KUEHA – A new solution for space cooling during summer

 
Especially in urban areas, there are increasing thermal loads during the summer months. Furthermore, the increasing thermal insulation of buildings can worsen the thermal situation in summer. During the planning and operation phases of non-residential buildings, the question of how to cool spaces during the summer heat is often not considered. This often leads to a considerable decrease of thermal comfort levels leading to difficult working conditions and expressed user complaints, which in turn are can lead to a decrease in work performance. In residential buildings, the decrease of thermal comfort can lead to significant health impairments, especially among the elderly.
This stands in contrast to humans being able to benefit from increasingly sophisticated air-conditioning solutions – however, these are mainly used in vehicles or in the commercial leisure sector, which makes the difference to the thermal comfort enjoyed in buildings even more apparent. Retrofitting spaces to meet thermal comfort during summer is often challenging: Frequently, so-called decentralized split air conditioning systems are used with problematic arrangements of the condenser. Of particular concern is the inefficient fundamental and temporal use of electrical energy and the significant emission of waste heat into the surroundings. Although these divided systems are able to achieve the desired air temperatures, the thermal comfort is often not satisfying based on the often-considerable high air velocities in the form of drafts in combination with too low air temperatures.
In this project, an alternative option for space cooling during summer is practically tested. Preferably, the provision of cooling is carried out by renewable energies.