This paper presents a thermodynamic model to evaluate the coefficient of performance (COP) of an air-cooled screw chiller under various operating conditions. The model accounts for the real process phenomena, including the capacity control of screw compressors and variations in the heat-transfer coefficients of an evaporator and a condenser at part load. It also contains an algorithm to determine how the condenser fans are staged in response to a set-point condensing temperature. The model parameters are identified, based on the performance data of chiller specifications. The chiller model is validated using a wide range of operating data of an air-cooled screw chiller. The difference between the measured and modelled COPs is within +/-10% for 86% of the data points. The chiller's COP can increase by up to 115% when the set-point condensing temperature is adjusted, based on any given outdoor temperature. Having identified the variation in the chiller's COP, a suitable strategy is proposed for air-cooled screw chillers to operate at maximum efficiency as much as possible when they have to satisfy a building's cooling-load. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.