Use of solar desiccant air-conditioning systems in spandrels of commercial buildings

Mr. Anthony Domenic Calderone, Connell Wagner& Dr Ignatius Calderone, Director, Calderone and Associates Pty Ltd.

Collecting solar energy on the roof of a building is limited due to the limited roof area. There is, however, a lot of free space on a building façade. Additional solar thermal energy can therefore be collected through the architectural integration of solar collectors in the opaque areas of a building façade, such as behind the spandrel panels. This paper presents the potential of a building façade integrated solar thermal collection system and its utilization in a desiccant air-conditioning unit.

Desiccant air conditioning systems provide an environmentally friendly alternative to the traditional methods of conditioning a building’s internal environment. Whilst conventional air conditioning systems rely on electrical energy to drive the cooling cycle, desiccant cooling is a heat driven cycle.As such, desiccant cooling provides an opportunity to be coupled with solar thermal collectors to reduce energy demands. The potential for a desiccant cooling cycle utilizing solar thermal energy as the sole source of heat for regeneration of the desiccant was explored. The study demonstrated that under the assumed design conditions this system theoretically does not require a regeneration heater. Therefore, installation of such a system in a commercial building would be extremely beneficial in reducing the building’s energy consumption and therefore greenhouse gas emission.

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The Authors

Dr. Ignatius Calderone Director Calderone and Associates Pty Ltd Dr Ignatius Calderone is a Director of Calderone and Associates Pty Ltd, Consulting Engineers based in Melbourne Australia. His expertise is in the areas of building façade design particularly with re... Read more