The correction coefficients for the building air-conditioning load accounting for the whole building hygrothermal transfer process for major cities in China

Abstract

At present, the calculation software and design specifications related to building cooling and heating load are based mainly on heat transfer theory. The effect of building moisture transfer process on the air-conditioning load is rarely researched. The aim of this paper was to investigate the effect of the whole building hygrothermal transfer (WBHT) process on the indoor air temperature and relative humidity, wall inner surface temperature and moisture flux, sensible heat load, latent heat load and total air-conditioning load in different climates. A WBHT model was developed and validated by the analytic solution and experimental data. Three humidity regions in China were classified for summer and winter according to the different outdoor air relative humidity levels. The correction coefficients of air-conditioning load of major cities were obtained accounting for the WBHT process. Our results would provide a future reference for accurately calculating heating and cooling load of buildings in different climate regions.