| Summary: | The study compared four different cooling systems and analyzed the competitiveness in those systems regarding electricity consumption, environmental impact and life cycle cost analysis. The assignment was given from the consultant company Ramböll who believed in these systems design as a solution to minimize the energy consumption in cooling systems. The purpose of the study was to facilitate the selection of cooling system by finding a key ratio for profitability in terms of energy consumption. This makes it easier to select one of these systems in project planning. A representative building model was built in the energy simulation program IDA ICE. From these result an energy profile was achieved. The energy profile was then used in another simulation program called Polysun were detailed system regulations could be made. By programing the controllers to regulate the distribution in an efficient way the energy consumption was minimized and matches the building cooling demand. The simulation was done for one full year and the obtained total energy consumption for each system, it was then used to calculate the operational cost. The life cycle cost analysis is a tool that compare each system costs during its lifetime. A depth analysis was also done regarding the sensitivity of changes in the profitability for the systems, by applying different electrical price and cost of capital. The study shows that the systems with different borehole storage solutions proves to be effective systems for covering the building cooling demand with a significant lower electricity consumption, compared to the system with a chiller. The different borehole storage systems also contribute to cover some parts of the heat demand, since the stored heat needs to be used in order to make the borehole storage functional. By analyzing the cooling systems in a comparative perspective, the most effective solution is identified from an economic and environmental point of view. The cooling system that only contained a borehole storage was the solution that distinguished the most regarding total electricity consumption and environmental impact. This system resulted in being the most profitable cooling system between the compared systems. The combined system with a borehole storage system and a heat pump solution was also proven to be an effective cooling system, additionally with an advantage of providing parts of the hot water demand in the building.
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