Preliminary Analysis of the Impact of Gas-Fired Heat Pump on Heating and Cooling Energy Consumption of a Library Building

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of the impact of a gas-fired absorption heat pump (GAHP) on heating and cooling energy consumption of a library building in Ontario, Canada. A single effect gas-fired absorption heat pump (GAHP) that uses ammonia-water as the working pair has been installed at the library building. Energy consumption data from utility bills from 2012-2014 were collected. Linear regression analysis was conducted in PRISM using outdoor dry bulb temperature. The building characteristics in terms of energy consumption per heating degree day and cooling degree day were used along with the heating and cooling capacity curves of the GAHP to determine annual heating and cooling energy consumptions and demands. The annual energy consumptions for heating and cooling of the GAHP were compared with conventional cooling equipment having seasonal energy efficiency ratio (SEER) of 14 and heating equipment having annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) of 76%. Results show an average annual reduction of 11.1% in energy consumption, 22.7% reduction in energy cost and 9.7% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the three years when GAHP is used for both heating and cooling. Preliminary analysis shows that GAHPs have great potential for heating applications in Canada and these could operate with a net reduction of greenhouse gas emissions when used for both heating and cooling.