Accepted Manuscript

A quantity-quality-based optimization method for indoor thermal environment

design

Yueer He, Meng Liu, Thomas Kvan, Lu Yan

PII: S0360-5442(18)32556-8

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.12.182

Reference: EGY 14435

To appear in: Energy

Received Date: 18 June 2018

Accepted Date: 24 December 2018

Please cite this article as: Yueer He, Meng Liu, Thomas Kvan, Lu Yan, A quantity-quality-based
optimization method for indoor thermal environment design, Energy (2018), doi: 10.1016/j.energy.
2018.12.182

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 ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT

A quantity-quality-based optimization method for indoor thermal environment design

Yueer HE a,b,c,d,e, Meng LIU a,c,d, Thomas KVAN b, Lu YAN a,c,d

a Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, P. R. China;

b The University of Melbourne, VIC 3010, Australia;
c Key Laboratory of the Three Gorges Reservoir Region’s Eco-environment under MOE, Chongqing
University, Chongqing 400044, P. R. China;
d National Centre for International Research of Low-carbon and Green Buildings, Chongqing University,
Chongqing 400044, P. R. China;
e National University of Singapore, 117566, Singapore.

Corresponding authors:
Meng LIU
Tel: +86 13594006068
Fax: +86 23 65127815
Email: liumeng2033@126.com
Postal address: 174, Shazheng Street, Chongqing 400044, P. R. China.

Abstract: This paper proposes a quantity-quality-based optimization method of indoor thermal

environment design that emphasizes entransy and exergy analysis. We scrutinized the different

focuses of entransy and exergy in examining an energy-related phenomenon or process, and

pointed out the need for integrating entransy and exergy for the optimization of indoor thermal

environment design. The proposed method contributes to identifying the most energy-efficient

solution for attaining the same level of indoor thermal comfort for end users by quantifying the

entransy and exergy efficiency of active technologies. With this method, a benchmark technical

solution was properly determined and benchmarks for entransy dissipation and exergy loss during

the process of thermal environment design were quantified. Entransy dissipation and exergy loss

under common technologies were compared with the benchmark values. The concepts of relative

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entransy savings and relative exergy savings were defined as the evaluation indexes of technical

energy efficiency. Referencing winter indoor thermal environment design for residential buildings

in hot-summer and cold- winter (HSCW) regions in China, the proposed method was applied to

assess the energy efficiency of different heating methods, including an inverter air conditioner, an

“air source heat pump + floor radiation,” a “wall-hanging gas heater + floor radiation,” a “wall-

hanging gas heater + radiator,” and an oil-filled radiator. This paper recommended that the “air

source heat pump + floor radiation” be used for residential buildings in winter in HSCW regions

to improve energy efficiency. In addition, the optimization results of the proposed method were

compared with that of traditional energy and exergy analysis methods. The results showed that the

new method more accurately analyzed the energy flow in indoor thermal environment design, and

therefore can serve as an improved way of thinking about follow-up studies on the optimization of

heat pump units and the operation strategies of floor radiant heating systems.

Keywords: Entransy dissipation; Exergy loss; Indoor thermal comfort; Relative entransy savings;

Relative exergy savings.

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1. INTRODUCTION

The energy requirements of maintaining a high-quality indoor thermal environment are

enormous, amounting to 15–20% of the global energy consumed by human beings [1]. Different

methods can be used to achieve the same level of indoor thermal environments. Therefore,

quantifying and further improving the energy performance of various technologies for indoor

thermal environments is a need that must be met urgently.

When it comes to the creation of indoor thermal environments, it is traditionally held that

heating is needed in winter and cooling is needed in summer. However, the quality of energy is

ignored in this view, which only focuses on the quantity of cooling or heating energy. As heat and

moisture sources exist indoors, the task of indoor thermal environment design is to transfer extra

heat and moisture so that the indoor temperature and humidity satisfy the occupants. This can be

achieved through either a passive or an active channel. The heat and moisture transferred through

a building envelope is a passive channel. The amount of heat and moisture it can transfer is

determined by the difference between indoor temperature and outdoor temperature, or the moisture

difference, also called the “natural driving force.” However, when the heat transferred via the

passive channel is either insufficient or excessive, that is, when the natural driving force cannot

meet the requirements, an active channel is required to supplement it. Driven by the temperature

difference and moisture difference between the heat and moisture sinks and sources, the active

channel completes the task of heat or moisture removal. Figure 1 illustrates the process of

designing indoor thermal environments, including indoor heat and moisture collection, passive

transmission through building envelopes, active transmission of the heating and air-conditioning

system, and outdoor heat and moisture sources or sinks.

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Fig. 1 Process of an indoor thermal environment design

Therefore, the design of indoor thermal environment should be viewed as a process of heat

and moisture transfer rather than a work process [1]. When the natural driving force is insufficient,

the power (temperature difference and/or moisture difference) required to transfer heat and

moisture can be supplied by active systems, such as heat pumps. This process entails considerable

energy conversion and transfer, and the energy flow involved should be accurately analyzed.

Currently, energy analysis and exergy flow analysis are widely used in the field of building energy

efficiency. According to the energy analysis method (on the basis of the first law of

thermodynamics), the energy efficiency of buildings is defined as the use of less energy without

degradation of building performance. Energy intensity (kWh/m2 and CO2 emissions/m2) is usually

used as an evaluation index. Though intuitive and simple, the energy analysis method only

analyzes and reveals the transfer, conversion, utilization, and loss of energy in a specific quantity,

while ignoring the quality/grade of the energy. When it comes to comparing the energy efficiency

of different technical solutions with different energy forms, different qualities of energy are usually

converted into primary energy for consumption. The optimal solution is determined by evaluating

the amount of primary energy consumed to produce the same amount of cooling (or heating). The

exergy analysis method was developed based on the second law of thermodynamics. The analysis

results are greatly affected by reference states. In addition, the goal of the optimization method

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based on exergy analysis is to minimize the irreversibility of available energy in the process of

heat–work conversion. Although the design of indoor thermal environments involves the

conversion of different energies in cases where the natural driven force runs out of requirements,

the transfer of large amounts of heat and moisture occurs. Certain limitations will arise if we only

optimize the design of thermal environments from the perspective of minimizing exergy loss.

Thus, current analysis methods cannot fully address the limitations in the energy efficiency

evaluation of indoor thermal environment design technologies. The aim of this research is to fill

this research gap. By using a specific active technique, an energy flow network for designing an

indoor thermal environment with the same level of comfort for the end user was set up, and

thermodynamic parameters of entransy and exergy were integrated for analyzing and quantifying

each link of energy conversion and transfer in light of commonly applied technologies. Entransy

is a physical quantity proposed based on the heat transfer process; our study represents the first

time that this concept has been used in indoor thermal comfort analysis. Exergy is a physical

quantity proposed from the perspective of heat-work conversion. This proposed method was then

examined in relation to the optimization of a winter indoor thermal environment in hot-summer

and cold-winter (HSCW) zones in China, where residents have expressed an increasing demand

for heating and have participated in frequent debates on heating methods. Based on this new

method, our study showed that the “air source heat pump + floor radiation” heating system

performed better in this climate zone from the point view of energy efficiency. In addition, a

comparison was conducted of the optimization results of the proposed method with the traditional

energy and exergy analysis methods.

2. CURRENT ANALYSIS METHODS FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY OF

TECHNOLOGIES FOR INDOOR THERMAL ENVIRONMENT DESIGN

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Analysis methods for evaluating the energy efficiency of technologies for indoor thermal

environment design mainly include the energy analysis method, which is based on the first law of

thermodynamics, and the entropy analysis method, which is based on the second law of

thermodynamics. In recent years, entransy, a new physical quantity derived from the theory of heat

transfer, has also been applied in the field of building energy systems.

2.1 Energy Analysis Method Based on the First Law of Thermodynamics

As a representation of the quantity balance or ratio between energies of different qualities,

such as work and heat, the energy analysis method reflects the balance relationship between input

and output energy. Based on the first law of thermodynamics, “energy efficiency of buildings” is

defined as using less energy without degrading building performance [2]. Extensive research that

has been done on energy efficiency has revealed that six factors affect energy efficiency [3]:

climatic conditions, building envelopes, building equipment and energy systems, the operation and

maintenance of buildings, user behavior, and the quality of indoor environments. Energy-saving

measures are usually carried out based on the above six factors, thereby reducing the demand for

energy input by decreasing the energy consumption demand. The evaluation of the energy-saving

benefits of a specific energy technology relies either on changes in the quantity of energy

demanded before and after the application of energy consumption simulation and comparison

technologies, or on the comparison of measured results and energy consumption benchmarks of

similar buildings.

Based on different focuses, the methods/tools used to assess the energy performance of

buildings can be divided into four categories [4], which are summarized in Table 1.

Table 1 A summary of typical energy performance assessment methods

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Applications Example Tools Energy Performance Assessment

Evaluation systems for LEED [5], BREEAM [6], etc.
building environments
Green Star [7]
Energy certification ASHRAE Building Energy
Quotient [8], DOE Energy Asset
Ratings [9], the European Union
House Energy Labelling
Procedure, etc.
Methods
Using dynamic simulation software (for newly
constructed buildings) and measured data (for
existing buildings) to compare the energy
consumption/CO2 emission intensity of the
evaluated buildings and benchmark buildings
and ultimately obtain the performance grade
of the evaluated buildings.
Using energy simulation software and its own
energy calculator (the Green Star Energy
Calculator) to assess the CO2 emission
intensity of the evaluated buildings.
A certification scheme for rating and
displaying the energy performance in
buildings based on the established general
calculation method for building energy
performance and the setting of the minimum
energy performance requirements for new
buildings and for major renovation of large
existing buildings.

Whole-building Energy Star [10], Cal-Arch [11], An overall operational assessment of existing
benchmarking tools etc. buildings which uses the measured whole-
building energy performance index comparing
the statistical benchmarks.

Hierarchical assessment EARM-OAM (Energy Transitioning from the assessment of the

and diagnosis tool Assessment and Reporting
Methodology-Office
Assessment Method) (UK) [12-
13],
A Method to Assess the Energy
Performance of Existing
Commercial Complexes (HK)
[14],
overall energy efficiency of buildings to the
assessment of the energy efficiency of each
energy-consuming system and component,
this method considers multiple factors
affecting energy use in buildings to effectively
identify and diagnose problems and
recommend specific corrective actions.

Energy efficiency diagnosis for

air conditioning systems (China),
etc.

Although the energy analysis method that uses energy intensity as an assessment index is

intuitive and simple, it only analyzes the conversion, transmission, utilization, and loss of energy

of specific devices or equipment in a given quantity, while ignoring quality of energy. Energy is

conserved in any energy processes, but the quality of energy is degraded to a less useful form.

Therefore, exploring building energy efficiency not only requires reducing the demand for the

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energy quantity of cooling and heating, but also evaluating the utilization of energy quality.

2.2 Entropy Analysis Method Based on the Second Law of Thermodynamics

Existing research on the analysis method based on the exergy theory in the field of building

science involves the following aspects:

1) The energy utilization of HVAC systems or entire building energy systems, including the

active application of renewable energy sources, was evaluated, and relevant optimization measures

were proposed. The studies are summarized in Table 2 with the key entries (e.g. authors, target

systems, assessment indicators, and results).

Table 2 A summary of typical applications of the exergy analysis method in HVAC or entire building energy

system

Authors Target system(s) Assessment Results

indicators
Yucer and A traditional steam Exergy efficiency The exergy efficiency of the system was
Hepbasli [15] boiler heating system in 3.18%. In the heating system, the exergy
a residential community efficiency of the boiler, heat exchange, and
radiation end was 19.35%, 37%, and 31%,
respectively.
Khalid et al. [16] A “natural gas boiler + Exergy efficiency The exergy efficiency of the “solar thermal
absorption refrigerating + steam absorption refrigerating unit”
unit”, a “solar thermal + system was 3.9%, while that of the “solar
steam absorption thermal + heat pump” system was only
refrigerating unit” and 1.2%.
“solar thermal + heat
pump” systems
Aphornratana Each thermodynamic Exergy loss The exergy loss of the evaporator and
et al. [17] process of a single-effect absorber was the largest, and would
absorption cooling cycle continue to increase as the circulation ratio
of the solution increased.
Nikolaidis et A two-stage compression Exergy loss If the exergy loss of the evaporator
al. [18] cooling cycle decreased by 1%, the exergy loss of the
system was reduced by 2.87 times.
Similarly, a 1% decrease in the exergy loss
of the condenser reduced the exergy loss of
the system by 2.4 times.
Yasin Ust[19] Air compression cooling The maximum ratio An optimization model was established for
cycle of cooling load and the air compression cooling cycle, and the
exergy loss influence of each irreversible parameter on
the performance of the cooling cycle was
explored.

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Kim et al. [20] Three different air
cooling systems using air
source heat pumps as the
cooling source, i.e., the
full air system, air
handling unit + radiant
ceiling, and radiant
ceiling + decentralized
ventilation
Bojic et al. [21] Four radiant heating
systems with different
ends, i.e., floor, wall,
ceiling, and floor-ceiling.
Exergy efficiency The air handling unit + radiant ceiling
system demonstrated the highest exergy
efficiency (between 4% and 13%) among
the three systems. The efficiency increased
as the difference between indoor
temperature and outdoor temperature
decreased.
Exergy efficiency The floor-ceiling radiant heating system
had the highest exergy efficiency, while
wall radiant heating was second, and the
traditional ceiling radiant heating system
was the least energy efficient.

2) The overall performance of the energy use system in buildings was evaluated and the

relevant optimization measures were proposed.

In a study by Goncalves et al. [22] in which the steady-state exergy analysis method was applied,

the PER index was proposed to evaluate the performance of heating and ventilation systems and

electrical equipment in hotel buildings. Defined as the ratio of available energy to the quantity of

primary energy demanded, the PER index was used to evaluate the energy use system of a hotel

building in Portugal. The PER index obtained was 49%, while the corresponding exergy efficiency

was 17%.

In a study by Kerdan et al. [23], the comparative analysis of the exergy efficiency and

exergoeconomic performance before and after the transformation of passive houses was conducted.

The results showed that the input exergy decreased by 56.4%, the exergy loss declined by 60.4%,

and the exergy efficiency of the energy use system in buildings increased from 9.8% before the

transformation to 18% afterward. However, due to the impact of initial investment and exergy loss,

the exergoeconomic performance of the passive house failed to meet the desired level.

Besides exergy efficiency, which was used as an index to evaluate energy use systems in

buildings, other sustainability evaluation indexes have also been proposed based on the exergy

analysis method (Table 3).

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Table 3 Exergy-based sustainability evaluation index of energy consumption systems

Authors Index Definition Equation

Rosen et al. ψ-SI the relationship between exergy efficiency (ψ) and sustainability 1 1
[24] index (SI) was defined, and SI was found to change depending ψ = 1 - , SI =
𝑆𝐼 1-𝜓
on the exergy efficiency of the energy system.
Coskun et al. RREx the exergy efficiency of renewable energy sources (RREx) was 𝐸𝑥𝑢𝑠𝑓
[25] defined as the ratio of the available energy supplied by 𝑅𝑅𝐸𝑥 =
𝐸𝑥𝑡𝑜𝑡
renewable energy sources in energy use in buildings to the total
input exergy of buildings.
Snoek and fte the initial investment of the system and the exergy destruction 𝐶𝐶𝑅
Kluiters[26] cost rate were integrated to define the thermal-economic 𝑓𝑡𝑒 =
𝐶𝐶𝑅 + 𝐸𝐷𝐶𝑅
coefficient fte.
Zaleta et al. ki the unit cost ki was established as the exergy Exo needed to 𝐸𝑥𝑜
[27] produce unit exergy flow Exi. 𝑘𝑖 =
𝐸𝑥𝑖

3) Analysis of Exergy Flow in Buildings

In the 1990s, Germany took the lead in studying exergy flow in buildings. To meet the needs

of energy-saving buildings, concepts such as “low exergy technology” and “low exergy buildings”

were proposed, and the Low Exergy Architecture Society was established. In addition, the Energy

in Buildings and Communities Programme of the International Energy Agency successively

initiated two projects to conduct research on low-exergy buildings. Germany and Finland regarded

low exergy buildings and systems as the main instruments for achieving building energy

conservation. A low exergy system is defined as a system that uses low-grade energy to provide

cooling or heating to a building. According to the Lowex Guide Book, in practical engineering

applications, it can be understood as a system that provides heat or cold energy with a temperature

close to that of a room[28-29].

In a study by Jansen et al. [30], the exergy analysis method was used to guide the design of

building energy conservation and reconstruction programs. By evaluating the energy use systems

in buildings without insulation systems, buildings that only had insulation systems added, and

buildings reconstructed according to the reconstruction plans proposed per the exergy efficiency

analysis, it was found that the exergy efficiencies of buildings without insulation systems and
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buildings with only insulation systems added were 10% and 16%, respectively, while the quantity

of primary energy demanded by low exergy buildings optimized using the exergy method was

reduced by 80%.

Exergy analysis has proven successful in Europe in the design of indoor thermal environments.

However, these results may stem from low humidity levels in Europe. In climatic regions where

air humidity is high, with different reference states (e.g. unsaturated outdoor air conditions or a

saturated state corresponding to the outdoor air temperature) selected, the results would be

considerably different [1].

Secondly, as a parameter defined according to the heat-work conversion process, exergy aims

to minimize irreversibility or maximize power capacity during the conversion process. However,

the core of designing indoor thermal environments for buildings is the process of transferring extra

heat and moisture out of the buildings. That is, the emphasis is to analyze the transfer of heat and

moisture. Limitations will arise if only exergy is used to describe and guide the design of indoor

thermal and moist environments [1].

2.3 Entransy Analysis Method Based on the Heat Transfer Theory

Entransy Eq. (1), based on the essence of heat transfer, is a core physical quantity proposed

by a research group at Tsinghua University led by Guo Z. [31]. The concept of this new physical

quantity represents a functional product of transferred or stored heat (Q or Qvh) as heat or “thermal

charge” and absolute temperature as intensive thermal potential (T) [32].

1 1
𝐸𝑛 = 2𝑄𝑣ℎ𝑇 = 2𝑀𝑐𝑝𝑇2, (1)

where En denotes the potential energy of heat (entransy) in the object in J/K, and Qvh represents

the internal energy of the object in J/K. Note the use of the symbol Qvh for stored heat, with the

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subscript “vh” being used to differentiate it from the heat transfer Q.

Due to the irreversibility of the heat transfer process, entransy is dissipative. For objects with

a given specific heat capacity per unit mass, when the temperature changes from T1 to T2, ∆En,dis,

entransy dissipation can be calculated using Eq. (2). The entransy balance of a pure heat transfer

process can be established as Eq. (3).

𝑇 1
∆𝐸𝑛,𝑑𝑖𝑠 = ∫𝑇1𝑑𝐸𝑛 = 2𝑀𝑐𝑝(𝑇22 - 𝑇21). (2)
2

𝐸𝑛,𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 = 𝐸𝑛,𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 +∆𝐸𝑛,𝑑𝑖𝑠. (3)

2.3.1 Regarding entransy

Entransy has been identified as a basis for optimizing heat transfer processes in terms of the

analogy between heat and electrical conduction [33]. The analogy is complete for “pure heat transfer”

without any work conversion or dissipation, referred to here as “caloric processes,” wherein

thermal heat is conserved but degraded to lower a respective potential. Hence, first of first, the

theory of entransy and its application are also aligned with fine restriction of the second law of

thermodynamics[32, 34].

Secondly, as stated in the reference [33], there are various quantities to describe the heat

transfer rate, but there is no concept of efficiency for transfer processes because in heat transfer

problems the input (for example, high conductivity materials or fluid velocity) has different units

than the output (increased heat transfer rate or reduced temperature difference). As a result, a heat

transfer process can be enhanced, but there is no way to know how to optimize a heat transfer

process. This new physical quantity, entransy, is introduced and used to define the efficiencies of

heat transfer processes and to optimize heat transfer processes. Much research has been done

regarding this perspective. Xu et al. [35] showed that “entransy dissipation-based method has

advantages for the optimization of heat exchanger networks in thermal systems in comparison with
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entropy or exergy methods” by using the Lagrange multiplier method with the entransy

dissipation-based constraint.Since entransy represents both, the quantity and quality of heat, i.e.,

synergy of stored thermal heat and its temperature level, it is related to exergy and free energy, in

turn all related to entropy, all with different units and physical meanings [32]. The role of exergy or

entransy in energy analysis is to identify which part of the entire process is the most energy-

consuming one, and then to improve the energy efficiency of the system process. Both exergy and

entransy are thermological parameters that comprehensively consider the quantity (Q) and grade

(T) of the energy. The physical quantity of exergy can be considered that Q is weighted on the

scale of 1/T, focusing on the heat-work conversion process; while the physical quantity of entransy

is considered as weighting on the scale of T, focusing on the heat transfer process. Moreover,

entransy has a unique advantage to be a true state property while exergy is not since it also depends

on reference to the surrounding dead state [32].

Last but not least, different thermological parameters should be used to analyze different

energy issues raising in different physical processes. Regarding to the heat-work conversion in the

heat pump cycle, it is indicated by the exergy analysis that the higher the temperature, the higher

the work-heat conversion efficiency. Consequently, entropy or exergy analysis is conducted for

heat-work conversions. The task of indoor thermal environment design is to move extra heat and

moisture out of the buildings. The driving forces are temperature difference and moisture

difference. Therefore, the entransy analysis which was developed based on the heat transfer theory

can help to examine this particular thermological process. When the driven forces provided by

artificial heat sources such as heat pump, the energy flow in an indoor thermal environment design

is linked by multiple heat transfer and energy conversions processes. Besides entransy analysis,

the physical quantity of exergy needs to be involved as well in the entire energy flow analysis.

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2.3.2 The applications of the entransy concept

The entransy concept is still in development with around 200 publications addressing it at the

time of writing. This new concept was originally used for the optimization of multidimensional

heat transfer [36-39], without work interactions. Later, it was applied in the field of buildings and

focused on the two aspects discussed below.

In a study by Jiang Y. et al. [40], the entransy theory was used to reconstruct the thermological

analysis model of the indoor thermal environment design system. The concepts of “driving

temperature difference” and “driving moisture difference” were proposed, and “moisture entransy”

was defined to describe the total moisture transfer ability of moist air as comparable to that of dry

air [41]. Based on these findings, the design of indoor thermal environments was divided into the

heat transfer process and the heat-work conversion process.

On this basis, researchers from Tsinghua University carried out a series of studies (Table 4).

They observed the optimization of heat transfer of the air-conditioning system in buildings from

the perspective of entransy analysis to propose optimizations for the heating and cooling process.

Table 4 A summary of typical applications of the entransy analysis method in HVAC system

Authors Targets Results

Zhang H. [42] Sensible heat exchange Optimization guidelines were proposed for different sensible
networks heat exchange networks after analyzing the applicability of
entropy production extremum, entransy dissipation
extremum, equivalent temperature difference extremum, and
equivalent thermal resistance extremum in the heat transfer
optimization of different equipment.
Liu X. et al. Sensible heat exchange process The mismatch between the heat capacity of hot and cold
[43] fluids in the heat exchange equipment was found to be a
major cause of entransy loss.
Jiang Y. and Air-conditioning systems Temperature and humidity-independent air-conditioning
Zhao T. et al. systems were proposed after analyzing the driven forces
[44-45] required for heat and moisture removal.
Zhu K. [46] Impact factors of heat loss in the The study found that a multi-grade heat source integrated
central heating system system and a primary network with a relatively low return
water temperature, which can also be maintained under low
loads, sufficiently reduced heat loss in central heating
systems.

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Fang H. [47] Heating by low-grade industrial The solutions to many key issues in heating realized by low-
waste heat grade industrial waste heat were analyzed based on how to
reduce entransy dissipation, and thereby reduce the demand
for input entransy (the power to transfer waste heat from the
factory to the ends).

Current studies on the application of the entransy analysis method are mainly aimed at

reducing entransy dissipation in the central heating system, especially in the transmission process

or heat exchangers, where only heat transfer process concerns. When it comes to heat supply

networks with fuel as their heat source, the main concern is to reduce the heat loss, which is

represented by the temperature difference loss. It is believed that decreasing the temperature

difference loss can reduce the demand for driving temperature differences, thus reducing the input

of entransy. Combining Eqs. (2) and (3), the amount of fuel required will decrease as input entransy

is reduced.

In this paper, we applied the entransy theory to optimize the design of indoor thermal

environments. This research showed that entransy has certain advantages when analysing the heat

transfer process, and also complements and clarifies the elusive thermal phenomena with a

potential to contribute in further optimization of thermal devices and processes.

3. METHODOLOGY

In this study, the irreversible losses caused by heat transfer and conversion between different

forms of energy during the design of thermal environments based on common technologies were

quantified through entransy dissipation and exergy loss. An optimization method of an indoor

thermal environment design was proposed afterward. The optimization objective is to identify the

most energy-efficient way to attain a good quality indoor thermal environment. The framework of

this method is shown in Fig. 2.

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Fig. 2 Quantity-quality-based optimization framework for an indoor thermal environment design

By using active technologies as the optimization subject, and establishing a benchmark

technical solution, we determined reference values for energy use efficiency in thermal

environment design and defined the concepts of “relative entransy savings” and “relative exergy

savings.” Entransy dissipation and exergy loss under common technologies were compared with

the reference values in order to evaluate the energy utilization efficiency of common technologies,

ensuring the same level of comfort for the end user in all cases. Therefore, an optimization plan

for thermal environment design was obtained. The following steps were used in the proposed

method:

(1) Determine a reasonable comparison benchmark.

(2) Establish an entransy-exergy quantitative method.

(3) Perform entransy-exergy evaluation of thermal environment design technologies.

3.1 Determination of a Comparison Benchmark

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During the optimization of thermal environment design, the following three aspects were

considered in determining a reasonable comparison benchmark.

(1) Determination of a reasonable demand for indoor thermal comfort

Currently, the internationally recognized thermal comfort evaluation indexes mainly include

the Effective Temperature (ET) index, which was incorporated in the American Association of

Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) in the 1920s [48-53] (1967, 1974,

1981, 1992, 1995, and 2004a) to determine the range of indoor thermal comfort zones, the

Predicted Mean Vote (PMV), and the Predicted Percent Dissatisfied (PPD) proposed by Fanger in

1972 based on the equation to calculate heat balance in the human body[54]. However, the index

also considered the ASHRAE Comfort Zone Chart (1967, 1974, 1981, 1992, 1995, and 2004b [55])

and many other well-known research results on thermal comfort, including those of Nevins et al.

(1975) [56], Arens et al. (1980) [57], Givoni (1976) [58], Tanabe (1987) [59], and Dear and Brager (1998)
[60].

When comparing systems with energy efficiency, it is important to ensure that the systems

provide the same level of comfort to afford the user the same comfort standard. Indoor thermal

comfort standards should be reasonably determined based on the climate and culture, physiological

conditions, and thermal adaptation behavior of the place in which the research objects live.

According to a reasonable demand for indoor thermal comfort, the indoor design heating and

cooling loads and the cumulative loads of the year were calculated in this study.

(2) Determination of a reasonable archetype

No special considerations were made in this step when the optimization method was applied

to an individual building. However, when the method was used on a community/urban/regional

scale, the building prototype was determined based on the archetype method.

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To generate a building prototype of a certain area based on the archetype method, the data

sources, building classification criteria, and the calculation method of energy consumption were

considered. Table 5 summarizes key points for the archetypes method used in the existing research.

Table 5 Key points for the Archetypes method

Calculation of energy consumption of an

Data sources
 GIS information
 Digital map
 Business taxation data
 Investigation
 Statistical information
released by the government
Building classification criteria
individual building
 Climate  The hourly analysis program (Carrier)
 Category  ASHRAE’s BIN method
 Age  Energy simulation software (e.g.
 Scale EnergyPlus)
 Location  Energy audit/monitoring
 Geometric data  The population distribution method was
 Construction/performance used to obtain the quantity of equipment
of the enclosure structure ownership; an investigation was conducted to
 Unit type and performance gain the time-used data to construct the
characteristic curve of the use of electrical
equipment or the behavior of the occupants so as
to perform energy analysis.

Bearing this in mind, the influences of climatic conditions, building types, and the thermal

performance of building envelopes, indoor thermal comfort, and usage patterns were mainly

considered in the subsequent case study that focused on a regional scale. The data was mainly

obtained through field work, network surveys, and Python analysis. The ASHRAE’s BIN method

was applied in subsequent case studies to energy consumption calculations.

The use of natural ventilation will affect the cooling and heating loads, leading to a difference

design in the HVAC system. Determining whether natural ventilation would remain an acceptable

means of indoor thermal comfort controls requires prediction of the indoor conditions in spaces

when they are naturally ventilated [61]. Hence, the suitable period for using natural ventilation was

determined by rating the indoor thermal comfort in naturally ventilated conditions, and the

influence of natural ventilation was reflected in the calculated loads. In the subsequent case studies,

the focus was given to the design of winter indoor thermal environment of residential buildings in

cold winter climate zones. The rated times when natural ventilation might be considerable
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excluded the winter period.

(3) Determination of a reasonable benchmark technical solution

By investigating and analyzing currently available technologies in the study area, a reasonable

benchmark technical solution was determined. According to the entransy-exergy quantitative

method specified in Section 3.2, entransy dissipation and exergy loss caused by using this

benchmark technical solution to design an indoor thermal environment were used as benchmarks

for subsequent comparisons.

3.2 Entransy-exergy Quantification Method

In a study by Zhang L et al. [62], entransy dissipation in heat transfer between hot and cold

fluids was expressed by the area between the two straight lines in the T-Q diagram. Tin, as seen in

Fig. 3, denotes the indoor temperature requiring maintenance. When heating was required, heat

had to be transferred to the room from the external heat sources. Once the form, quality, and the

quantity of the heat source were determined, the total input energy of the heating system was

determined. As a result, the total entransy dissipation during the heat transfer (the red zone in the

figure) was determined. Conversely, when cooling was needed, heat and moisture had to be

transferred from the indoors to the external heat sink. Once the form, quality, and the quantity of

the heat sink were determined, the total entransy dissipation during the heat transfer (the blue zone

in the figure) was determined.

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Fig. 3 The process of indoor thermal environment creation shown on the T-Q diagram

If the natural driving force is large enough to meet the required temperature difference for heat

transfer, it can be directly used. However, in most cases, when heating is needed, the outdoor

temperature is lower than the temperature that needs to be maintained indoors, and when cooling

is needed, the outdoor temperature is often higher than the temperature that must be maintained

indoors. The process of transferring heat requires the use of other heat sources or cold sources to

provide the expected temperature difference. When artificial cold or heat sources are used,

different forms/grades of energy conversion are involved. As discussed in Section 2, entransy

dissipation was used to quantify the loss of heat transfer ability, while exergy loss was used to

examine the irreversibility of different forms of energy conversion process.

Firstly, the entire energy flow during the creation of the required indoor thermal environment

needs to be specified. It can be generally divided into 3 parts, namely indoor heat and moisture

collection, active transmission by the heating or air-conditioning system, and outdoor heat and

moisture sources or sinks. Energy flow from the heat source to the heat sink is linked by multiple

processes of heat transfer and energy conversion, which varies with different active technologies.

When Q, the quantity of heat transferred in the energy flow, is determined, ∆En,dis, the total

entransy dissipation in the energy flow can be expressed as the product of Q and the equivalent

temperature difference ∆𝑇 [1], as shown in Eq. (4). The reduction of entransy dissipation ∆En,dis in
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each heat transfer process lowers the demand for the driving temperature difference during the

entire process, so as to improve the overall performance of the system.

When the natural driving force is insufficient, the temperature/moisture difference can be

provided by a refrigeration cycle/heat pump and fuel combustion, etc. ∆Ex, the available energy

loss during the process of energy conversion, is shown in Eq. (5). When Ex, gained (the exergy gained

by the system) is fixed, the system’s demand for Ex, input (the exergy input into the system) can be

reduced by decreasing ∆Ex (the exergy loss during the processing process) so that the exergy

efficiency of the system increases.

Equations (4) and (5) serve as the basic calculation equations of the entransy-exergy

quantitative method used to actively design indoor thermal environments based on the energy flow

network analysis.

∆𝐸𝑛,dis = 𝑄 ∙ ∆𝑇. (4)

∆𝐸𝑥 = 𝐸𝑥,input - 𝐸𝑥,gained. (5)

To explain the entransy-exergy quantitative method in greater depth, the system of

“refrigeration cycle + convection ends” served as an example. Due to the focus of this paper, duct

system losses which refer to the irreversible transformation of mechanical energy into heat was

not considered in this analysis. Figure 4 depicts the characterization of the entire “refrigeration

cycle + convection ends” energy flow process in the T-Q diagram. The driven force, represented

by ∆THP = (Tc-Te) = ∆Ttotal, was obtained from the heat-work conversion and was then used to

complete the task of heat transfer in the air-conditioning system. In this refrigeration cycle, WHP

(Te+Tc) was equal to the quantity of En, input, the input entransy for the entire system, converted by

the compression work.

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Fig. 4 Characterization of the “refrigeration cycle + convection ends” energy flow process in the T-Q diagram

In this case, the condensing and evaporating temperature of the working medium were deemed

as constant. For example, according to typical operating conditions, the condensing temperature

of the refrigeration system was taken as 45°C, and the evaporating temperature was taken as 5°C
[1]. As shown in Eq. (6), the entransy dissipation throughout the whole energy flow process includes

the entransy dissipation from the indoor heat source temperature, Tin, to the refrigeration cycle

evaporating temperature, Te, and from the condensing temperature, Tc, to the outdoor heat sink

temperature, To.

∆𝐸𝑛,𝑑𝑖𝑠,𝑡𝑜𝑡 = ∆𝐸𝑛,dis,ends + ∆𝐸𝑛,dis,refrigeration cycle + ∆𝐸𝑛,dis,heat sink

= 𝑄𝑒 ∙ (𝑇𝑖𝑛 - 𝑇𝑒) + 𝑄𝑐 ∙ (𝑇𝑐 - 𝑇𝑜), (6)

where Qe denotes the amount of heat exchanged between the indoor air and air conditioner

evaporator in J, and Qc represents the amount of heat exchange between the outdoor air and air

conditioner condenser in J. WHP, the work input of the refrigerator, was calculated using the

following equation:

𝑊𝐻𝑃 = 𝑄𝑎𝑐 𝐸𝐸𝑅 = 𝑄𝑒 (𝜂𝑐h ∙ 𝐸𝐸𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙), (7)

𝐸𝐸𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙 = 𝑇𝑒 (𝑇𝑐 - 𝑇𝑒) = 𝑇𝑒 ∆𝑇𝐻𝑃, (8)

𝑄𝑐 = 𝑊𝐻𝑃 + 𝑄𝑎𝑐, (9)

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∆𝐸𝑥 = 𝐸𝑥,input - 𝐸𝑥,gained = 𝑊𝐻𝑃 - 𝑄𝑎𝑐 𝐸𝐸𝑅𝑖𝑑𝑒𝑎𝑙, (10)

where ηch denotes the thermodynamic perfection degree of the heat pump. This value is mainly

determined by the heat pump’s performance, whose value is between 0~1. EER represents the

performance coefficient of the actual refrigerator operating at the condensing and the evaporating

temperatures, while EERideal represents the performance parameter of the ideal refrigeration cycle

at the same evaporating and condensing temperatures. The exergy loss of the “refrigeration cycle

+ convection ends” energy flow network was obtained by solving Eq. (10) using Eqs. (7)-(9).

3.3 Optimization of Thermal Environment Design Based on Entransy-Exergy Evaluation

As the natural driving temperature difference is often limited, artificial cold or heat sources

are required to provide the required temperature difference, which involves different forms of

energy conversion. The practical energy conversion process is irreversible that leads to exergy

loss. Therefore, even though entransy and exergy physically occur independently from each other,

they must be both considered at the time of evaluating the energy efficiency of different indoor

thermal environment design technologies. Hence, the concepts of relative entransy savings and

relative exergy savings were proposed in this study as indexes in order to comprehensively

evaluate the optimized design of indoor thermal environments based on quantity and quality

analysis. This optimization method is expressed in Fig. 5.

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Fig. 5 Optimization of an indoor thermal environment design based on entransy-exergy evaluation

The concept of a relative quantity of energy savings is the key to this optimization method, as

it compares the performance of different technologies. The entransy-exergy quantitative model

was applied to measure the thermal potential energy and available energy consumed in the energy

flow network under the effect of the ith technology, i.e., entransy dissipation ΔEn,dis,i and exergy

loss ΔEx,i. Therefore, the relative quantity of energy savings here was defined as the quantity of

energy savings at two levels: ‘‘potential energy” of the thermal energy, referred to as relative

entransy savings, and the quantity of available energy saved, referred to as relative exergy savings.

These indexes can be described using the following equation:

𝑆𝑒𝑛,𝑖 = (1 - ∆𝐸𝑛,𝑑𝑖𝑠,𝑖 ∆𝐸𝑛,𝑑𝑖𝑠,𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒) ∙ 100%, (11)

𝑆𝑒𝑥,𝑖 = (1 - ∆𝐸𝑥,𝑖 ∆𝐸𝑥,𝑏𝑎𝑠𝑒) ∙ 100%, (12)

where Sen,i denotes the relative entransy savings afforded by the ith technology as a percentage,

Sex,i is the relative exergy savings afforded by the ith technology, and ΔEn,dis,base and ΔEx,base

represent the entransy dissipation and exergy loss of the benchmark solution, respectively. The

relative entransy and relative exergy savings here refer to the relative amount of entransy and

exergy savings as compared to the reference value.

4. CASE STUDY
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China’s HSCW regions are mostly densely populated and economically developed. Its gross
national product reaches 48% of the whole country [63]. Figure 6 shows the tested indoor/outdoor
temperature values of 422 households without air-conditioning usage during winter and summer
of Year 2014~2015. It shows that most of the occupied time are uncomfortable with the assessment
of Evaluation Standard for Indoor Thermal Environment in Civil Buildings (GB 50758).

Fig. 6 Tested values of indoor and outdoor temperature of residential buildings in HSCW climate zones

The thermal comfort survey, shown in Figs. 7-8, indicates over 70% of participants feel too
hot in summer, and 50% of them also feel too humid. The unsatisfied ratio for the winter indoor
thermal comfort reach as high as 87.5%.

Fig. 7 Summer indoor thermal sensation of residential buildings in China HSCW climate zones

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Fig. 8 The unsatisfied ratio for the winter indoor physical environment of residential buildings in China
HSCW climate zones

Currently, the cooling methods for residential buildings used in this climate zone have been

relatively uniform, while no consensus has been reached yet on the heating methods. Influenced

by historical conditions, policies, etc., there is no centralized heating in China HSCW regions.

However, in recent years, colder and colder winters have increased the heating demand of the

residents in this region. The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has made a clear

statement that “Southern China is not suitable for centralized heating. Decentralized and local

heating are considered to address individual heating needs [64].” At present, heating methods in this

area are mainly electric heaters and air conditioners. However, the performance of air conditioners

in HSCW regions is subjected to cooling conditions, resulting into a low energy efficiency in

heating conditions. Moreover, the issue of defrosting needs to be considered due to the humid

outdoor air in winter, which reduces the effective heating capacity of air-conditioning and results

in a lower energy efficiency of air conditioners. Therefore, the proposed method was examined to

identify an optimal energy performance solution for indoor winter thermal environments of

residential buildings in this climate zone.

A benchmark technical solution for designing a residential winter thermal environment in this

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climate zone was established based on field surveys, online investigations, and Python analyses.

Three prototypes for residential buildings were determined, and the fixed-frequency air-

conditioner of level III energy efficiency, as stipulated in The Minimum Allowable Value of the

Energy Efficiency and Energy Efficiency Grades for Room Air Conditioners (GB 12021.3-2010),

was adopted as the benchmark technical solution. Entransy dissipation and exergy loss of the

benchmark technical solution in the creation of indoor thermal environments were used as the

comparison benchmarks for each particular case.

4.1 Construction of the Comparison Benchmarks

Python analysis was applied in this study to analyze the urban residential construction

information (including construction type, age, area, and orientation) of major cities in HSCW

regions in China. According to the standard stipulated in the Code for Thermal Design of Civil

Building (GB 50176), to classify climate regions in HSCW regions and the areas occupied by each

province, about 3,000 samples in Shanghai, Chongqing, Changsha, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Hefei,

Nanchang, Chengdu, and Guiyang were collected per city for statistical analysis. Due to the limited

amount of information available, the sample size of different cities varied. The maximum sample

size was 3,060, and the minimum was 2,780. By analyzing the similarities and differences of

collected information for each city, three representative cities (Chongqing, Changsha, and

Shanghai) were selected, and three building prototypes were constructed (Fig. 9). The annual

hourly data of typical meteorological years was extracted from the Special Meteorological Data

Set for Analyzing Thermal Environment in Buildings in China and used for subsequent analysis.

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(a) (b) (c)

Fig. 9 Plans of three residential building prototypes:

(a) Type A (140 m2), (b) Type B (80 m2), (c) Type C (60 m2)

In light of advances in existing retrofitted buildings in China, and improvements in building

energy conservation requirements, energy consumption analysis should be forward-looking to

some extent. Therefore, the thermal design of the building envelopes of the benchmark model

incorporated relevant requirements stipulated in the Design Standard for Energy Efficiency of

Residential Buildings in Hot Summer and Cold Winter Zone (JGJ134 2010) and the Design

Standard for Energy Efficiency 65% for Residential Building (DBJ 50-071-2016). The values are

shown in Table 6.

Table 6 Building thermal performance characteristics

Exterior wall (k=0.8 w/m2k);

Interior wall (k=0.60 w/m2k);
Exterior door (k=0.60 w/m2k);
Thermal parameters of the building envelop External window (k=2.8 w/m2k, south SHGC=0.39, East/West
SHGC=0.35);
Partition wall (k=2 w/m2k);
Interior door (k=3 w/m2k)
Window-wall ratio 35%
Openable area of the external window 50%
External sunshade None
Objected floor Standard floor (Floor height: 2.8 m)

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The patterns of use of residential buildings in HSCW regions were investigated through both

online investigations and field surveys. There were nearly 800 questionnaires collected, including

more than 300 online questionnaires and 450 field survey questionnaires. On this basis, three

patterns of residential use were designed based on the hours during which the residential buildings

were occupied:

1. Mode 1 corresponded to the scene where the dwelling was inhabited throughout the day. The

bedroom was used from 0:00 to 24:00, and the living room from 8:00 to 24:00.

2. Mode 2 corresponded to the scene where the dwelling was inhabited only in the morning, at

noon, and in the evening. The bedroom was used from 0:00 to 8:00, 12:00 to 14:00, and 18:00

to 24:00, while the living room was used from 12:00 to 14:00 and 18:00 to 24:00.

3. Mode 3 corresponded to the scene where the dwelling was only inhabited in the morning and

the evening. The bedroom was used from 0:00 to 8:00, and the living room from 18:00 to

24:00.

It should be noted that: the primary difference between the three building prototypes lay in the

heating load; differences among the three occupancy modes not only affected the heating load, but

they also determined operation conditions (e.g. the ambient temperature) for the cold or heat source

equipment; differences among cities reflected the suitability of various technologies under

different climatic conditions.

According to the calculations, no humidification or dehumidification was needed in HSCW

regions; heating loads were major in winter (January, February, and December) and partial of

March and November. The averaged design heating loads of different modes and prototypes for

Chongqing, Changsha, and Shanghai were 46 W/m2, 56 W/m2, and 56 W/m2, respectively. Heating

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loads fluctuated greatly and mainly occur at night. Therefore, heating loads distribution of Mode

3 was relatively compact and uniform, while distributions of Mode 1 and Mode 2 were more

dispersed. In the three representative cities, Changsha has the largest annual accumulated heating

loads, which were higher by an average of 25% in Chongqing and 5% in Shanghai. However,

heating loads fluctuations in Chongqing were smaller than those in the other two cities.

4.2 Analysis of Heat Supply Solutions for residential buildings

The proposed optimization method was used to compare five solutions selected from the

survey for designing winter indoor thermal environments for residential buildings in HSCW

regions. These solutions included an inverter air conditioner, an “air source heat pump + floor

radiation,” a “wall-hanging gas heater + floor radiation,” a “wall-hanging gas heater + radiator,”

and an oil-filled radiator. Here, “floor radiation” referred to a low-temperature hot water floor

radiation end. Table 7 shows the average values and fluctuation ranges of the estimated results of

three residential prototypes under three modes of residential use in three cities. Table 8 shows

monthly averaged relative entransy savings and relative exergy savings for different systems in

winter (January, February, and December).

Table 7 Assessment results of heat supply solutions for residential buildings in all cases

Relative entransy savings Relative exergy savings

No. Conventional technical solutions
(Sen) (Sex)
Heating realized by inverter air 38% −10%
H1
conditioner (Level III energy efficiency) (26%–52%) (−38%–9%)
Low temperature hot water floor 38% 47%
H2
radiation realized by air source heat pump (27%–52%) (39%–55%)
Low temperature hot water floor
−1762% −233%
H3 radiation realized by wall-hanging gas
(−2100%–−1300%) (−300%–−180%)
heater
Heating realized by wall-hanging gas −1966% −222%
H4
heater + radiator (−2350%–−1480%) (−250%–−180%)
12% −1958%
H5 Heating realized by oil-filled radiator
(−4%–34%) (−2650%–−1570%)

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Table 8 Monthly assessment results of heat supply solutions for residential buildings in all cases in Winter

Relative entransy savings Relative exergy savings

No.
January February December January February December
H1 26% 27% 29% 9% 8% 8%
H2 28% 30% 32% 39% 40% 39%
H3 -2009% -1690% -2100% -233% -248% -253%
H4 -2240% -1887% -2350% -222% -235% -239%
H5 20% 15% 11% -1168% -1413% -1454%

According to the evaluation results, different technologies represented different energy flow

processes, and demonstrated different levels of performance in heat transfer and energy conversion.

In this case, relatively good entransy savings were achieved by using an inverter air conditioner

and low temperature hot water floor radiation with an air source heat pump. However, the results

forecasted that exergy savings of an inverter air conditioner might be negative in these regions.

Specifically, inverter air-conditioning was to some extent applicable in HSCW regions.

The key factor affecting the quantity of entransy savings of variable frequency air conditioners

is the Coefficient of Performance (COP) of the heat pump unit. The results of heating loads

(omitted due to the length of this paper) showed that the average outdoor temperature for the

heating period in the three cities was in the range of 1.5℃~19℃, that was, it would work with a

relative low ambient temperature in winter. According to the existing research on the relations of

winter outdoor temperature and the performance of heat pump [65-68], the actual COP of the fixed

frequency air conditioner in this case was between 2.5~3; the actual COP of the inverter air

conditioner of level III energy efficiency was between 3.1~3.6. Calculation results were in line

with the performance curve of the compressor provided by the manufactory. Because of the

improvement of the COP, the application of variable frequency air conditioners for heating

achieved a higher entransy savings, especially for the case with small heating loads.

From the perspective of energy conversion with the assessment of relative exergy savings, the
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inverter air conditioner of level III energy efficiency might perform worse than the benchmark

solution, which was mainly due to the climate characteristics of HSCW regions. The average

outdoor temperature during peak hours in this case was about 7°C, which was consistent with the

results obtained by the Midea and Haier Household Air Conditioner Big Data Platform in a

statistical analysis on the running status of 100,000 sets of air conditioners installed in this climate

region. The COP of fixed-frequency air conditioners under these specific operating conditions was

about 3, which was close to the level III energy efficiency specified in GB 12021.3-2010. Since

fixed-frequency air conditioners cannot adjust the capacity downward, and the capacity is

controlled by the compressor, the operation time of the compressor was reduced. Inverter air

conditioners of level III energy efficiency slightly saved exergy in the case of Residential

Prototype C under Mode 2. In other words, only in small-load working conditions could inverter

air conditioners of level III energy efficiency save exergy. This indicated that for the climatic

conditions in HSCW regions, higher exergy savings can be achieved only by using inverter air

conditioners with a higher level of energy efficiency to supply heating in winter.

The “air source heat pump + floor radiation” heating system achieved relative entransy savings

of 27%-52% and relative exergy savings of 39%-55%. This heating system had a performance

similar to that of the inverter air conditioner when it came to entransy dissipation caused by heat

transfer, yet the entransy savings were slightly higher than that afforded by the inverter air

conditioner. The inverter air conditioner and the “air source heat pump + floor radiation” heating

system had the same heating equipment (a heat pump) and heat source (outdoor air), yet they

involved different heat exchange links and forms of indoor ends. Compared to inverter air

conditioners, the “air source heat pump + floor radiation” heating system contained more heat

exchange links indoors but less total indoor heat exchange. Outdoor heat exchange between these

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two systems should be comprehensively analyzed based on the COP of the heat pump. According

to the operational performance of the heat pump under actual working conditions provided by the

manufacturer, the inverter air source heat pump selected had a better performance than the inverter

air conditioner of level III energy efficiency. Therefore, when the equivalent temperature

difference ∆𝑇 remained constant, the “air source heat pump + floor radiation” heating system

involved a lower heat exchange, which afforded higher entransy savings.

The relative exergy savings of the “air source heat pump + floor radiation” heating system in

tested cases of this paper were always positive values. Like the inverter air conditioner, both of

them relied on the heat pump to provide the temperature difference required for heat transfer. What

made them different was the COP of the heat pump and the difference in the total exergy invested

because of the different ends selected. Although the minimum work Ex, gain required to supply per-

unit heat to an indoor environment through the “air source heat pump + floor radiation” heating

system was the same as that of inverter air conditioners or fixed-frequency air conditioners, the

available energy input Ex, input was also subject to the thermodynamic perfection degree of the heat

pump and heating loads. The set point of indoor air temperature heated by radiant system can be

2-3°C lower than that of convection heaters within the comfort zone of the human body [69].

According to the Technical Specification of Floor Radiant Heating (JGJ142-2004), the heating

load of a room fully equipped with a floor radiant heating system can be calculated as 90%-95%

of that of the room with a convection heating system. The heating load of the room with a local

floor radiant heating system can be calculated by multiplying the heating load of the room with

full floor radiant heating system by the local floor radiant heating computing coefficient. Therefore,

the radiant heating system bore a lower heat load than the convection ends. Moreover, with a

higher degree of thermodynamic perfection, the air source heat pump was shown to save exergy

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in thermal environment design.

The “wall-hanging gas heater + floor radiation” heating system was shown to dissipate large

amounts of potential energy of heat and available energy. The potential energy of heat it consumed

was 13–21 times as much as that of the benchmark solution, and the available energy it consumed

was 1.8–3 times that of the benchmark solution. When the temperature difference required for heat

transfer was provided by fuel combustion, the combustion temperature in the wall-hanging gas

heater was approximately 1300°C. For low-temperature hot water floor radiation heating systems

applied in HSCW regions, the circulating hot water temperature was generally 45°C or less. The

indoor temperature maintained, however, was only 18°C, which was considered to yield a great

loss of thermal potential energy and available energy. This is why there were huge differences

between the “air source heat pump + floor radiation” heating system and the “wall-hanging gas

heater + floor radiation” heating system in terms of energy efficiency, even though they have the

same ends.

By comparing the “wall-hanging gas heater + floor radiation” and the “wall-hanging gas

heater + radiator”, two heating networks with different ends, we found that the entransy dissipation

for the floor radiation system was lower than that for the radiator system, but the radiator system

had a higher exergy loss. The exchanged heat between the external surface of a radiator and

surroundings includes the convective heat transfer between the ambient air and the radiator, and

the radiative heat transfer between the surrounding objects’ surfaces (e.g. interior walls) and the

radiator. However, according to the existing research, the amount of convective heat transfer

accounts for more than 70% of the total heat released from the commonly-used radiators which

are made of cast iron and steel, etc. Given that, heating supplied by the radiator end in this study

was dominated by convection heat transfer. As explained in the previous paragraph, heating loads

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with floor radiant heating ends were 5%-10% less than that with convection heating. As a result,

the heat transfer quantity of the heat transfer network with the floor radiation end was smaller than

that with the radiator end. In terms of the exergy loss, when the radiator was used to heat the room

in this case study, the temperature of the supply and return water was set at 65°C/55°C, the average

temperature of the circulating hot water was higher than that of the floor radiation system, the

supply water temperature was assumed to be constant during operation, and the heat exergy

converted by the unit mass of fuel burned (chemical exergy) was greater than that at the end of

floor radiation.

The entransy savings of the oil-filled radiator fluctuated significantly with the indoor heating

load. It should be noted that, as a kind of local heating, oil-filled radiator heating cannot guarantee

a high level of thermal comfort. In this study, to meet the heating load demand theoretically, the

actual power consumed was calculated based on the heating capacity of a single oil-filled radiator.

The calculation results showed that certain entransy savings could be realized if the oil-filled

radiator had a relatively small heating load and was not continuously used for a long time. For

example, entransy savings of 4.4%-34% could be achieved in Chongqing. However, for Changsha

and Shanghai, where the heating load is relatively large, the entransy dissipation would be higher

than that of the benchmark model if the indoor thermal environment needed to be maintained

throughout the day. Nevertheless, when it came to energy conversion, the exergy loss of the oil-

filled radiator was found to be 15.7-26.5 times higher than that of the benchmark model.

In summary, since the five aforementioned heating solutions have different mechanisms of

action, their energy flow networks and energy consumption were different as well, which

influenced their different performances in energy utilization efficiency. Besides, the applicability

of different technologies was also affected by factors such as climatic conditions, building types,

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and modes of residential use. As indicated by the optimization method proposed in this study, low-

temperature hot water floor radiation with an air source heat pump was used to achieve efficient

use of energy on the premise of guaranteeing winter indoor thermal comfort in residential buildings.

In addition, when inverter air conditioners were used for heating in HSCW regions, heat potential

energy and available energy could only be saved if inverter air conditioners of higher energy-

saving levels were used.

5. COMPARISON WITH CONVENTIONAL RATING MODELS

To further analyze the significance of the proposed optimization method to guide indoor

thermal environment design, the conventional energy evaluation method based on the first law of

thermodynamics and the exergy analysis method based on the second law of thermodynamics were

applied to evaluate the energy efficiency of the five heating technologies discussed in the case

study. The different rankings for the five solutions with energy analysis and exergy analysis are

shown in Table 9. The subsequent parts analyzed the details for the different rankings.

Table 9 The different ranking for the five solutions with energy analysis and exergy analysis

Ranking
By energy analysis method By exergy analysis method
(From the highest efficiency to the lowest)
1 H3 H2
2 H4 H1
3 H2 H3
4 H1 H4
5 H5 H5

5.1 Energy Analysis Method

Based on the first law of thermodynamics, energy intensity[4] is used as the assessment index

to evaluate building energy efficiency. Therefore, in this study, the annual power consumption per
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household (kWh/household) was used as an index to evaluate the energy efficiency of different

heating technologies. According to Guidelines for the Verification of Amount of Energy Saving in

Energy Conservation Transformation of Public Buildings, if the cold or heat source equipment is

driven by primary energy such as natural gas, the natural gas will be converted into standard coal

(with the convert coefficient being 1.29971 kgce/m3) [70] and then converted into power

consumption per the average efficiency of coal-fired power plants in China.

Figs. 10-12 show the estimation results of the heating systems using the energy analysis

method.

1) Building Type A (Fig. 10)

(a) Chongqing (b) Changsha (c) Shanghai

2) Building Type B (Fig. 11)

(a) Chongqing (b) Changsha (c) Shanghai

3) Building Type C (Fig. 12)

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(a) Chongqing (b) Changsha (c) Shanghai

When power consumption per household (kWh/household) was used to evaluate various

heating technologies, the evaluation results were relatively intuitive to users and decision makers.

For the same building type and the same mode of residential use, there was no significant

difference among these heating technologies when it came to power consumption per household

in different cities.

H3 and H4, the two heating technologies with primary energy as the energy input, enjoyed

obvious advantages. The annual power consumption of H3 was approximately 10% lower than

that of H4. Compared with the remaining technologies, the annual power consumption of H3 only

accounted for 18.8% of T1, 27.4% of T2, and 1.8% of T5.

Different interpretations of thermology in the process of designing indoor thermal

environments were the reason for the inconsistent evaluation results of energy efficiency. The

energy analysis method, also known as the energy balance method or the heat balance method,

was established based on the first law of thermodynamics. The method adopts the black box

method to balance the amount of input and output energy within a given period of time. However,

this method only analyzes and reveals the transfer, conversion, utilization and loss of energy in

quantity, while ignoring the quality of energy. Facing energies of different forms and different

grades, the primary energy factor is often used internationally as an important index for evaluating
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the energy conversion system by converting energies of different grades into primary energy

consumption. The smaller the amount of primary energy consumed to generate the same amount

of cold or heat energy, the more effective the solution is considered to be. Among the five

technologies discussed here, H3 and H4 used fuel gas, and the remaining three technologies used

electric energy. The energy analysis method required converting the fuel gas into standard coal,

and then into power consumption based on the average efficiency of coal-fired power plants in

China. Therefore, H3 and H4 achieved the highest energy utilization efficiency. This method

reflects the grades of different energies through the degree of difficulty in converting primary

energy into secondary energy (i.e., the conversion efficiency of the applied equipment), but does

not fundamentally distinguish the grades of different primary energies.

5.2 Exergy Analysis Method

According to the exergy analysis, the input work required to transfer the energy from the heat

source to an indoor heat sink by the reversible process is equal to the exergy difference between

the indoor and outdoor states. Figs. 13-15 show the exergy loss (MJ/household) of the five heating

technologies in the case study when analysis was performed with the exergy analysis method.

1) Building Type A (Fig. 13)

(a) Chongqing (b) Changsha (c) Shanghai

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2) Building Type B (Fig. 14)

(a) Chongqing (b) Changsha (c) Shanghai

3) Building Type C (Fig. 15)

(a) Chongqing (b) Changsha (c) Shanghai

When exergy was used to analyze the entire process of designing a thermal environment, H2

experienced the least exergy loss, followed by H1, and then H3 and H4, the two heating systems

with gas as the heat source. H5 had the highest exergy loss of the remaining four technologies

(order of magnitude differences). The average exergy loss of H2 was only 72.7% of that of H1,

35.3% of that of H3, 31.7% of that of H4, and 6.6% of that of H5.

Exergy analysis was mainly affected by the selection of the reference conditions. The state of

the moist air to be maintained indoors and the thermodynamic perfection degree of the equipment

also influenced the overall exergy input into the system. When the above factors are fixed, it is

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important to attempt to improve the energy efficiency of technologies of indoor thermal

environment design. Apparently, heat transfer enhancement can be achieved by increasing the heat

transfer areas and the flow rate, thereby further increasing the flow resistance and pump input work,

which usually doesn’t save energy. The concept of optimization is indispensable to realizing

energy conservation. However, we know that there is only the concept of velocity/flow rate, but

no efficiency or optimization in the heat transfer theory, which means we have to discuss a new

physical quantity. The method proposed in this study integrated entransy analysis and exergy

analysis to evaluate energy efficiency of technologies used for indoor thermal environment design.

It provides a new way of thinking for follow-up studies such as research on the optimization of

heat pump units and the operation strategies of floor radiant heating systems.

6. CONCLUSION

This paper proposed an optimization method integrating the entransy-exergy quantitative

analysis to identify the most energy-efficient solution for attaining the same level of indoor thermal

comfort. The idea of entransy was applied to the indoor thermal environment analysis for the first

time. Combined with exergy analysis theory, the entransy-exergy quantitative method was

proposed to examine the energy flow in the creation of an indoor thermal environment.

The optimization method started with the determination of reasonable demands for indoor

thermal comfort. To attain reasonable indoor thermal comfort and consider local conditions, an

appropriate benchmark technical solution was determined. By establishing the energy flow of a

heating/cooling system, multiple processes of heat transfer and energy conversion were specified;

the entransy-exergy quantitative method was proposed to quantify the entransy dissipation and

exergy loss in the entire energy flow. By comparing the entransy dissipation and exergy loss of

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common technical solutions, relative entransy savings and relative exergy savings were defined

and used as the evaluation indexes to assess the energy performance of each technical solution.

The optimization method was then applied to the quantitative analysis of five typical

technologies, including an inverter air conditioner, an “air source heat pump + floor radiation,” a

“wall-hanging gas heater + floor radiation,” a “wall-hanging gas heater + radiator,” and an oil-

filled radiator, used in residential building winter thermal environments in China’s HSCW regions.

Based on field surveys, online investigation, and Python analyses, the prototypes of three types of

residential buildings representing the features of dwellings in HSCW regions were constructed,

and the fixed-frequency air-conditioner of level III energy efficiency was determined as the

benchmark technical solution for constructing residential winter thermal environment in this

climate region. Then, we established the benchmark of entransy dissipation and exergy loss in the

design of an indoor environment in residential buildings in HSCW regions and obtained the

relative entransy savings and relative exergy savings of these five solutions. The results showed

that the “air source heat pump + floor radiation” heating system performed better in this climate

zone from an energy efficiency standpoint.

The optimization results obtained using this method were further compared with those

obtained through conventional energy and exergy analysis methods. The causes of differing results

between various methods were analyzed, and the significance of the optimization method on

guiding the future of thermal environment design in buildings was explained.

Exergy analysis and economic analysis can be integrated in follow-up studies to further

optimize construction programs from the perspective of exergoeconomics.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

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This work was supported by the China NSFC International Cooperation Program [grant

number 51561135002] and National Key Project of Research and Development Program of the

13th Five-Year [grant number 2016YFC0700300].

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Highlights:

Entransy concept for indoor thermal environment design.

Entransy dissipation and exergy loss in the entire energy flow were quantified.

New energy efficiency indexes-relative entransy/exergy savings were defined.

It contributes to optimizing the design and operation of energy systems.

Five typical heating systems were analysed.