An integrated exergy approach for the optimal matching of internal and external heating plants in building conditioning systems

This study proposes a systemic approach to the joint design-and-analysis of space conditioning that leads to the identification of the thermodynamically most convenient configurations by integrating thermal building dissipation modeling, thermal consumption simulation and exergy efficiency calculation.

The space conditioning sector is one of the highest energy consumers and of the least efficient from the point of view of primary-to-end-use matching. In spite of the emergence, in the last decade, of innovative technical solutions based on renewable energy converters, installation of "new" devices without considering the whole picture (building + air conditioning system + energy conversion and supply chain) will hardly remedy the current situation.