Climate Control Systems
The discussion and advanced research on climate control systems have received renewed interest in the world. The most important development in this discussion relates to the efforts of President Obama in addressing issues related to climate change. Particularly, the attention of President Obama has brought out the issue of climate change as a major threat to sustainability across the globe. In addressing the problems of climate change, researchers are now focusing on the innovative ways in which the control of the climate can be enhanced (Oldewurtel et al. 2010). In that light, the control of climate and the climate control systems appear to be focused on two critical areas. On the forefront is the research on global systems that would help in reducing the general global warming problem by reducing the release of greenhouse gases. The second frontier relates to the presence of more localized climate control systems in which the emerging technologies in climate control systems relate to the control of weather in localized environments, such as residential buildings and office blocks. Since there are apparently more developments and innovations in the latter, this paper will focus on studying in details the development of technologies in this area. The research paper will, therefore, provide a detailed analysis of the history of climate control systems, the impact of residential living, the materials, and ideas generated in the field of climate control, and the issue of sustainability.
History
The new discussion on climate control systems considers the discussion to be a new element in the world. However, James Fleming in his title called Fixing the Skies noted that the thinking on climate control systems is not a new phenomenon in the world. According to this researcher, the history of climate control systems dates back more than two hundred years with the works of famous scientists such as James Joule. However, the work and development in climate control systems became famous about 116 years ago with the development of the car, building, and the construction of the vehicular air conditioning systems (Joshi & Singh 2011). Since then, the vehicular air conditioning systems have become one of the most important technologies in the world of car technologies and the same technologies are now applied to the enhancement of the environment in the residential areas, urban areas, and even in the office blocks (Daly 2011).
The modern day climate control systems focus on two areas that include thermal control and the indoor air quality. The current technologies use the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning technologies (Oldewurtel et al. 2010). Such technologies also include refrigeration controls; hence, it is possible to find the HVACR model of the systems or in some situation just the HVAR. Regardless of how the technologies are structured, the interest of the technologists in this area is to ensure that the technologies enhance the living conditions by ensuring that the climate control systems operate with reasonable costs for installation, operation, and maintenance. It is for this reason that the new systems are not only focused on thermal, air-conditioning, and pressure controls but they are also focused on ensuring that they conserve energy, emit little or no greenhouse gases to the environment, and also ensure that the systems contribute to sustainability concerning global warming (Webber 2009).
The modern day technologies are no longer concentrates only on the vehicle systems. Instead, the new technologies are now more individualized; meaning that instead of creating systems of general application, the climate control systems are now being created to ensure that they fit the individual needs of every person that has interest. Particularly, people are now purchasing customized climate control systems to fit the needs of their buildings. For these installations, the HVAC systems are designed based on the capacity of the buildings and the occupancy trends with the aim of ensuring that the costs are largely reduced concerning the energy costs required to keep the HVAC systems working (Ice detection and highway weather information systems, 1993). Such systems can save energy by more than 30 percent when installed in buildings (Haag & Cummings, 2010). Additionally, the systems are now designed with the Internet of things concepts that ensure that connection to the Internet to ensure that the systems are properly managed whether on or offsite (Wolas and Amerigon Incorporated 2009).
Other than the application of the climate control systems in individualized setting, the new systems are in wide application in district networks. One of the case studies is Dubai. Dubai stands out as one of the areas where mammoth HVAC systems that are more efficient and less costly are in place. They are common in malls (Figure 1) It is one of the areas where the climatic conditions are considered difficult but in the office spaces, and other areas in residential building, the climate control systems are already in place ensuring that the air inside the building is clean and healthy for breathing and that the temperatures in the buildings allow the occupants to work and live comfortably (Haag & Cummings, 2010). It is based on the district climate control systems that the conceptualization and consideration global climate control systems are being considered (Epstein & Ferber, 2011). Experts have revealed that such systems have cut energy usage in normal residential buildings by 40 to 45 percent (Haag & Cummings, 2010). However, the development of the district climate control systems and networks may not be applicable on a global scale considering the fact that the global climatic regions represent complete interactive systems. Climate is connected to the entire ecosystem and disruption in one area may have implications for other areas of the ecosystem. For instance, attempting to control the greenhouse gases by injecting sulphites into the atmosphere affects the hydrological systems and consequently the life dependent on the water bodies. Nonetheless, the advancements in the construction of climate control technologies for buildings forms the basis for the attempts to construct global systems.
Figure 1: HVAC Systems in one of Dubai’s malls
The second case study is the City of Melbourne. The climate control systems were implemented in a 6-star building known as CH2. During summer, the system allows for natural cooling (Figure 2). Its radiant cooling system utilizes energy efficiently. It was able to cut energy consumption by 20% (Daly 2011).
Figure 2: CH2 natural cooling systems
Impact on Residential Living
The developments in the climate control systems have great implications for residential living. With the new development in HVAC and HVACR systems, communities can now live in an environment without high thermal and air ventilation fluctuations. For instance, the systems help in raising the temperatures in the buildings during winters and all other cold periods (Bogárdi & Kundzewicz, 2002). Inefficient buildings that have the systems installed can save 40 percent of the heating costs (Daly 2011).The HVAC systems help in raising the cold temperatures at night and lower them during the day when the sun is high in the sky. On ventilation, the systems help in ensuring that the bad odors are detected quickly and effectively replaced with fresh air that is fit for breathing (Daly 2011). The consequence of this is that the climate control systems help in ensuring that the residential buildings are comfortable.
New developments in the climate control systems are focused on energy efficiency. Using these systems with renewable energy have saved water heating costs by 50 percent (Figure 3). Such systems are computerized and connected to the Internet. The systems currently being developed will switch on when the building is occupied and automatically switch off when there is no one in the house. The lights switch on when the nighttime comes, and as the day comes, the lights switch off (Monitoring Climate Change Impacts 2010). The systems now come with inclusive security features meaning that other than controlling the temperature, the ventilation, and the pressure distribution in the building, the systems can now be used in ensuring that the houses and residential are also secure. Overall, the systems are now created with enhanced features that increase the performance and functionalities and ensure that they keep the consumption of energy at the lowest point possible (Riley, Popek, and Smart Systems International 1995).
Figure 3: using solar to save costs
Materials and Ideas
The development in the development of climate control systems combine the technological innovations with materials engineering. It means that in addition to ensuring that the systems use modern technology, they also ensure that the systems work in line with material engineering. The first idea relates to the Internet of things. It is to say that the developments in climate control systems make use of the Internet technology in the detection of the weather and environmental conditions in the building and as a result, the owners can control the systems even when they are not within the premises (Cadle &Yeates 2004). For instance, the owners can switch the systems on an off the HVAC systems and all other climate control systems without having to go to the primary switches.
The Internet of things idea is then combined with materials engineering. Materials engineering entails ensuring that the materials used in the construction of residential and office premises are environmental and weather friendly (Schiesser 2010). Firstly, the materials are designed to ensure that the houses are energy efficient. The glass used in the construction of door and windows allows light into the building hence supporting the functionality of the lighting systems. The ventilation systems allow for seamless integration with the HVAC systems while the walls and other surfaces allow for proper distribution of pressure and temperature for the proper functioning of the thermal and pressure functions of the climate control systems. In other words, the development of climate control systems has now advanced from the age of developing the systems as independent units but rather as integrations of an entire building's construction technology and also with the mobile and Internet technology functionalities.
Sustainability
The overall goal of creating climate control systems is not only to enhance comfort in life but also to ensure the creation and development of sustainability across the universe. It means that the new technologies in climate control must ensure minimal emissions of greenhouse gases and in fact, they must ensure that where possible no greenhouse gases are developed at all. In fact, there is wide research going on with the intention of identifying how these systems could utilize some of the greenhouse gases and other items in the environment that are considered as a threat to the environment.
The second sustainability objective of the climate control systems is to ensure that the systems make maximum use of clean energy while at the same time minimizing the energy requirements especially concerning the consumption of electric power. It is for this reason that the systems are designed to utilize the sunshine and the wind where the two are widely available and to ensure that the lighting of the facilities is through the natural light (Standard Formats for Weather Data Exchange among Automated Weather Information Systems 1990). It ensures that other than preventing the emission of greenhouse gases, the systems ensure that the use of electricity power is efficient. The overall goals concerning sustainability are to ensure that the climate control systems are friendly to the environment and that they are energy efficient.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper addressed the issue of climate control systems. There are two research areas in climate control systems with the global environment debate being the first area of interest and the development of residential climate control systems being the second. The development of global systems still elusive with there being no systems to control the global environment. However, the residential climate control systems have a long history of the recent development being based on the development of air-conditioning systems from the vehicles. The new HVACR systems, however, combine the idea of Internet of things and the materials engineering concepts with the sole objective being to ensure that they help in creating sustainability in the global climate.
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