HVAC solutions for energy retrofitted hotel in Mediterranean area

To meet the European targets for achieving high-performing buildings, the refurbishment of the existing building stock and, in particular, of historical buildings represents a great challenge. The research aims at identifying the most energy-effective HVAC configuration for retrofitting historical hotels in Mediterranean area, where the objective is to minimize the consumptions for both space heating and cooling. A Reference Building for an historical hotel was simulated in five Mediterranean cities and different HVAC solutions were assessed, using EnergyPlus software coupled with tools specifically set to emulate the energy behaviour of certain HVAC technologies, aiming to highlight the most efficient alternative

Contrasting the capabilities of building energy performance simulation programs

For the past 50 years, a wide variety of building energy simulation programs have been developed, enhanced and are in use throughout the building energy community. This paper is an overview of a report, which provides up-to-date comparison of the features and capabilities of twenty major building energy simulation programs. The comparison is based on information provided by the program developers in the following categories: general modeling features; zone loads; building envelope and daylighting and solar; infiltration, ventilation and multizone airflow; renewable energy systems; electrical systems and equipment; HVAC systems; HVAC equipment; environmental emissions; economic evaluation; climate data availability, results reporting; validation; and user interface, links to other programs, and availability

Combining different validation techniques for continuous software improvement - Implications in the development of TRNSYS 16

Validation using published, high quality test suites can serve to identify different problems in simulation software: modeling and coding errors, missing features, frequent sources of user confusion. This paper discusses the application of different published validation procedures during the development of a new TRNSYS version: BESTEST/ASHRAE 140 (Building envelope), HVAC BESTEST (mechanical systems) and IEA ECBCS Annex 21 / SHC Task 12 empirical validation (performance of a test cell with a very simple mechanical system). It is shown that each validation suite has allowed to identify different types of problems. Those validation tools were also used to diagnose and fix some of the identified problems, and to assess the influence of code modifications. The paper also discusses some limitations of the selected validation tools

Development of Economic Water Usage Sensor and Cyber-Physical Systems Co-Simulation Platform for Home Energy Saving

In this thesis, two Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) approaches were considered to reduce residential building energy consumption. First, a flow sensor was developed for residential gas and electric storage water heaters. The sensor utilizes unique temperature changes of tank inlet and outlet pipes upon water draw to provide occupant hot water usage. Post processing of measured pipe temperature data was able to detect water draw events. Conservation of energy was applied to heater pipes to determine relative internal water flow rate based on transient temperature measurements. Correlations between calculated flow and actual flow were significant at a 95% confidence level. Using this methodology, a CPS water heater controller can activate existing residential storage water heaters according to occupant hot water demand. The second CPS approach integrated an open-source building simulation tool, EnergyPlus, into a CPS simulation platform developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The NIST platform utilizes the High Level Architecture (HLA) co-simulation protocol for logical timing control and data communication. By modifying existing EnergyPlus co-simulation capabilities, NIST’s open-source platform was able to execute an uninterrupted simulation between a residential house in EnergyPlus and an externally connected thermostat controller. The developed EnergyPlus wrapper for HLA co-simulation can allow active replacement of traditional real-time data collection for building CPS development. As such, occupant sensors and simple home CPS product can allow greater residential participation in energy saving practices, saving up to 33% on home energy consumption nationally

Modelling of heat emitters embedded within third order lumped parameter building envelope model

A dynamic modelling approach for heat emitters embedded within an existing third order lumped parameter building envelope model is reported in this work. The model has been found to provide more accurate results with negligible expense of computational time compared to a conventional quasi-dynamic model. The dynamic model also is preferred over the quasi-dynamic model as it allows for modelling emitters with high thermal capacity such as under-floor heating. Recommendation for this approach is justified through a series of analyses and comparative tests for various circuit options, timesteps and control volumes

Methodological Approach for the Development of a Simplified Residential Building Energy Estimation in Temperate Climate

Energy ratings and minimum requirements for thermal envelopes and heating and air conditioning systems emerged as tools to minimize energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy e ciency and promote greater transparency with regard to energy use in buildings. In Latin America, not all countries have building energy e ciency regulations, many of them are voluntary and more than 80% of the existing initiatives are simplified methods and are centered in energy demand analysis and the compliance of admissible values for di erent indicators. However, the application of these tools, even when simplified, is reduced. The main objective is the development of a simplified calculation method for the estimation of the energy consumption of multifamily housing buildings. To do this, an energy model was created based on the real use and occupation of a reference building, its thermal envelope and its thermal system’s performance. This model was simulated for 42 locations, characterized by their climatic conditions, whilst also considering the thermal transmittance fulfilment. The correlation between energy consumption and the climatic conditions is the base of the proposed method. The input data are seven climatic characteristics. Due to the sociocultural context of Latin America, the proposed method is estimated to have more possible acceptance and applications than other more complex methods, increasing the rate of buildings with an energy assessment. The results have demonstrated a high reliability in the prediction of the statistical models created, as the determination coe cient (R2) is nearly 1 for cooling and heating consumption