Bachelor of Quantity Surveying

(Honours)

BUILDING SERVICES 2 (BLD 60503)

Name: Tan Vin Nie

Student ID: 0323706
Intake: Semester 3 March Intake 2017
Tutorial Session: Session 1
Lecturer: Mr Kam Kenn Jhun
Total Words: 2014
1.0 Introduction

Due to the worsening of the environmental problem, Malaysia government decided to

develop in green industry and invested numerous of money and efforts to promote green
technologies in the market. Industrial activities in Malaysia are unquestionably the main causes
of greenhouse gases emission that is the culprit of rising global temperature. Besides, inefficient
industrial processes that often over exploit natural resources and adopt direct disposal method
also exaggerate the already worsening environmental condition. Therefore, Green Industry is an
important strategy to save and preserve our environment.

Green Industry is a preventive strategy aiming at minimizing the negative impacts of

manufacturing process and products on the environment. Green industry reduce the hazardous
waste generation, encourage reuse and recycling of natural resources and promote systematic
management of wastes. Its strategies also significantly benefit a premise both financially and
environmentally at a global level.

Malaysia government has put more attention to the issues of global greenhouse effect
which leads to the environmental problems of global warming and climate change. To solve this
problems, implementation of green technology in air-conditioning system achieves an enormous
success to save the environment. Air-conditioning system with advanced green technologies
helps to reduce global greenhouse gases emissions to mitigate climate change. It is in line with
the statement made by the Malaysian Prime Minister at the United Nations Climate Change
Conference at Copenhagen in 2009, that Malaysia would reduce carbon intensity by 40% by 2020
compared to its carbon intensity in 2005. With the guidance of The National Green Technology
Policy, Malaysia government can implement strategies effectively and efficiently to create an
eco-friendly environment.
1.1 National Green Technology Policy

The National Green Technology Policy was successfully launched by the Prime Minister
YAB Dato Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak on 24 July 2009. This policy becomes an important
element for GreenTech Malaysia to achieve its goals. Its policy statement is Green Technology
shall be a driver to accelerate the national economy and promote sustainable development.
Green technology is the development and application of advanced technologies and systems
used to preserve and conserve the nature environment and resources which minimizes the
negative impact of human activities. Green technology makes a huge contribution in promoting
a healthy lifestyle and improving the environment for all forms of life.

The National Green Technology Policy is built on four pillars which are Energy,
Environment, Economy and Social. The four pillars assist in the development of green products,
equipment and systems. Energy is to seek to attain energy independence and to promote
efficient utilization. Environment means to conserve and minimize the impact on environment.
Besides, economy means to enhance the national economic development through the use of
technology. Social is to improve the quality of life for all. With the convenience of advanced
technology, quality of life will become higher in term of lifestyle, transportation, air-conditioning
and so on.

In line with the green technologys policy, Malaysia can enhance the green technology
more effectively and efficiently. The environmental problems can be reduced enormously if all
industries apply National Green Technology Policy.
2.0 Air conditioning system with green technology

Due to global warming effect, the weather becomes extremely hot especially for the
tropical countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia. To overcome the harsh
weather, these countries are facing high demands of air-conditioning system in order to cool their
houses. Large demands of air-conditioning system tend to create negative impact to the natural
environment. Most air-conditioning units use chemical refrigerants to draw heat out of the air
passing over them. This chilled air is then circulated with a fan to cool a building. Though the
refrigerant moves in a closed cycle, there are lots of leakages that escape to the atmosphere and
cause destruction of the ozone layer. Leaking of CFCs causes the depletion of the earths
stratospheric ozone layer and contribute to the greenhouse effect.

Besides, most of the air-conditioners using refrigerants may consume lots of electricity
because they employ mechanical compressors, which are piston-like machinery that squeeze the
heated vapours. This compressors turns the refrigerant back into its cooler liquid state to be used
again. The whole process are operated effectively with the supply of electricity. If the air-
conditioners do not maintain well, it may incur higher cost due to large electric power are needed
to run the air-conditioning system.

Global environmental concerns, improving standards of ventilation and increasing

concerns about indoor air quality have all contributed to a change in design thinking. Our
government has encouraged all the industries to apply green technology in their air-conditioning
system. Compared to standard heating and cooling systems, going green is better for the
environment because it helps eliminate greenhouse gasses. In addition, the efficiency of these
green systems allows people to save money on their energy bills, which has the potential to make
a huge difference.

There are two different types of green cooling systems which are passive system and
active system. Passive system maximizes nature's ability to heat and cool without furnaces or air
conditioners. Passive technology includes constructing homes with white or light-colored roofs
that reflect the sun's energy instead of absorbing it. As a result, the amount of energy it takes to
cool a house is less. Active system uses a variety of mechanical cooling systems. These systems
run on solar power, geothermal power or other sources of green energy. Passive systems and
renewable technologies are the ones to which we must aspire if we are to create a truly
sustainable built environment.
2.1 Evaporative Air-conditioning System

An evaporative air-conditioning system uses the power of evaporation to cool the house.
The cooling system comprises a central cooling unit connected to a series of outlets throughout
the house. The cooled air is then distributed into different areas through the service ducting or
piping.

Based on the simple principles of evaporation, hot and dry outside air is pumped through
water-soaked pads called cooling pad. As the air blows through the cooling pads, the water is
evaporated and the heat in the air is absorbed, which lowers the air temperature. A fan then
pushes the cool air through the ducting system. Evaporative cooling units feature a patented
centrifugal fan, which can be used in fan only mode to blow fresh air through your home.

Evaporative air-conditioning system does not recirculate the cooled air inside the building.
Therefore, a door or window must be left open for the air to escape, providing the whole building
with a complete change in air at least every two minutes.

The use of evaporative air-conditioning system contributes a lot of advantages to the

house. Evaporative cooling system is cheaper to install than comparable capacity refrigerated
systems. It also uses small amount of electric power to run the whole system which in turns save
the electricity cost. Besides, evaporative cooling system is considered a healthy way to cool the
house. It is a natural process of air cooled by water, so that it wont dry out the air or irritate our
skin, throat or eyes. This natural process also lowers the contribution of greenhouse gases to the
environment.
2.2 Solar Desiccant Air-conditioning system

Desiccant cooling is a new and potentially environmentally friendly technology, which can
be used to condition the internal environment of buildings without the use of traditional
refrigerants. Unlike conventional air conditioning systems, which rely on electrical energy to drive
the cooling cycle, desiccant cooling is an open heat driven cycle, which uses a desiccant wheel
and thermal wheel in tandem to achieve both cooling and dehumidification.

Warm and humid air enters the slowly rotating desiccant wheel and is dehumidified by
adsorption of water. The air is heated up to about 57 degree Celsius by the absorption of heat.
The air then pass through the thermal wheel, resulting in a significant pre-cooling of the supply
air stream. Subsequently, the air is humidified and thus further cooled by a chilled water cooling
coil according to the set-values of supply air temperature and humidity. If humidity control is not
required in the space, then an evaporative cooler could replace the cooling coil to increase the
air moisture level.

On the extract air side, air from the room is humidified and cooled when it passed through
an evaporative cooler. As the extract air stream passes through the thermal wheel, it is sensibly
heated to approximately 47 degree Celsius. The air stream is then heated up to approximately
80 degree Celsius in order to regenerate the desiccant wheel. It allows a continuous operation of
the dehumidification process.
 Solar desiccant systems can also be used to provide heating effect. Flat-plate solar
thermal collectors are normally applied as heating system in solar assisted desiccant cooling
systems. The solar system may consist of collectors using water as fluid and a water storage,
which will increase the utilization of the solar system. However, heating system is rarely used in
Malaysia because Malaysia does not have cold season.

Desiccant air-conditioning system is considered a very environmentally friendly

technology as it does not rely on harmful refrigerants. For those countries that have higher air
moisture level, dehumidification can help in reducing corrosion and microbial growth as well.
2.3 Inverter Air-conditioning System

The inverter air conditioning is the latest technology in the HVAC field that is becoming
more popular due to its environmental friendly and energy savings approach. Inverter air
conditioners differ with the traditional air conditioner in terms of the drive used by them to run
the compressor. A traditional air-conditioner normally uses a thermo-stat for feedback and works
in binary mode. It delivers a fixed amount of power via a fixed speed. Therefore, the compressor
has to stop and start to maintain the desired room temperature. Inverter air conditioning system
varies the speed of the compressors by delivering precise cooling or heating power as required.

Inverter air-conditioning system varies the amount of cooling or heating depending on

the outdoor temperature and the amount of heat in the room. When the inverter air conditioning
is switched on, the compressor operates at a high speed in order to cool the room immediately.
As the room temperature approaches the set temperature, the compressor slows down,
maintaining a constant temperature and saving energy. Any sudden fluctuation in the room
temperature will be sensed and instantly adjusted to bring the room temperature back to the set
temperature. The whole process saves 30% to 50% of electricity to operate.
 The application of inverter technology offers large amount of advantages to the users. An
air conditioner with inverter technology will run continuously but will draw only small power that
is required to keep the temperature stable at the level desired. Therefore, it saves large amount
of energy and also the electricity cost. Besides, it can work in a smooth manner and quiet during
operation.
3.0 Conclusion

In the nutshell, application of green technology in air-conditioning system is considered

an alternative way to reduce the negative impact to the environment. The utilization of green
technology can largely reduce the use of refrigerants, replacing it with a clean and less polluted
sources. It is because refrigerant is the main component that leads to the emission of greenhouse
gases which in turns causing the depletion of ozone layer. Therefore, green technology should be
introduced to the market as it is the only way to preserve and conserve our nature.

Nowadays, there are different type of green technology and design in enhancing the air-
conditioning system. These systems provide the advantage of cost and energy saving in long term.
However, most of the users prefer to use the conventional air-conditioning system as they do not
have enough awareness about the green technology. Besides that, the installation system is more
complicated and expensive than the conventional system. Therefore, it does not attract the
interest of the customers.

To raise the public awareness, government shall take initiative by introducing these
environmental-friendly alternative. Campaign and talks can be developed in order to promote
the benefits of green technology that brings to our life in future. The innovation of green
technology in air-conditioning system must be persistence before it causes an irreversibly impact
to our nature.
Reference List

The Economist. (2017). Keeping cool and green. [online] Available at:
http://www.economist.com/node/16588677 [Accessed 27 May 2017].
Brivis. (2017). Evaporative Cooling & Evaporative Air Conditioning | Brivis. [online] Available at:
http://www.brivis.com.au/evaporative-cooling-systems/ [Accessed 27 May 2017].
GmbH, t. (2017). Desiccant cooling systems - Solair. [online] Solair-project.eu. Available at:
http://www.solair-project.eu/146.0.html [Accessed 27 May 2017].
Gaiagroup.org. (2017). Desiccant and Solar Desiccant Systems. [online] Available at:
http://www.gaiagroup.org/Research/RI/solarac/ [Accessed 27 May 2017].
Airconditioning-systems.com. (2017). Inverter Air Conditioning. [online] Available at:
http://www.airconditioning-systems.com/inverter-air-conditioning.html [Accessed 27 May
2017].
Daikin.co.uk. (2017). Air Conditioner Inverter |Air Conditioning Inverter | Daikin. [online]
Available at: http://www.daikin.co.uk/about-daikin/leading-technologies/inverter-technology/
[Accessed 27 May 2017].