With climate change, investing in more efficient cooling systems has become urgent. This study aimed to analyze the technical feasibility of implementing radiant systems, heat pumps, and evaporative cooling systems in an existing educational building, considering climate change scenarios for Viçosa-MG, Brazil. Following the feasibility analysis, the thermal and energy performance, CO 2 emissions, and thermal comfort provided by each viable technology were evaluated, both individually and in combination with natural ventilation. The simulated cases were compared with the naturally ventilated building under historical climate conditions and the SSP2-4.5 scenario for mid-century. The radiant cooling system proved to be unfeasible for Viçosa without an air dehumidification strategy. Natural ventilation maintained indoor temperatures below 24 °C for up to 33% of the occupied hours under future climate conditions, while the direct evaporative cooling system achieved 64% of occupied hours. When alternated with the heat pumps or used simultaneously with the direct evaporative system, natural ventilation contributed to increases in cooling degree hours of 1057% and 27%, respectively. However, it provided an 8.8% energy savings for the evaporative system and was also necessary to reduce the relative humidity. Overall, the direct evaporative cooling system resulted in 79% energy savings compared to heat pump systems.
Fonseca et al. (Sun,) studied this question.