Energy Performance Evaluation of Residential HVAC Systems in a Community Setting

This paper formulates the problem of energy consumption for residential HVAC systems by examining their energy consumption, energy use intensity, and primary energy factor to evaluate their energy usage. The analysis is validated through a case study conducted on various Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems in 293 residential buildings at a community scale in Chania, Greece. Considering the climatic conditions of the region, with hot summers and mild, wet winters, this investigation classified HVAC operations based on the cooling load required period and the heating load required period. The HVAC systems employed in this study include air-to-water heat pumps, air-to-air heat pumps, and gas boilers. The study utilized Ladybug tools and a URBANopt engine for community-scale energy analysis. Key performance indicators are energy use intensity and primary energy factor to elaborate a fair energy analysis comparison. Results show that air-to-water heat pumps outperform the other HVAC systems in heating and cooling required loads.