Improving Energy Efficiency of School Buildings with Solar-Assisted Cooling for the Maldives

Fathhee, Ahmed

Publication:
Improving Energy Efficiency of School Buildings with Solar-Assisted Cooling for the Maldives

dc.contributor.advisor	Benjamin S. Weil
dc.contributor.advisor	Ho-Sung Kim
dc.contributor.author	Fathhee, Ahmed
dc.contributor.department	University of Massachusetts Amherst
dc.contributor.department	Environmental Conservation
dc.date	2023-11-02T21:42:09.000
dc.date.accessioned	2024-04-26T18:12:49Z
dc.date.available	2024-04-26T18:12:49Z
dc.date.submitted	May
dc.date.submitted	2023
dc.description.abstract	Anthropogenic activities are responsible for the impact of global climate change because of burning fossil fuels releasing harmful gases into the environment. As a result, the global temperature has risen about 1.18 °C since 1880, causing the global sea level to rise by 178 mm over the past century. This is a threat to countries that are closer to the ocean, especially the low-lying countries such as the Maldives. It is predicted if the sea level keeps rising, most of these islands could be below sea level by 2030. The Maldives has a tropical climate requiring cooling to achieve thermal comfort. Electricity is used to provide cooling which is generated by burning fossil fuels. Due to the need for more buildings and the effects of global warming, the demand for cooling has increased, ultimately increasing the emissions. Therefore, this paper investigated the methods to minimize the building cooling demand by creating a building model of a school in Feydhoo, Addu City, Maldives using DesignBuilder software. Also, to analyze the potential of using solar technology in providing cooling for the building, a clean energy source reducing emissions. The base model of the building showed that annual electricity consumption for cooling would be about 200.14 MWh. Based on the base model, multiple building models were created to understand the best option that can lower the cooling demand of the building. The results showed that having a super-insulated timber construction could be a better option by using improved double-glazed low-E windows and an improved cooling system with a COP of 3.2. This lowered the cooling energy demand to about 103.71 MWh. Based on these results, a solar thermal cooling system was simulated using Polysun software which shows that solar thermal collectors were not able to provide the required cooling to run the chiller system. Hence, another option was explored where DesignBuilder software was used to model a solar PV array system to provide cooling for the building. But by using a better air conditioning system (VRF system coupled with a DOAS) to provide fresh conditioned air into the building, improving the indoor air quality. The results showed that the new PV array system was able to provide the electricity required not for cooling but for other electrical requirements (total of 163.31 MWh). It also resulted in a surplus of 1 MWh of electricity exported to the utility grid, achieving a net-positive energy building.
dc.description.degree	Master of Science (M.S.)
dc.identifier.doi	https://doi.org/10.7275/35077046
dc.identifier.orcid	https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8296-6605
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14394/33000
dc.relation.url	https://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2354&context=masters_theses_2&unstamped=1
dc.rights.uri	http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.source.status	published
dc.subject	solar energy
dc.subject	cooling system
dc.subject	tropical climate
dc.subject	solar thermal cooling
dc.subject	solar PV
dc.subject	Architectural Engineering
dc.subject	Energy Systems
dc.subject	Environmental Design
dc.title	Improving Energy Efficiency of School Buildings with Solar-Assisted Cooling for the Maldives
dc.type	openaccess
dc.type	article
dc.type	thesis
digcom.contributor.author	isAuthorOfPublication\|email:ahmedfathhee@gmail.com\|institution:University of Massachusetts Amherst\|Fathhee, Ahmed
digcom.identifier	masters_theses_2/1312
digcom.identifier.contextkey	35077046
digcom.identifier.submissionpath	masters_theses_2/1312
dspace.entity.type	Publication