University Research Project Proposal: Air Conditioning Design Strategy

This research project proposal focuses on determining effective design strategies for air conditioning in residential buildings. The study aims to identify gaps in existing research, particularly regarding energy consumption and thermal comfort in changing climates. The proposal outlines research questions concerning HVAC system capabilities, energy efficiency of design strategies, and the benefits of optimized air conditioning. The methodology includes a literature review, analysis of existing strategies, and data analysis to evaluate passive and mechanical cooling techniques. The project is structured into chapters covering introduction, literature review, methodology, data analysis, and conclusions with recommendations. A detailed timeframe is provided, outlining tasks and durations for completion, from topic selection to final report submission. The research intends to provide insights into improving building design for better energy efficiency and occupant comfort.

Running head: RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL
Research Proposal
Design strategy of air-conditioning for a residential building
Student Name:
University Name:

1RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Background of the study..................................................................................................................2
Motivation for research....................................................................................................................3
Research questions...........................................................................................................................4
Objectives of the research................................................................................................................5
Proposed chapters of report.............................................................................................................5
Proposed time-frame of the research study.....................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
This research is based on determining the design strategy of air conditioning for a
residential building. The focus of this research is to identify gaps in the previous studies
available on the topic or the same research area. The air conditioning system in a building is
responsible for around 50% of the energy being consumed and other 50% is consumed by other
services in the building. Hence, it is essential to determine effective design strategies for air
conditioning in a building. The reduction in energy being consumed by air conditioning will help
to increase savings on consumption along with carbon emissions (Grondzik and Kwok 2014). In
this study, the proposal for conducting research on design strategy for air conditioning in a
residential building has been prepared to discuss on motivation behind the research. Further, a
timeframe has also been prepared to illustrate upon the activities along with duration required to
complete the research project.
Background of the study
This study is based on identifying the effective design strategies for implementation of air
conditioning to suit the cooling needs in a residential building. The passive cooling strategies
that gains control over heat dissipation is considered as suitable for consistent climatic areas
whereas in modern houses, the changing temperature is a major issue being faced by the
occupants (Chua et al. 2013). The poor design of buildings often causes the heat to be trapped
that increases indoor temperature. The roof area and surrounding walls of a building is
considered as the most critical part due to the fact that these are exposed to heat being caused by
high solar radiation. The determination of proper design strategies will help to effectively reduce
the consumption of energy in a building as well as provide comfort to the occupants

3RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL
(Vakiloroaya et al. 2014). This particular study has been undertaken to determine the effective
design strategies for air conditioning in a residential building so that the comfort requirement of
occupants are fulfilled with respect to the changing climate.
Motivation for research
The developing countries majorly that are located in tropical regions have dry climate
and there is existence of special problems due to extreme heat retention by the buildings if
ventilation is not adequate for cooling at night. A major portion of the buildings being designed
in such climatic regions are not suitable for occupants as those are poorly designed and no design
strategy is adapted for the climate (Alibabaei et al. 2017). The residential buildings are often
designed without considering the parameters that are responsible to ensure thermal comfort along
with efficient use of energy. Hence, the dependence on artificial lighting and ventilation is
prevalent in almost every residential building. However, power disruption on a frequent basis
and load shedding during the summer or hot days makes the life of occupants much troublesome.
The circumstance turns out to be more terrible during the hot summer days in between the period
of mid-March and early May as there is gradual increase in the surrounding temperature (Yang,
Yan and Lam 2014). Amid this period, the demand in the use of electricity goes up to its most
elevated amount due to hot weather and in addition the demand increases to supplement the
cooling requirements in the residential buildings.
The buildings that does not have dynamic strategies to meet the cooling requirements
during the rising demand of energy will incur poor indoor atmosphere. This often leads to
exhaustion along with issues related to health and safety (Taleb 2014). This study will deal with
describing the approach for passive air conditioning design strategies suitable in residential
buildings. The poor design of buildings often causes the heat to be trapped that increases indoor

4RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL
temperature. The roof area and surrounding walls of a building is considered as the most critical
part due to the fact that these are exposed to heat being caused by high solar radiation. The
determination of proper design strategies will help to effectively reduce the consumption of
energy in a building as well as provide comfort to the occupants.
There are two fundamental techniques for cooling of residential buildings in a tropical
atmosphere and they are oppositely inverse in nature. It is imperative to comprehend the core
philosophy of both the strategies to confirm that could be appropriately adjusted for residential
buildings (Shirazi et al. 2016). Commonly, a plan that is genuinely dedicated to one technique or
the other, cannot generally be effectively changed over into the other. The principal procedure is
passive cooling. Out of the two methodologies, this is the one that can be considered naturally
dependable and having a place with economical plan. Homes with passive cooling uses extensive
open areas for allowing cross-breezes through the spaces very easily and utilize openings in high
regions to enable warmed air to rise and escape (Kim et al. 2016). The objective of passive
cooling is to utilize normal conduct of air to upgrade ventilation and diminish inside
temperatures in fabricated spaces. The second technique is mechanical cooling. Mechanical
cooling utilizes equipment to accomplish cooling of interior spaces. Clearly, mechanical cooling
can help to achieve thermal comfort by substantially higher decrease in temperatures that is not
possible by means of passive cooling (Yoon, Bladick and Novoselac 2014). Despite the fact that
there is energy being spent, though passive cooling utilizes no energy, this does not imply that
mechanical cooling is not ecologically dependable. Hence, this research is based on determining
the suitable air conditioning design strategy for residential buildings.

5RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL
Research questions
The aim of this research is to study the air conditioning design strategy for a residential
building. It is one of the most critical criteria or issue being faced by the occupants of building
situated in a rigorous changing climatic zone. Some of the research questions that are prepared to
conduct this study in details are provided as below:
 Does the existing HVAC system or other cooling system have the capability to
match with the cooling requirement of the occupants?
 Does the design strategy being adapted by the building is efficient in terms of
energy consumption?
 What are the benefits of determining suitable air conditioning strategy for
residential buildings?
Objectives of the research
The implementation of proper design strategy for air conditioning in residential building
is an essential element to fulfill the cooling requirement of the occupants. The buildings situated
in continuously changing climate needs proper design strategy for installation of air
conditioning. The objectives that have been prepared for conducting this particular research are
presented as below:
 To determine the capabilities of existing HVAC system or other cooling system
for matching the cooling requirement of occupants of a residential building.
 To identify whether the adapted strategy is suitable for the residential building in
terms of energy consumption.

6RESEARCH PROJECT PROPOSAL
 To evaluate the benefits of determining suitable air conditioning strategy for
residential buildings.
Proposed chapters of report
Chapter 1: Introduction – This chapter will provide a brief overview of the undertaken
topic along with the aims and objectives determined for the project. This chapter will introduce
the purpose behind undertaking this particular topic for research. In this section, the problems
that are existing related to the undertaken topic area will be discussed to identify the gaps in
previous studies on the same topic.
Chapter 2: Literature Review – This chapter will comprise of critically reviewing the
existing articles or journals on various design strategies for air conditioning in buildings. The
study of online available articles and journals will help to identify gaps in the knowledge area
(Attia and Carlucci 2015). This section will also illustrate upon the essential components that are
required for determining the design strategy of air conditioning.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology – This chapter will also help to determine the various
methods for conducting the research. This section will provide the information regarding the type
of research that have to be conducted with the topic. Further, the discussions will be carried out
on the process of data collection and sampling for the research on the topic (Chen, Yang and Lu
2015). This chapter will also deal with designing the process for research.
Chapter 4: Data analysis and Findings – This chapter will focus on data analysis that
will be done on the data that has been collected with the help of statistical tools. The
interpretation of the results gained from analysis of the gathered data will be carried out in this

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section. The findings from the data analysis will be provided in this section to determine the
output from the research.
Chapter 5: Conclusion and Recommendations – This chapter will focus on the results
being achieved from data analysis and the overall research. In this section, a conclusion will be
drawn to the study to summarize the results being gathered from the entire study. Further, some
recommendations will also be provided in this section to suggest improvements that can be made
in future study.
Proposed time-frame of the research study
Task Name Duration Start Finish Predecessors Resource Names
Design strategy of air-conditioning for
a residential building 59 days Fri 04-08-17 Wed 25-10-17
Selection of the research topic 2 days Fri 04-08-17 Mon 07-08-17 Researcher,
Supervisor
Analysis of requirements 3 days Tue 08-08-
17 Thu 10-08-17 1 Researcher
Feasibility study for the research topic 2 days Fri 11-08-17 Mon 14-08-17 2 Researcher
Conducting thorough literature review
for identification of gaps 5 days Tue 15-08-
17 Mon 21-08-17 3 Researcher
Identification of specific aims for the
project 2 days Tue 22-08-
17 Wed 23-08-17 4,2 Researcher
Developing objectives related to the
specific project 2 days Thu 24-08-
17 Fri 25-08-17 5 Researcher
Research existing strategies for design
of air-conditioning 4 days Wed 18-10-
17 Mon 23-10-17 6 Researcher
Prepare draft budget for the project 3 days Mon 28-08-
17 Wed 30-08-17 3,6 Researcher
Obtaining advice/guidance from
colleagues as well as other members 4 days Thu 31-08-
17 Tue 05-09-17 8 Researcher
Determining audience of the project 3 days Wed 06-09-
17 Fri 08-09-17 9 Researcher[50%],
Supervisor[50%]
Preparing draft proposal 2 days Mon 11-09-
17 Tue 12-09-17 10 Researcher
Review of prepared proposal 1 day Wed 13-09-
17 Wed 13-09-17 11,5,9 Supervisor

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Submission of revised proposal 3 days Thu 14-09-
17 Mon 18-09-17 12 Researcher
Identification of sources for data
collection 4 days Tue 19-09-
17 Fri 22-09-17 13 Researcher
Gathering of data from primary as
well as secondary sources 5 days Mon 25-09-
17 Fri 29-09-17 14 Researcher
Analysis of data 2 days Mon 02-10-
17 Tue 03-10-17 15 Researcher,
Supervisor
Discussion of the findings 3 days Wed 04-10-
17 Fri 06-10-17 16 Researcher
Preparing report with the gathered
results 2 days Mon 09-10-
17 Tue 10-10-17 17,15,16 Researcher
Drawing conclusion to the study 2 days Wed 11-10-
17 Thu 12-10-17 18 Researcher
Recommendations based on the results
and findings 1 day Fri 13-10-17 Fri 13-10-17 19 Researcher,
Supervisor
Submission of draft report 2 days Mon 16-10-
17 Tue 17-10-17 20 Researcher
Review of prepared report 3 days Wed 18-10-
17 Fri 20-10-17 21 Supervisor
Approval from supervisor 1 day Mon 23-10-
17 Mon 23-10-17 22 Supervisor
Submission of final project report 2 days Tue 24-10-
17 Wed 25-10-17 23 Researcher

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References
Ai, Z.T. and Mak, C.M., 2016. Short-term mechanical ventilation of air-conditioned residential
buildings: A general design framework and guidelines. Building and Environment, 108, pp.12-
22.
Alibabaei, N., Fung, A.S., Raahemifar, K. and Moghimi, A., 2017. Effects of intelligent strategy
planning models on residential HVAC system energy demand and cost during the heating and
cooling seasons. Applied Energy, 185, pp.29-43.
Attia, S. and Carlucci, S., 2015. Impact of different thermal comfort models on zero energy
residential buildings in hot climate. Energy and Buildings, 102, pp.117-128.
Chen, X., Yang, H. and Lu, L., 2015. A comprehensive review on passive design approaches in
green building rating tools. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 50, pp.1425-1436.
Chen, X., Yang, H. and Sun, K., 2017. Developing a meta-model for sensitivity analyses and
prediction of building performance for passively designed high-rise residential
buildings. Applied Energy, 194, pp.422-439.
Chua, K.J., Chou, S.K., Yang, W.M. and Yan, J., 2013. Achieving better energy-efficient air
conditioning–a review of technologies and strategies. Applied Energy, 104, pp.87-104.
Grondzik, W.T. and Kwok, A.G., 2014. Mechanical and electrical equipment for buildings. John
Wiley & Sons.
Kim, J., De Dear, R., Parkinson, T., Candido, C., Cooper, P., Ma, Z. and Saman, W., 2016. Field
study of air conditioning and thermal comfort in residential buildings.

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Ruiz, P.A., De La Flor, F.S., Felix, J.M., Lissén, J.S. and Martín, J.G., 2016. Applying the
HVAC systems in an integrated optimization method for residential building's design. A case
study in Spain. Energy and Buildings, 119, pp.74-84.
Shirazi, A., Pintaldi, S., White, S.D., Morrison, G.L., Rosengarten, G. and Taylor, R.A., 2016.
Solar-assisted absorption air-conditioning systems in buildings: control strategies and operational
modes. Applied Thermal Engineering, 92, pp.246-260.
Taleb, H.M., 2014. Using passive cooling strategies to improve thermal performance and reduce
energy consumption of residential buildings in UAE buildings. Frontiers of Architectural
Research, 3(2), pp.154-165.
Vakiloroaya, V., Samali, B., Fakhar, A. and Pishghadam, K., 2014. A review of different
strategies for HVAC energy saving. Energy Conversion and Management, 77, pp.738-754.
Yang, L., Yan, H. and Lam, J.C., 2014. Thermal comfort and building energy consumption
implications–a review. Applied Energy, 115, pp.164-173.
Yoon, J.H., Bladick, R. and Novoselac, A., 2014. Demand response for residential buildings
based on dynamic price of electricity. Energy and Buildings, 80, pp.531-541.