Effect of Insulation on the Energy Demand of a Standardized Container Facility at Airports in Spain under Different Weather Conditions

Airports, broadly spread world-wide, present continuously increasing energy demands for heating and cooling purposes. Relocatable facilities within them could be built on recycling shipping containers provided with the right insulation layer, to reduce the outstanding consumption of the heating, ven...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Miguel Ángel Álvarez-Feijoo, Pedro Orgeira-Crespo, Elena Arce, Andrés Suárez-García, José Roberto Ribas
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-10-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/20/5263
Description
Summary:Airports, broadly spread world-wide, present continuously increasing energy demands for heating and cooling purposes. Relocatable facilities within them could be built on recycling shipping containers provided with the right insulation layer, to reduce the outstanding consumption of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC). This research focuses on studying the effect of added insulation on the thermal performance of a construction in the scope of an airport facility, based on a recycled shipping container. Passive heating and cooling insulation strategies have shown good results in terms of energy savings. A series of simulations were performed along six different Spanish airports locations, selected to represent several climate conditions. Temperature evolution inside the container, and energy demands of the HVAC system were obtained to show that the insulation provided by phase change materials (PCM) is performing better than traditional insulation, or a raw container. Although there are slight behavior differences according to the climate, PCM can increase inside temperature even with no HVAC under certain circumstances.
ISSN:1996-1073