A new way of cooling buildings through decarbonization

Countries that have extreme heats tend to follow the urban heat island effect, in which building cooling is mostly necessary amongst many buildings and the CBD areas. With that said, greenhouse gas emissions and building energy consumption continue to have an increased growth rate. The article mentions that, “this paper discusses the existing space cooling technologies and their suitability to provide comfort cooling in the context of warm and humid climates.” Further, alternatives for space cooling regarding low carbon has been reviewed and the strategies regarding decarbonization have been carefully considered. With a warming climate and the earth's surface surface reaching extreme temperature the decarbonization of buildings need to be accounted for and need to be placed in the policies.

Buildings such as homes, schools, and businesses are structures that are in place for human comfort and are built according to different climatic conditions. For instance, vernacular architecture adapts according to climate based on what was available during that time with natural resources and available technologies. From the time the digital era has come through with the expansion of the electricity grid and air conditioning has been able to make living inside these buildings a lot more comfortable. As different regions develop buildings, the buildings generally match international standards than regional standards.In today’s time however, buildings have a contemporary finish or architecture to them. Contemporary architecture is open and not restrictive and breaks away from the old traditions or norms of architecture. With that being said sustainability goes hand in hand with contemporary architecture with the usage of natural and recycled materials as well as aspects pertaining to energy consumption. Basically, contemporary architecture deals with contemporary problems. Further, together with contemporary architecture follows urbanization where contemporary architecture needs to meet a growing population's needs. The article by Banerjee and Bandyopadhyay state the following regarding the future of building construction, “most of the buildings currently being constructed or to be constructed in the near future are essentially modern buildings with business-as-usual scenario having dominant energy requirement for lighting, space conditioning, water heating, cooking and energy-consuming appliances.” These building constructions are mostly occurring in emerging economies. Further, in these emerging economies there is a demand for cooling because of the increase in economic growth, urbanization, population growth and the expansion of access to electricity. The article also mentions that, “the world is becoming hotter because of climate change that increases the need for cooling. To reduce the carbon footprint of these buildings, cooling related emission reduction is extremely important.” The research by Banerjee and Bandyopadhyay aim “to flag the concerns of cooling of buildings mainly in the warm climates of the globe that contributes majorly to make space cooling as one of the fastest growing end use energy demands. The possible technological solutions will be discussed, and pathways that may help achieving a solution will be deliberated.”

The article then looked into three sections dealing with the energy consumption of buildings and a discussion based on how to reduce energy demand through a space cooling method in buildings. Further, specific technologies for current space cooling have been outlined in the article. The technologies that have been stated are: non-refrigerant based technologies which are related to ventilations and fans, evaporative cooling which is also known as an energy efficient alternative, which can help cool buildings. Moreover, refrigerant based technologies are used such as electricity driven air conditioners. Additionally, to have an enhanced quality of life and adapt to climate change, space cooling is a critical development need. 

The article also mentions challenges that are faced with space cooling on buildings, such as, “emission generated due to leakage of refrigerants from the cooling equipment” and “emission generated due to energy used for cooling in buildings”.  With the challenges mentioned, the article also mentions the strategies to achieve the decarbonization of cooling buildings through low carbon energy and efficiency is through the following: “reduction of cooling load, energy efficient building design for new construction, energy efficient retrofitting for existing building stock, cooling performance standards, energy efficient air conditioners, low carbon electricity, and renewable energy driven cooling systems. Another strategy is the reduction of the cooling load with regards to energy efficient building design for new construction, energy efficient retrofitting for existing building stock, cooling performance standards, transition to high efficiency cooling, low carbon electricity, rooftop solar, renewable energy driven cooling systems, solar thermal space cooling, desiccant cooling, solar PV (Photovoltaic) space cooling, and ground cooling techniques- earth to air heat exchanger.

The article also highlighted aspects of future cooling technologies which related to evaporative cooling technologies, vapour compression technologies and solid state cooling technologies. There is also a photosynthetic route for reduction of cooling load whereby “green plants, algae, and certain bacteria utilise solar light to convert atmospheric carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates.” The next future implementation is net zero buildings.

There are scorching temperatures due to the effects of climate change, hence space cooling is in demand in order to cool buildings through decarbonization. The article mentions that “it  has been discussed in this paper that the efficiency of compressor based air conditioners has increased significantly, and further developments indicate that the efficiency will continue to increase in coming years”. The article also mentions the need for a reduced energy demand will be obtained by having energy efficient buildings.