@Article{ee.2026.088140,
AUTHOR = {Wenzhi Yang, Guojian Li},
TITLE = {Research on Flexible Cooling Load Strategy of Air Conditioning in University Classroom Based on Wall Heat Storage and Load Shaving},
JOURNAL = {Energy Engineering},
VOLUME = {},
YEAR = {},
NUMBER = {},
PAGES = {{pages}},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/energy/online/detail/28377},
ISSN = {1546-0118},
ABSTRACT = {University teaching buildings constitute a major class of public buildings with high cooling demand and intermittent occupancy patterns. However, the cooling load regulation potential of building envelope thermal mass under inter-zone thermal coupling remains insufficiently quantified in summer cooling contexts. This study aims to quantify the cooling load shaving potential of envelope thermal mass and its underlying mechanisms under inter-classroom thermal coupling, with a focus on intermittent air-conditioning operation in university teaching buildings. A detailed thermophysical model of a representative middle classroom was developed and simulated using EnergyPlus to compare cooling load profiles across five HVAC operation schemes. Wall-surface heat flux integration was employed to elucidate the heat storage and release dynamics governing cooling load regulation. Simulation results indicate that poorly scheduled staggered occupancy triggers a <i>thermal storage backlash</i> effect, increasing afternoon cooling loads by 11.5%–11.6%. In contrast, the pre-cooling strategy achieves substantial cooling load reductions of over 20% for afternoon and evening load spikes, at the cost of a 6.2%–7.1% increase in total daily cooling energy. Night-time natural ventilation yields negligible daytime cooling load-shaving benefits (&lt;1%). The hybrid scheme combining pre-cooling and night ventilation marginally outperforms pre-cooling alone, though the additional gain is minimal. Quantitative heat flux diagnostics confirm that pre-cooling redistributes the thermal energy stored within the envelope to align with high-demand cooling load hours, constituting the core mechanism of its load-shaving performance. This study elucidates the time-dependent heat storage and release cycles of partition walls under inter-zonal thermal interactions, providing theoretical support for energy-flexible HVAC scheduling in university classrooms.},
DOI = {10.32604/ee.2026.088140}
}