Development of a holistic engineering approach for improved AC performance and energy efficiency in buildings under harsh desert climate conditions

As the world’s civilization is entirely dependent on access to large amounts of energy, the energy demand continues to increase along with the rapid growth in the world’s population. Countries with extreme climate conditions tend to have greater energy demand where most aggressive energy consumers are heating and cooling systems. In the middle east and Gulf countries in particular (like Qatar), there is a huge demand for Heating Ventilation & Air conditioning (HVAC) applications due to the harsh desert environment (heat, humidity & dust), which approximately accounts for 60 – 70 % of total energy consumption. Electricity as a secondary form of energy is dominantly used for cooling applications in such regions, which is usually produced via standard fossil fuel based power generation processes that are associated with massive loads of carbon emission. Typical household consumption in Qatar is ten times higher than average houses in the USA and Europe. There have been numerous studies and techniques proposed to address such energy challenges through state-of-the-art technology, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. However, they are not entirely successful, as many of which are region or even country-specific, meaning that local energy policies, regulations, and culture can always impact the expected results. This study investigates the energy consumption and efficiency challenges related to buildings’ cooling applications and their environmental and health implications within areas of harsh arid climate conditions. To address these challenges, a pragmatic engineering approach is proposed to assist in tackling persistent power management and peak load issues associated with cooling applications in buildings where the focus is on demand-side to develop suitable power management techniques for multiple AC units. Optimal and adaptive control schemes were successfully developed for buildings to respond to space cooling demands in a balanced and harmonized way that significantly minimizes power peaks. Another aspect of this work investigates how dust from the surrounding desert environment can negatively impact HVAC performance, energy efficiency, and indoor air quality. An optimization algorithm was successfully developed to guide the design and proper selection of air filters for optimal HVAC performance.