Enabling Economic and Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Solar Thermal Systems via Temporally and Spatially Explicit Life Cycle Analysis

Purdue University, West Lafayette IN

Investigators

Abstract

Solar cooling and heating for buildings are promising alternative energy approaches. However, the lack of reliable tools to evaluate the technical, economic, and especially the environmental benefits of these technologies presents one of the critical barriers to their widespread deployment. The overarching goal of this project is to close this knowledge gap by developing an evaluation platform that accurately quantifies the life cycle cost, energy payback, and carbon footprint of solar thermal systems. Four research tasks will be conducted in the project: 1) testing and optimizing performance of an integrated solar heating and cooling system installed on the Purdue campus; 2) predicting and evaluating system performance for 11 benchmark building types in 16 distinct climate zones based on simulation; 3) developing life cycle inventory database that integrates temporal and spatial perspectives for systems simulated; 4) developing a life cycle economic and environmental sustainability assessment platform, which integrates experimental, modeling, and database development efforts. This project promises to deliver a novel, easy-to-use, web-based decision support tool that facilitates the wide deployment of solar building technologies and the move toward green buildings. The integrated and modularized solar cooling/heating systems developed in the project will be a new generation with plug-play system components and optimal control strategies. The project will compare the economic and environmental performance of solar heating and cooling technologies applied to standardized benchmark buildings in 16 distinct climate zones in the U.S. focusing on life cycle cost, energy savings, and greenhouse gas emission reduction. The project will apply a temporally and spatially explicit life cycle assessment approach to evaluate the economic and environmental sustainability of solar cooling and heating systems. Through cyber-infrastructure, distance learning, and student internships, the project will implement a novel approach to engage students, especially women students, in sustainability engineering and green building research. The findings resulting from the research may be widely used in the solar technology industry. Bruce K. Hamilton 6/16/10