ASHRAE Journal - March 2015 - 40

TECHNICAL FEATURE | Fundamentals at Work

High-Rise Apartment Building in Korea
In Korea, 100% of residential buildings are
heated with radiant floor heating systems.
Even the 300 m (984 ft) high, 80 story highrise residential apartment building "We've
the Zenith" (Figure 6), is heated with a radiant
floor heating system. Hot water is generated by boilers in rooftop mechanical room,
and serves seven vertical heating zones with
proper hot water temperature for radiant
floor heating after heat exchange.

Ewha Womans University Campus Center
(ECC) in Seoul, Korea, is a good example of
non-residential building application (Figure
7). It is a university complex including lecture rooms, offices and public spaces. ECC
is designed by Dominique Perrault and local
Baum Architects.
Accumulated energy in massive ceilings
is used by means of concrete core activation to reduce energy demand for thermal
well-being. The cooling with the concrete
core activation is done by chilled water temperatures of 17°C (62.6°F) supply and 20°C
(68°F) return, and heating by hot water temperatures of 29°C (84.2°F) supply and 26°C
(78.8°F) return.
The first step of the cooling is done by
the remaining cool energy of the returning water to absorption chiller. The second
step is to use stored energy of the groundwater storage tanks. The third step is to use
earth energy through the pipes under the
basement floor. The cooling energy for the
concrete core activation is supplied continuously over 24 hours, therefore, there is
no peak load and the sizes of all necessary
equipment could be reduced to a minimum.

Airport in Bangkok
The international airport Bangkok, which
opened in September 2006, is thermally conditioned by a floor surface cooling system in
combination with a displacement ventilation
system (Figure 8). Its 150 000 m² (1.6 milion
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°F
75.2

Heating Season (Winter)

23

73.4

22

71.6

21

69.8

20

68.0

19

0

12

24

12

24

12

24

12

24

66.2
24

12

Cooling Season (Summer)

°C
35

°F
95.0

33

University Building in Korea

40

°C
24

MARCH 2015

91.4

27

80.6

23

73.4

19

66.2

15

0

12

24

12
A

24
B

12

24
C

12

24

D

12

24

59.0

E

FIGURE 5 Sample of operative temperatures measured during a work week in an office building

equipped with TABS. A = 4th floor east; B = 4th floor south; C = 5th floor east; D = 5th
floor west; E = outside temperature.8

HX Compact Heat
Exchanger

HX
HWS: 115°C
(239°F)
HWR: 75°C
(167°F)

HWS: 65°C
(149°F)
HWR: 40°C
(104°F)

HX HX
HWS: 65°C
(149°F)
HWR: 40°C
(104°F)

HX

HX HX

HWS: 80°C
(176°F)
HWR: 65°C
(149°F)

HWS: 65°C
(149°F)
HWR: 40°C
(104°F)

HX HX

Rooftop
Mechanical Room

59th Floor
Mechanical Room

31st Floor
Mechanical Room

B1 Floor
Mechanical Room

FIGURE 6 High-rise apartment building, 'We've the Zenith,' with radiant floor heating system (Busan,

South Korea). Left: Exterior view; Right: Mechanical system diagram of radiant system.
ASHRAE Journal - March 2015

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