This long-awaited reference guide provides a complete overview of low energy cooling systems for buildings, covering a wide range of existing and emerging sustainable energy technologies in one comprehensive volume. An excellent data source on cooling performance, such as building loads or solar thermal chiller efficiencies, it is essential reading for building services and renewable energy engineers and researchers covering sustainable design.

The book is unique in including a large set of experimental results from years of monitoring actual building and energy plants, as well as detailed laboratory and simulation analyses. These demonstrate which systems really work in buildings, what the real costs are and how operation can be optimized - crucial information for planners, builders and architects to gain confidence in applying new technologies in the building sector.

Inside you will find valuable insights into: the energy demand of residential and office buildings;facades and summer performance of buildings;passive cooling strategies;geothermal cooling;active thermal cooling technologies, including absorption cooling, desiccant cooling and new developments in low power chillers;sustainable building operation using simulation.

Supporting case study material makes this a useful text for senior undergraduate students on renewable and sustainable energy courses. Practical and informative, it is the best up-to-date volume on the important and rapidly growing area of cooling.

Solar technologies are emerging as the sustainable technology of choice for those commissioning new buildings. Integrated photovoltaics offer huge potential for delivering renewable energy without generating harmful pollutants.

Discussing current market conditions and the economics of this technology, the author balances the physics and engineering background of solar heating, cooling and building integrated photovoltaics with practical applications.

A complete overview of solar technologies relevant to the built environment, this book

• Explains how to integrate solar technology into building design concepts.
• Outlines the use of passive solar energy for daylighting and heating supply.
• Discusses solar thermal energy for heating and cooling as well as photovolatics for electricity production.
• Presents the meteorological background to irradiance calculations.
• Provides engineering planning aids for innovative energy supply systems.
• Contains practical examples and calculation methods to enable component and system simulation.

Solar Technologies for Buildings is an excellent reference for scientists, engineers, planners, researchers and students, involved in developing solar energy systems. Architects integrating solar technologies in building design will find this application-orientated approach useful.