Cooling load and energy consumption of commercial building in main climate regions

Research of load profile is the basis of system improvement and energy saving in buildings. In this paper, the cooling load profiles of typical commercial building in six cities of five climate regions, i.e. Temperate, Arid, Tropical, and Mediterranean and Polar, were simulated with the Energy-plus. A typical commercial building with similar façade and operation parameters was selected in our simulation for all six cities, and the setting of thermal properties of wall/window/roof are different according to the local regulations. Results show that the total cooling load of the building in Singapore is highest, and the following is Hong Kong, in which the latent load occupies about 40-50% all over the year, due the relatively warm and humid climate. The latent percentage is even higher in ventilation load for these two cities, about 80-90%. The cooling load of buildings in Chicago and Boulder are close, but the SHR is higher (about 0.9) and ventilation load ratio is lower (under 10%) in Boulder due to the lower humidity. With the mild Mediterranean climate, the SHR is also steady (around 0.8) in Los Angeles, and the ventilation SHR is quite low, almost zero, in cooling seasons. This research provides an useful reference for designing and operating air-conditioning systems in different climate regions.