Simulation-based determination of system size and energy savings for a life cycle assessment of a facade-integrated adsorption system for solar cooling of buildings

Reductions of CO2 emissions from the building sector are mandatory for climate protection, while the cooling demand in this sector is increasing. This calls for the reduction of the operational energy. Against this background, a novel façade-integrated adsorption system for solar cooling is investigated. In this work, the required system sizes for different buildings are determined and a life cycle assessment is conducted to prove the savings in CO2 emissions. The results reveal that the adsorption system can cover the cooling demand of buildings with an AV-ratio of 0.3 1/m or higher, but a share of 40 % and more of the façade towards East has to be replaced with panels of the cooling system. The façade area demand is much lower for the other compass orientations of the buildings with being zero for the façade towards South. Finally, the life cycle assessment shows that the use of the adsorption cooling system is beneficial regarding the global warming potential compared to conventional compression chillers by significantly reducing the electricity demand in the usage phase.