A numerical simulation-based method to predict floor wise distribution of cooling loads in Indian residences using Tukey honest significant difference test

ABSTRACT India's energy security scenario (IESS 2047) projects a mammoth increase in residential air conditioners, from 21.8 million units in 2017 to 154.4 million in 2038. This increased demand for space cooling accounts for an equal responsibility from architects and energy engineers to research building design-related cooling load nexus. This paper studies the pattern of cooling load dispersion between floors for 25 dominant residential typologies in Navi Mumbai that vary in heights, shapes, footprint areas, and densities. Simulation for cooling loads is done using Rhinoceros 6 tool with energy plus plugin. Tukey Honest Significant Difference (HSD) Post Hoc Test is done after ANOVA to group floors with similar cooling load profiles. The results show a strict increase in cooling load till the top floor for low rise and mid-rise. However, for high-rise buildings, most intermediate floors fall under a single subset category; thereby, the increase in cooling load among floors is not similar. This shows that as building height increases, the difference between cooling loads of intermediate floors decreases significantly. Also, an increase in height with a decrease in footprint area reduces the overall cooling load of the building.