Modelling of a demo building integrated with a radiant-capacity system chilled by Passive Radiative Cooling technology

Space cooling is one of the main sources of energy consumption in buildings, and it is expected to keep increasing in the upcoming decades. In the context of climate change, it is important to assess its environmental and economic impact, given that the most common air conditioning systems are energy-intensive and responsible for the production of large amounts of greenhouse gases. Therefore, it is crucial to research and develop new technologies that mitigate these effects. One of the most advantageous and recently investigated solutions is Passive Radiative Cooling (PRC), a technology that exploits the Earth’s atmosphere transparency window (8-13 μm) to dissipate thermal radiation towards the outer space. This thesis aims to develop a concentrated parameter model of a PRC-cooled small prototype building located in Madrid (Spain), in the context of the European project PaRaMetriC. The system, which simulates a building with three distinct rooms, integrates PRC and radiant-capacitive cooling, with the aim of assessing its energy efficiency and thermal performance. In this work, the main components of the system are modelled and simulated, such as the building, the Radiant-Capacity Modules (RCM) installed on the ceiling of one of the cells and the water distribution circuit, consisting of a TES, a pump and the Sky Radiator (SR), a device with radiant panels coated with a PRC film. This approach results in a numerical model that can reproduce the dynamics transients of the system. The results of the simulations were compared with real experimental measurements, allowing the system model to be validated and its performance to be evaluated under different operating conditions.