- Solar air-conditioning systems impact on the built environment - A thermodynamic approach    289 kb by    Koroneos, Christopher & Nanaki, Evanthia & Xydis, George | koroneos@aix.meng.auth.gr    Short Outline In Greece the energy from solar radiation reaches 1700 kWh/m2 per year taken into account that the energy use in the summer goes mainly to air-conditioning. The objective of this work is to assess the potential of solar cooling in Greece, using as a case study a medical center in Igoumentisa. Also, the economic analysis will shed light to the feasibility of the use of such systems. Abstract Energy use in the built environment is of a major importance and constitutes the highest energy utilization of all sectors of the economy. Based on data from the EU, the use of energy in the building sector for space heating, cooling and water heating makes up 40% of the total energy used. The major part of energy used today comes form conventional sources such as coal, oil and natural gas. These sources are limited in time and at the same time constitute a major source of environmental pollution that threatens the mere existence of life as we know it. Most of the CO2 emissions come from the electricity production processes reaching the level of 94%. Of these emissions 45% are attributed to the housing sector. The predictions for the future are very gloomy for our planet if no measures are taken. The percentage of emissions of the built environment could rech 70% of the total figure by the year 2030. The use of solar energy in the built environment could play a major role in the reduction of CO2 emissions. Since the solar radiation is at its peak in the summer time it is wiser to utilize most of this renewable energy form. In the summer period most of the energy use, especially in the Mediterranean region, goes to air-conditioning. The objective of this work is to analyze thermodynamically and environmentally the use of solar energy for air-conditioning. This can be done through passive solar, photovoltaic conversion or solar thermal energy conversion. Specifically, solar cooling technologies use solar thermal energy provided through solar collectors to power thermally driven cooling machines An economic analysis will also be performed to see the comparison with the conventional systems. Keywords Case Study presented on the ISOCARP Congress 2009: Low Carbon Cities   Click to open the full paper as pdf document   Click to send an email to the author(s) of this paper