White Paper on National Roadmap for Air-Conditioning in New Residential Buildings

: خارطة الطريق الوطنية لتكييف الهواء في المباني السكنية الجديدة

Abstract

Kuwait is a Party to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer since July 22, 1994. Kuwait has successfully phased out consumption of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Carbontetrachloride (CTC) and Halons as of 1st January 2010 in accordance with the phase-out schedule of the Montreal Protocol. Currently, Kuwait is implementing the phase-out of next category of chemicals, Hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) as per the accelerated schedule of the Montreal Protocol.

The Public Authority of Housing Welfare (PAHW) has projected construction of 240,000 new residential houses in the next 15 years that would be more than doubling the existing stock. This would pose extraordinary challenges due to significantly increased demand of HCFC-22 for servicing, if new residential housing projects are air-conditioned using HCFC-22 as the refrigerant. On the other hand, if Currently Commercialized Alternatives to HCFC-22 (CCAR22) will be employed in air-conditioning projected residential houses, then extra burden on national electricity system will be imposed due to the associated performance degradation of systems using CCAR22 at high ambient temperatures. Cost escalation is an additional concern associated with employment of CCAR22. Furthermore, most CCAR22 require additional safety precautions either because of higher flammability potential of the refrigerant or elevated operation pressure of the system.

Recognizing the challenges ahead with regard to compliance with the international obligations, the Kuwait Foundation for Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) organized a two-day Round-Table Meeting in 24th – 25th November 2014 in order to facilitate production of a white paper on “National Roadmap for Air-Conditioning in New Residential Buildings”. Air-conditioning (A/C) equipment manufacturers participated in the Round Table Meeting along with government representatives, members of the technical committee (researcher and local A/C expert, and three academics), and an international A/C expert. A number of presentations were made by the industry, international expert and two members of the technical committee that were followed by detailed discussions on the subject. Based on proposals submitted and presentations made by the industry and after detailed deliberations the following multipronged approach is suggested: -

(i) Import and manufacturing of HCFC-22 A/C systems to be banned by Environment Public Authority (EPA) for upcoming phase-out target of HCFCs.

(ii) The commercially available and economically-viable individual A/C systems for upcoming housing projects in Kuwait for Short term are as follows :-
(a) R-410A A/C systems with power consumption as per the Kuwaiti Energy Conservation Code of Practice. The future plans of Ministry of Electricity and Water (MEW) should encompass performance degradation of such systems at high ambient temperatures exceeding 48 °C. MEW can benefit from the findings of the ongoing study at KISR, which is entitled as “Effect of Alternative Refrigerants on the Performance of Air-Conditioning Units in High Ambient Temperature”.
(b) HFC-32 A/C systems to be allowed with the approval of concerned national authorities regarding safety (flammability), and power requirements as per the Kuwaiti Energy Conservation Code of Practice. The Public Authority for Manpower (PAM) should enforce a licensing and certification scheme to ensure that only qualified technicians deal with A/C systems, especially those with higher flammability classes, such as HFC-32.
(c) HFC-134a based chillers for air-conditioning of individual houses with power consumption as per the Kuwaiti Energy Conservation Code of Practice. This option is more expensive than conventional unitary systems, however, mass installation is expected to lower the cost.

(iii) The options for individual A/C systems for upcoming housing in Kuwait for medium and long term are as follows:-
(a) Await for commercial availability of low-GWP1 refrigerant based A/C equipment which could take 3 to 5 years.
(b) Initiate simultaneously research in Kuwait: to address the issues of alternative refrigerants and evolving or emerging A/C technologies.
(iv) Employment of “District Cooling” in one of the upcoming residential housing clusters as a prototype for execution of comprehensive study to optimize related technical (e.g. system performance) and governance (e.g. district cooling services supply code) issues.

Date of Award	Jan 2015
Original language	English