In this paper the economic analysis of the energy recovery in all-outdoor-a
ir HVAC systems for the Italian climate is performed. The energy recovery d
evice considered here is the same for both heating and cooling periods. Dur
ing the summer season, the energy saving is achieved by evaporative cooling
. The performances of the hybrid innovative HVAC system and the traditional
system are calculated hour by hour by following the test reference year (T
RY) profile. Such analysis is carried out taking into account simultaneousl
y, the trend of some climatic indexes computed in order to (i) better under
stand the influence of climate on the HVAC system behaviour, (ii) obtain a
swift feasibility analysis of the energy recovery system and (iii) perform
a rough operating cost estimate of the traditional HVAC system. Copyright (
C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.