A methodology for evaluating the effects of personalized environmental control systems (PECS) on building whole-life CO2 emissions
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Through localized control of the thermal environment, personalized environmental control systems (PECS) have demonstrated energy savings potential by effectively offsetting the conventional ambient heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) loads. A dynamic simulation-based methodology was introduced and combined with the life cycle assessment (LCA) framework to evaluate the effects of various standalone PECS on whole-life CO 2 emissions of an energy-efficient Danish office building, considering both new building and retrofit scenarios. The ambient system was a variable air volume (VAV) system. In retrofit scenarios, extending the setpoints of the ambient system with PECS reduced HVAC primary energy use by up to 6.6 kWh/m 2 /yr (50%) and whole-life CO 2 emissions by 0.9–5.1%, depending on PECS capacity and building thermal mass. In design scenarios, HVAC downsizing enabled by PECS led to 4.9–48.5% energy savings and 6.9–26.5% reductions in whole-life CO 2 emissions. Embodied CO 2 emissions were reduced by 10.4–27.9%, primarily from air handling unit and duct system downsizing. PECS with moderate capacity to offset ambient comfort limits and low maximum power use achieved the greatest operational and environmental benefits. The developed methodology supports quantifying optimal heating and cooling capacity, energy and environmental performance of PECS, and identifying building-HVAC configurations which may benefit from utilizing PECS.
Source: Energy and Buildings
Institutions: Technical University of Denmark, Mitsubishi Electric (Japan)
Language: English
Subfield: Building and Construction
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,260
OpenAlex ID: W7160049680