Prioritize the Right Renovation Measures in Cooling-Dominated Environments

Abstract

In warm places like the United Arab Emirates, where air conditioning is essential, it is responsible for as much as 65% of a building’s overall energy use. Meanwhile, fossil fuels are used exclusively for electricity production in Gulf nations. As a result, cutting down on buildings’ need for cooling may help significantly toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions targets. To determine which energy-retrofitting measures should be prioritized in a cooling-dominated setting, this study looked at how various upgrades might affect the building’s cooling load. The study’s chosen interventions include i) improving the quality of insulation on the walls, roof, and floors; i) controlling the temperature within the building; iii) recovering heat from the air circulation; and iv) upgrading the windows. The construction of the engineering school at AURAK was selected as a case study to help with this mission. A computer model was constructed in the present work and utilized for estimating the cooling load of the case study. The case study’s cooling load in the UAE under the simulated weather conditions might reduce by up to 60%, the simulations reveal.