TO-22-C036 - LCC Analysis of New Configurations for Chilled Water VAV system with Air-Cooled Chillers

Choosing the most energy-efficient and cost-effective air-conditioning system from various options is one of the most critical issues engineers must deal with. The air-handling unit-AHU-in a typical chilled water vav system, has one cooling and one heating coil linked to two independent water loops. The cooling coil is connected to cooling sources via a chilled water loop, while the heating coil is attached to heating sources via a hot water loop. This study proposes the Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis of innovative VAV chilled water designs to lower initial and operational expenses at six cities in different climate zones per the ASHRAE category. The arrangement employs a single standard coil rather than two coils linked to a single loop that incorporates cooling and heating sources or heat pumps. The research includes a detailed cost analysis (both initial and operational expenses) to assess the economic feasibility and energy efficiency of such configurations compared to the standard system. The results suggest that the new configurations can save on both the initial and specifically energy cost an average of 33%, and show the novel designs lead to significant energy and cost savings for any building built to be conditioned by standard chilled water VAV systems with air-cooled chillers.