Module development and energy simulation analysis of the variable refrigerant volume system based on energyplus

To evaluate energy consumption features of the new-generation variable refrigerant volume (VRV-II) system, an energy calculation module for the system was developed based on the dynamic building energy simulation program, EnergyPlus. A building energy comparison analysis among the VRV system and several popular air conditioning systems was implemented, using a typical commercial building model. Simulation results show that the VRV system is the most energy-efficient plan. For the traditional systems, the water-cooled screw chiller is more energy efficient than the air-cooled screw chiller as the plant scheme, and the Fan-coil plus outdoor-air system are found more energy efficient than the variable-air-volume system as the system plan.