Innovative two-pipe active chilled beam system for simultaneous heating and cooling of office buildings

The aim of this paper was to investigate the energy savings potential of an innovative two-pipe system in an active chilled beam application for heating and cooling of office buildings. The characteristic of the system is its ability to provide simultaneous heating and cooling by transferring energy between zones with one hydronic circuit, operating with a water temperature between 20°C and 23°C. To calculate the energy performance of the system, simulation-based research was developed. The two-pipe system was modelled by using EnergyPlus, a whole building energy simulation program. Hourly heating, cooling and ventilation loads were calculated by the program and an annual energy consumption evaluation of the system was made. Simulation results showed that the innovative two-pipe active chilled beam system used approximately 5% less energy than a conventional four-pipe system.