Code compliance of fully glazed tall office buildings in hot climate

In this research, the effect of glazing type and other energy conservation measures on the peak power demand of air-conditioning (AC) systems is investigated for tall and fully glazed government and private office buildings. The EnergyPlus building simulation program is used in the analysis assuming climate conditions similar to that experienced in hot countries of the Arabian Gulf, such as Kuwait. The main objective of the investigation is to meet the limits stipulated in the mandatory Kuwaiti code of practice for energy conservation, with respect to peak AC demand, for both air-cooled and water-cooled AC systems. It is found that for government office buildings with air-cooled AC system, the code limit of 70 W/m2 for the AC peak power is met when tint low-e glazing is used with either heat recovery units or with AC systems with higher coefficient of performance (COP); whereas for private office buildings, the limit can be met when using a number of conservation measures. Overall, the water-cooled AC system showed better performance even though the code limit is 50 W/m2 which is mainly due to the higher COP values achievable with such AC systems.