In India: Building with Cooling in Mind

The increase in Temperatures in South Asia have been dramatically demonstrated in recent years. Can traditional architectural practices provide a low energy solution?

Chem-Aqua:

What are Adiabatic Cooling Systems? 
Adiabatic cooling systems remove heat by evaporating water in a stream of warm, dry (low humidity) air. In the process of going from a liquid to a gas, the evaporated water simultaneously humidifies and cools the air stream to within a few degrees of the wet bulb temperature. 

Cooling systems that employ adiabatic cooling can have a wide variety of names and configurations, but will generally fall into one of three categories:

1. Direct Evaporative Coolers (also called swamp coolers) blow dry air through a water spray or water-soaked media pad. As the dry air passes through the spray or wetted pad, the evaporated water both cools and humidifies the air stream. This process is termed Direct Adiabatic Cooling.
2. Indirect Evaporative Coolers function very similarly to direct evaporative units except the air stream being cooled is separated from the outside air stream by a heat exchanger. This allows the air stream to be cooled without increasing the humidity. This process is termed Indirect Adiabatic Cooling.
3. Adiabatic Cooling Towers are air-cooled fluid coolers or refrigerant condensers that can employ adiabatic cooling as needed when the outside air temperature becomes too warm for efficient heat removal. They operate like a standard air-cooled fluid cooler or condenser when outside air temperatures are low. When the air temperature becomes too warm, they switch to adiabatic mode with water evaporated into the inlet air stream to lower its temperature and provide additional cooling. Unlike traditional recirculating cooling towers, adiabatic cooling towers only use water during the hottest part of the day and year. In some applications, annual water usage may be reduced up to 80%.

India Cooling Action Plan:

1. With regard to reduction of cooling and energy demand in Space Cooling in building sector, a list of action points have been finalised after mapping of the recommendations of the India Cooling Action Plan with the ongoing government programmes/ schemes of the various Ministries.  
2. Towards promoting passive cooling in buildings, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) has brought out the Energy Conservation Building Code (ECBC) for all large commercial (non-residential) buildings and Eco-Niwas Samhita (ECBC-R) for the residential buildings. 
3. Studies on promoting non-Ozone Depleting Substances (ODSs) and low Global Warming Potential based technologies in Cold Chain, Building sector and Public Procurement have been undertaken and reports have been published.
4. To promote indigenous development of low global warming potential refrigerants, the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India has funded a research project to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)- Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad.
5. Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, in collaboration with Bureau of Indian Standards has undertaken a simulation study for developing safety standards for flammable refrigerants in the Refrigeration and Air-conditioning sector.
6. Up-skilling and certification of 43,450 Refrigeration and Air-conditioning (RAC) service technicians has been undertaken under the national skill qualification framework (NSQF) of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).  In addition, 29,000 RAC service technicians are being trained as part of implementation of Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) phase out Management Plans under the Montreal Protocol.