Comparison of air conditioning forms of a nearly zero energy residential building in Hangzhou

The energy consumption of HVAC system accounts for about 50% of the total building energy consumption, and has greater energy saving potential compared with other building energy consumption such as lighting. Based on a nearly zero energy residential building in Hangzhou, this paper uses the DesignBuilder software to establish three air conditioning system models suitable for residential buildings, namely, the split air conditioning and independent outdoor air system, the multi-connection unit and independent outdoor air system, and the integrated heat pump environment control unit with outdoor air (IEU), and compares and analyses their annual air conditioning operating energy consumption. The IEU system is selected for comparison of measured energy consumption, to verify the accuracy of the model. At the same time, the economic benefits of the three air conditioning systems are compared with the whole life cycle cost as an economic index, which provides a reference for the selection of air conditioning system forms for nearly zero energy residential buildings in hot summer and cold winter zone.