A new research facility was recently set up at the University of Sydney to study ways to improve energy consumption at homes and workplaces in Australia and internationally. Australia’s first comfort laboratory aims to find the balance between optimum indoor condition and energy required to achieve that. And with developments from a Queensland University of Technology researcher, the energy required may turn out to be negligible with a solar cooling and heating system that is designed to run independently of the electricity grid. Read more

In Sustainability Matters (31 August 2012):

University of Sydney researchers will be looking for ways to slash one of the world’s biggest single sources of energy consumption – the heating and cooling of buildings – at a state-of-the-art new laboratory.

Australia’s first comfort laboratory, a research facility that will also improve homes and workplaces in Australia and internationally, was opened today by Greg Combet, Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency and Minister for Industry and Innovation.

Professor Richard de Dear, Director of the laboratory, said: “We now spend an average of 90% of our time indoors. By helping us understand how humans react to temperature, light and sound in an office or at home, this laboratory will let us improve the quality and comfort of that time.

“While there is a widespread belief that the ‘optimal temperature’ for human productivity is 21.5°C, a figure that has been enshrined in many tenancy contracts, there is no scientific basis to this belief.”

He added: “By understanding the most efficient way to provide comfort, we can also lower energy and other resource costs. This has significant impacts on the sustainability of Australian businesses, drives productivity and increases our competitiveness in the low-carbon future.”

The laboratory consists of two rooms fitted with a multitude of sensors and controls, allowing researchers to control indoor conditions such as temperature, ventilation, airflow and direction, acoustics and lighting level, direction and intensity. As these conditions change, researchers will monitor occupants’ impressions of comfort.

The comfort laboratory is the cornerstone of the University of Sydney’s research into indoor environmental quality (IEQ), a field of architecture and design science that combines psychology, physiology, sustainability and architecture to investigate how sustainability and human experiences influence productivity at work and comfort at home.

The laboratory is located at the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning. The Dean of the Faculty, Professor John Redmond, said: “The comfort laboratory will draw on the faculty’s expertise in architecture, lighting, acoustics and sustainable design. This facility presents a unique opportunity for Australian research and a competitive edge in the global market.”

Professor de Dear is an internationally renowned expert in IEQ and thermal comfort. His work forms the backbone of national and international energy-efficiency and building standards.

In Sustainability Matters (30 August 2012):

A Queensland University of Technology (QUT) researcher is developing a solar cooling and heating system for the home that will run independently of the electricity grid and generate domestic hot water as a by-product.

Paolo Corrada, a PhD student in QUT’s Faculty of Science and Engineering, said the system he has designed cuts energy consumption by 90%.

“My target is to make it 100% so that the system is self-sufficient to run off the main grid, costing the homeowners nothing to run,” Corrada said.

“Heating and cooling account for about 65% of energy consumption in a house, whereas cooking accounts for only 6% so it is easy to see why air-conditioning devices are the main targets to reduce our energy consumption.”

He said the system is based on the use of an absorption chiller which is a well-proven, efficient technology.

“An absorption chiller uses a chemical process to reject heat and, when using waste heat or heat generated by renewable energy, is more effective than the more common mechanical process of vapour compression at deflecting heat.

“By using renewable energy from the sun we are providing an excellent technology to slash power consumption and the peak demand, especially in subtropical remote areas.

“The design is revolutionary because it incorporates also a desiccant wheel to remove moisture from the air and it uses the rejected heat from the absorption chiller to regenerate itself and to produce hot water for the house.”

Corrada said the combination of the two technologies together increases the unit’s efficiency by 40% when compared with the current solar cooling systems on the market.

He added that the system’s innovative design meant it was also much quieter because it used a small pump instead of a compressor like the standard split systems.

Source: www.sustainabilitymatters.net.au