A comparison study for active chilled beam and variable air volume systems for an office building

Comparison in terms of energy and cost is carried out between two different air distribution systems, namely, Variable Air Volume (VAV) and Active Chilled Beam (ACB) based on a virtual building. The cooling load calculation was performed to determine the total load demand and the system design was carried out to determine the system capacity. Energy and cost analyses were carried out to determine which system gives the better saving. From the results analysis, it shows that the ACB is more energy-saving than the VAV, especially at full load and normal part-load conditions because of the reduced AHU fan’s capacity. In terms of cost, the ACB has a higher initial cost than the VAV where it is mainly contributed by the secondary chilled water pipe, heat exchanger and the beam itself. However, the operation cost is lower for ACB, and for long term use, the ACB is more cost-saving than the VAV