Evaluating District Cooling as Energy Efficiency Technology for Government Building’s Retrofit Strategy: A Case Study of the Ministry of Public Works Complex in Jakarta, Indonesia
Abstract
District cooling systems (DCS) are recognized as one of the promising energy efficiency technologies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from cooling needs. However, awareness and implementation of the DCS in Indonesia are still limited. The Ministry of Public Works (PU) is taking the lead in exploring the prospect of DCS piloting implementation in Indonesia, indicating the government’s commitment to the energy transition in the building sector. A technical and economic analysis was conducted for four scenarios to assess the pre-feasibility of DCS installation in the PU office complex in Jakarta: business-as-usual (BAU), variable refrigerant flow (VRF), Centralised Cooling System (CCS), and DCS. The complex itself consists of 13 mixed-use buildings with a total of 150,000 sqm of floor area and conditioning area 105,000 sqm with oldest cooling equipment was procured in 1986. The study found that DCS with a capacity 2450 RT could potentially save 312,000 USD/year and reduce 3,913.8 tCO2/year compared to the BAU scenario. Furthermore, DCS investment is expected to be 38% less than VRF and 68% less than CCS CAPEX, lowering yearly electricity costs by 52.8% compared to the BAU. As a result, transitioning an aged cooling system to DCS is more cost-effective and sustainable than using complete VRF or CCS.