The role of ventilation and air conditioning systems in the global sustainable strategy is underlined by two global experiences. The insurgence of airborne pandemics, anticipated in the past several times and foreseeable again in the future, put a new importance on indoor environment ventilation rates and efficiency, pushing for increased ventilation standard. As a second pillar stands with the “Cold Crunch”, the vitious circle between increasing cooling associated emissions and global warming. Moreover, a 5-time increment in the use of air conditioning is foreseen, pushed by extended wealth, strong urbanization tendencies and warmer climates.
In this scenario it is of the strongest importance to develop HVAC technologies to achieve better indoor comfort and air quality while reducing carbon emissions. Further efforts must be made to extend the integration of renewable energy sources and to the development of efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems that can be driven by lower exergy levels. Moreover, a strong interplay with innovative management systems and novel occupant-centric control strategy is needed. These goals can be met by innovative approaches towards control, which can benefit from the increasing computational capability and data availability. With this comes the need for detailed and flexible co-simulation platforms.
Supervisors:
Prof. Alfonso Capozzoli
Prof. Enrico Fabrizio
Prof. Marco Perino
Prof. Marco Simonetti