Enhancing Sustainable Cooling Solutions: Investigating Spot Radiant Cooling Systems Performance and Influence on Indoor Comfort in Hot Climates

In hot climates, demand for effective sustainable cooling strategies to maintain comfort is high. Nevertheless, conventional radiant cooling systems are often hindered by condensation risks and complex control requirements in partially occupied spaces. To address these challenges, at top inlet conditions of approximately 26°C and 50% Relative Humidity) RH (, three-dimensional CFD simulations validated against the 1.405 kW reference case of Shin et al. were performed to quantify the effect of installation height and panel geometry on spot radiant cooling performance. Lowering the flat CRCP from 2.6 m to 2.2 m reduced volume averaged air temperature (Ta) by 0.3–0.4°C, while maintaining a total panel heat removal of ≈0.700–0.702 kW, dominated by radiation (∼65–70%). The dome-shaped CRCP, with 21% less surface area (10.37 m2 vs 13.18 m2), achieved comparable operative temperature (Top ≈ 25.3°C). When extended to full area with a cylindrical skirt, total heat extraction increased to ∼0.70 kW and Top dropped to ≈ 23.6°C. These results demonstrate that geometric optimization can enhance localized cooling efficiency and occupant comfort without increasing system energy demand.