in Buildings with Different Comfort Categories—Case Study

Abstract

Climate change has a potential impact on the number of hot and torrid days in the summer period. Due to the occupants’ comfort needs, and because of the high heat loads during the summer period, in several European countries, the energy used for air conditioning in buildings increased. With multiple environmental monitoring systems (Testo Saveris) in two similar offices, having west and east orientation of glazing, 1920 data (internal air, mean radiant temperature) related to operative temperature were collected in order to show the differences between heat loads of rooms with similar geometry in the same building. Data were measured in a 15 min interval. The diffuse and direct solar radiation had been determined for the horizontal and vertical surfaces, using the measured hourly global radiation (Debrecen, Hungary) data for the analyzed days (summer, hot, and torrid days). The local climatic results were compared with other climatic days used in different national standards. The daily energy need for cooling for different building comfort categories was also determined in the case of the representative days. The maximum daily energy need for cooling can be even 2.3 times higher for east orientation in comparison to the west orientation of the facades.