Analysis of the energy and thermal performance of a radiant cooling panel system with integrated phase change materials in very hot and humid conditions

This study evaluates the energy and thermal performance of a radiant cooling panel system with integrated phase change materials (PCMs) for application in building retrofit projects. The focus is on the energy saving potential of using two different strategies to avoid condensation in very hot and humid climate conditions. The cooling energy consumption of a DOE medium office prototype building model with a conventional all-air system is used as a baseline for comparing the proposed configurations. The results show that the radiant system yielded energy savings of around 48% compared to the all-air system for existing office buildings. Results also show that the proposed system is able to operate only during the night-time, which improves the plant efficiency. Thus, the energy savings are mainly due to a reduction in the energy consumption of the cold generation system and lower energy use for ventilation compared with conventional air systems.