Renewable energy and energy storage technologies are expected to promote the goal of net zero-energy buildings. This article presents a new sustainable energy solution using photovoltaic-driven liquid air energy storage (PV-LAES) for achieving the combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) supply. Liquid air is used to store and generate power to smooth the supply-load fluctuations, and the residual heat from hot oil in the LAES system is used for the c. Renewable energy and energy storage technologies are expected to promote the goal of net zero-energy buildings. This article presents a new sustainable energy solution using photovoltaic-driven liquid air energy storage (PV-LAES) for achieving the combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) supply. Liquid air is used to store and generate power to smooth the supply-load fluctuations, and the residual heat from hot oil in the LAES system is used for the cooling and heating supplements. Taking an actual building as the research object, the dynamic PV-LAES system model is built to optimize the power/cooling/heating supplies, and then evaluate the economic and environmental performances. In a single year, the PV-LAES system can produce 523.93 MWh of electricity, 57.75 GJ of cold energy, and 119.24 GJ of heat energy, resulting in an improved round-trip efficiency of 67.05 % and a carbon emission reduction of 368.35 tons. The dynamic payback period is 6.45 years and the cumulative net present value (NPV) reaches 515 k$ throughout the life cycle. Overall, this article provides a new solution using the PV-LAES system to obtain high energy efficiency, good economic benefits, and high environmental performance for future zero-energy buildings.••••A new concept of photovoltaic-driven liquid air energy storage (PV-LAES) is explored.••A dynamic PV-LAES model is built to match building energy requirements.••Poly-generation of combined cooling, heating and power (CCHP) is achieved.••Technical, economic and environmental merits of the PV-LAES are clarified.••The multi-functional PV-LAES provides solutions for future zero-energy buildin. Zero-energy buildingBuilding integrated photovoltaic (PV)Liquid air energy storage (LAES)Combined coolingAbbreviationAR absorption refrigeratorBES battery energy storageBCHP combined heating and powerCCHP combined cooling, heating and powerCNY Chinese YuanCSWD Chinese Standard Weather DataCABEE China Association of Building Energy EfficiencyCOPc cooling-to-electricity coefficient of performanceCOP coefficient of performanceDPP dynamic payback period (year)HVAC heating ventilation and air conditioningHOST high-temperature thermal oil storage tankHEX heat exchangerLAES liquid air energy storageLCOE levelized cost of energy ($/kWh)LCOS levelized cost of storage ($/kWh)LNG liquefied natural gasLOST low-temperature thermal oil storage tankLCC life cycle cost ($)O&M operation & maintenanceORC Organic Rankin CyclePV photovoltaicPV-BES photovoltaic - battery energy storagePV-LAES photovoltaic - liquid air energy storageSPP static payback period (year)RES renewable energy systemRTE round-trip efficiencyUSD United States dollarSymbolsBAn annual total profit ($)CLCC life cycle cost ($)CAn annual total cost ($)C spe. Due to the rapid increase of carbon emissions and the global greenhouse effect, extreme climate change is gradually threatening the sustainable development of human life. With the increasing scarcity of global resources, energy saving and emission reduction have become a focus in various fields. The expansion of building constructions has become one of the driving factors leading to the fastest growth of carbon emissions, and thus building energy consumption has also become a research hotspot. According to the statistics, the construction sector accounts for 36 % of global final energy consumption and 37 % of the CO2 emissions by relevant energy use,. According to the “2022 China Building Energy Consumption and Carbon Emissions Research Report” released by the China Association of Building Energy Efficiency (CABEE), the total energy consumption of China's construction industry is 2.27 billion tons of standard coal, accounting for 45.5 % of the total national energy consumption. The total carbon emission during the entire process is 5.08 billion tons of CO2, accounting for 50.9 % of the national carbon emissions, indicating the huge potential for carbon reduction in construction industry and the decarbonization of the construction industry is the key to fulfill the China's carbon emissions targets,. The specific emission of construction is 1.5 billion tCO2, which is slowly decreasing. During the construction operation phase, the carbon emissions are 2.16 billion tCO2, accounting for 21.7 % of the total carbon emis.
