The influence of the external walls thermal inertia on the energy performance of well insulated buildings

Energy conscious building design consists in controlling the thermophysical characteristics of the building envelope such as, firstly, thermal transmittance (U-value). However, besides the U-value, the envelope thermal inertia should also be considered. The literature studies report very different estimations regarding the energy saving potential associated with the use of an adequate inertia, ranging from a few percentages to more than 80%. Therefore, this study aims at assessing the parameters enhancing or damping the role of thermal inertia, providing a variety of results. For this purpose several external wall systems with the same U-value but different dynamic properties were investigated to calculate the associated achievable energy savings. A parametric analysis was performed in progressive steps, by running the models of a virtual Test Cell and of a sample building. Both design parameters (heat transfer surface, solar control) and operational ones (ventilation rates, HVAC functional regime) were varied.It was found that the highest energy performance wall system has a proper combination of the dynamic thermal transmittance and thermal admittance values, although not necessarily the best ones. Moreover, it was shown that thermal inertia effects are enhanced if it is coupled with other energy saving measures and an efficient building use.     

Applying a multi-objective optimization approach for Design of low-emission cost-effective dwellings

Modern buildings and their HVAC systems are required to be not only energy-efficient but also produce fewer economical and environmental impacts while adhering to an ever-increasing demand for better environment. Research shows that building regulations which depend mainly on building envelope requirements do not guarantee the best environmental and economical solutions. In the current study, a modified multi-objective optimization approach based on Genetic Algorithm is proposed and combined with IDA ICE (building performance simulation program). The combination is used to minimize the carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂-eq) emissions and the investment cost for a two-storey house and its HVAC system. Heating/cooling energy source, heat recovery type, and six building envelope parameters are considered as design variables. The modified optimization approach performed efficiently with the three studied cases, which address different summer overheating levels, and a set of optimal combinations (Pareto front) was achieved for each case. It is concluded that: (1) compared with initial design, 32% less CO₂-eq emissions and 26% lower investment cost solution could be achieved, (2) the type of heating energy source has a marked influence on the optimal solutions, (3) the influence of the external wall, roof, and floor insulation thickness as well as the window U-value on the energy consumption and thermal comfort level can be reduced into an overall building U-value, (4) to avoid much of summer overheating, dwellings which have insufficient natural ventilation measures could require less insulation than the standard (inconsistent with energy saving requirements) and/or additional cost for shading option.     

室内环境的安全性和独立新风系统

分析了国内外在抗击SARS疫情过程中与暖通空调专业密切相关的主要问题 ,提出了解决现有建筑和新建建筑的建筑环境安全性的若干措施 ,提供了用于这些建筑的集中空调系统的新的设计方法———低温送风独立新风系统。     

多区域变风量空调系统及其分配控制研究

在多区域变风量空调及其控制系统的分析研究基础上,根据ASHRAE通风标准对新风量的要求,针对混合送风系统仿真分析了4种新风及其分配的控制方案,综合考虑了各方案的新同分配以及系统能耗。结果表明,通过VAV末端再热控制并结合AHU送风温度优化的控制方案,可以较好地解决多区域VAV空调系统新风分配问题,同时能有效地降低系统的能耗。     

Performance analysis of supply and return fans for HVAC systems under different operating strategies of economizer dampers

HVAC systems and associated equipment consume a relatively large fraction of total building energy consumption, a significant portion of which is attributed to fan operation. The operation of economizer dampers when installed can cause high energy consumption in fans if they are not functioning in proper and optimal manner. This will mainly be due to the potential high pressure drops through those dampers and associated high total pressures that should be developed by supply and/or return fans. It is then necessary to ensure that a proper strategy to operate optimally the economizer dampers is implemented with minimum fan energy use. The paper examines several operation strategies of the economizer dampers and investigates their effects on the performance of both the supply and return fans in HVAC system. It also discusses a new operating strategy for economizer dampers that can lead to lower fan energy use. The strategies are evaluated by simulations for a typically existing HVAC system. Several factors such as the building locations, system characteristics, resistance in the duct where the dampers are installed, supply air temperature and economizer control, and minimum ventilation requirements are also considered during the evaluations. The results show that the way of the economizer dampers been controlled has a significant effect on fan performance and its energy use. The proposed strategy if properly implemented can provide fan energy saving in the range of 5-30%, depending mainly on the number of hours when the system operates in the free cooling mode, damper characteristics, and minimum outdoor air.     

Virtual outdoor air flow meter for an existing HVAC system in heating mode

Measurements from the operation of Heating, Ventilation and Air conditioning (HVAC) system are collected by Building Automation System (BAS) mostly for control purpose. In many air handling units (AHUs) the airflow meter is not installed on the outdoor air stream to reduce the initial costs. To provide such a missing information needed for the ongoing commissioning of HVAC system, a virtual flow meter (VFM) should be implemented in the BAS. This paper presents VFMs for the heating season when the heat recovery coils are used. Two models are presented which predict the outdoor air ratio (factor α), in the absence of such an air flow meter, by using BAS trend data. Two energy balance equations, one for the air mixing box and another for the heat recovery coils, are coupled. The results from a case study building show that the two models predict the daily average outdoor air ratio of 0.89 and 0.87, respectively, compared with the reference daily average ratio of 0.86.     

Optimization of indoor climate conditioning with passive and active methods using GA and CFD

This study aims at the development of an optimal design tool using a genetic algorithm (GA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Random variables (fluctuating outdoor conditions), passive design elements (model variables) and active design elements (HVAC system) were set up to represent a realistic building environment. A combination of designs is determined based on the relationship between fluctuating outdoor conditions and the HVAC system in the optimal design search. Building environment designs should consider both active and passive design elements because the HVAC system keeps adjusting the supply air flow rate until the indoor climate reaches target conditions when outdoor conditions are changing.     

Energy performance optimization of radiant slab cooling using building simulation and field measurements

Few field studies of energy performance of radiant cooling systems have been undertaken. A recently constructed 17,500 m² building with a multi-floor radiant slab cooling system in the tower was investigated through simulation calibrated with measured building energy use and meteorological data. For the very cold, dry region where the building was located, it was found that a typical floor of the tower would have had 30% lower annual energy use with a conventional variable air volume system than with the as-built radiant cooling-variable air volume combination. This was due to (1) simultaneous heating and cooling by the existing radiant cooling and air systems, (2) the large amount of free cooling possible in this climate, and (3) suboptimal control settings. If these issues were remedied and combined with improved envelope and a dedicated outdoor air system with exhaust air heat recovery, a typical floor could achieve annual energy use 80% lower than a typical floor of the existing building HVAC system. This shows that radiant thermal control can make a significant contribution to energy-efficiency, but only if the building design and operating practices complement the strengths of the radiant system.     

夏热冬冷地区办公建筑降低供暖空调能耗的技术路径

以上海地区某办公建筑为例,基于EnergyPlus能耗模拟,探讨了围护结构性能提升和暖通空调系统优化这2条节能技术路径对夏热冬冷地区办公建筑降低供暖空调全年能耗的有效性.结果 表明:围护结构性能提升的节能潜力较小,经济性较差;单纯提高围护结构保温隔热性能并不能保证降低建筑年耗冷量,应综合分析全年供热供冷能耗确定围护结构...     

一次回风送风再热与新风预冷互补的节能研究

对于一次回风空调系统,夏季工况,当空调区湿负荷较大时,采用露点送风只能保证设定温度,而湿度将会偏大,影响人体热舒适;若增加再热,又会出现冷热抵消现象。提出了利用室外新风热量再热来改善室内热舒适状况的方案。通过工程案例计算分析,结果表明:利用新风再热可减少再热送风系统6%~15%的能耗,认为送风再热与新风预冷互补措施能在一定程度上降低空调能耗,提高室内热舒适。     

建筑外围护结构整体气密性能国内外标准综述及分析

空调系统能耗已成为建筑能耗的一个主要组成部分,建筑物由于围护结构漏风造成的空调能耗损失很大,建筑物围护结构漏风还会造成许多直接或者间接的危害,故加强围护结构的气密性检测必须得到重视。通过综述国内外关于建筑物外围护结构气密性相关标准,比较了国内外标准的异同,并且针对我国建筑外围护结构气密性的现状及加强改进方面提出了一些建议。     

Real-time determination of optimal indoor-air condition for thermal comfort,air quality and efficient energy usage

For building, “surroundings” that effect on indoor-air condition change with respect to the time. Without proper determination of the desired indoor-air condition to heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system, it may not be feasible to provide simultaneously occupants with thermal comfort and acceptable air quality with efficient energy consumption all the time. This paper presents an alternative methodology of real-time determination of optimal indoor-air condition for HVAC system in order to achieve such total requirements. Predicted mean vote (PMV), CO₂ concentration and cooling/heating load are used as parameter indices for thermal comfort, indoor-air quality and energy consumption respectively. The performance index of the HVAC system is then defined by summation in terms of square errors between those actual parameter indices and their desired values. This performance index is to be systematically minimized by a gradient-based technique in order to yield optimal indoor-air condition for HVAC system. A case study was chosen in 24 h operating HVAC system of a single-storey building by determining indoor-air temperature, indoor-air humidity, indoor-air velocity, and air-ventilation rate. The experiment results show that the proposed methodology can be efficiently implemented in the real-time determination of indoor-air condition to HVAC system that maintains PMV and CO₂ concentration close to the desired levels with less energy consumption when compared to those from the conventional approach.     

The effectiveness of stand alone air cleaners for shelter-in-place

Stand-alone air cleaners may be efficient for rapid removal of indoor fine particles and have potential use for shelter-in-place (SIP) strategies following acts of bioterrorism. A screening model was employed to ascertain the potential significance of size-resolved particle (0.1-2 microm) removal using portable high efficiency particle arresting (HEPA) air cleaners in residential buildings following an outdoor release of particles. The number of stand-alone air cleaners, air exchange rate, volumetric flow rate through the heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system, and size-resolved particle removal efficiency in the HVAC filter were varied. The effectiveness of air cleaners for SIP was evaluated in terms of the outdoor and the indoor particle concentration with air cleaner(s) relative to the indoor concentration without air cleaners. Through transient and steady-state analysis of the model it was determined that one to three portable HEPA air cleaners can be effective for SIP following outdoor bioaerosol releases, with maximum reductions in particle concentrations as high as 90% relative to conditions in which an air cleaner is not employed. The relative effectiveness of HEPA air cleaners vs. other removal mechanisms was predicted to decrease with increasing particle size, because of increasing competition by particle deposition with indoor surfaces and removal to HVAC filters. However, the effect of particle size was relatively small for most scenarios considered here. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The results of a screening analysis suggest that stand-alone (portable) air cleaners that contain high efficiency particle arresting (HEPA) filters can be effective for reducing indoor fine particle concentrations in residential dwellings during outdoor releases of biological warfare agents. The relative effectiveness of stand-alone air cleaners for reducing occupants' exposure to particles of outdoor origin depends on several factors, including the type of heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) filter, HVAC operation, building air exchange rate, particle size, and duration of elevated outdoor particle concentration. Maximum particle reductions, relative to no stand-alone air cleaners, of 90% are predicted when three stand-alone air cleaners are employed.     

Alternative ventilation strategies in U.S.offices:Comprehensive assessment and sensitivity analysis of energy saving potential

Mature technologies exist to reduce the heating,ventilation,and air-conditioning(HVAC) energy associated with ventilation and use ventilation proactively to save energy.This study investigated the energy use impacts in U.S.office buildings of multiple alternative ventilation strategies that combined:economizing,demand controlled ventilation(DCV),supply air temperature reset(SR),and/or a doubled ventilation rate.We used energy simulations in a Monte Carlo analysis,sampling 17 building inputs and varying locations to match the climate zone distribution of the U.S.office stock.Results indicated the possibility for significant savings compared to a baseline that ventilated constantly at a minimum rate in both a small office type with a constant air volume(CAV) HVAC system and a medium office type with a variable air volume(VAV) system.In 95%of instances,HVAC source energy savings were 5-25%in the small-CAV office(median:11%) and 6-42%in the medium-VAV office(median:27%).In the small-CAV office,DCV typically saved the most energy,usually from heating,and heating degree days and occupant density were decisive influences.In the medium-VAV office,economizing and SR were most important,DCV usually only had minor impacts,and zone temperature setpoints,along with climate indicators,were the critical influences.Other than infiltration,envelope characteristics did not strongly influence energy impacts.The untapped primary energy savings of alternative ventilation strategies over the 74%of U.S.office floorspace reasonably represented by our modeling was estimated at 36 TWh per year,with an annual value of U.S.$ 1.25 billion.     

华凯花园住宅小区供热空调设计

该小区为大型住宅小区,自建集中燃气锅炉房,作为暖通空调和生活热水热源,塔楼供暖系统分高低区,室内采用散热器供暖,分户热计量。冷源为水冷螺杆式冷水机组,住宅楼空调一期采用分体机,二期采用户式多联机,会所采用风机盘管加新风的集中空调方式,街面商业出租单元采用变频多联机。介绍了小区的暖通空调、自控和防排烟设计。     

Minimisation of life cycle cost of a detached house using combined simulation and optimisation

In the current study, minimisation of life cycle cost (LCC) for a single family detached house is achieved by combined simulation and optimisation. The house has a typical Finnish construction with initial U-values in accordance with the Finnish National Building Code C3 of 2003. The implemented approach is coupling the IDA ICE 3.0 building performance simulation program with the GenOpt 2.0 generic optimisation program to find optimised values of five selected design variables in the building construction and HVAC system. These variables are three continuous variables (insulation thickness of the external wall, roof and floor) and two discrete variables (U-value of the windows and type of heat recovery).     

Development of envelope efficiency labels for commercial buildings: Effect of different variables on electricity consumption

After the first federal law on energy efficiency was published in 2001, the Brazilian government promoted several actions on energy efficiency, including the Federal Regulation for Voluntary Labeling of Energy Efficiency Levels in Commercial, Public and Service Buildings. Divided into three parts, lighting system, HVAC and building envelope, it is expected to become mandatory in 2013. This paper describes the criteria adopted to evaluate the envelope efficiency level, focusing on the development of a regression equation which provides an electricity consumption indicator. The envelope label is divided into five efficiency levels, from A (more efficient) to E (less efficient), identified according to the electricity consumption indicator. The linear regression equation considers variables such as window to wall ratio (WWR), SHGC, solar protection angles, building volume indicators and the roof U_value. The U_value of the walls was excluded from the equation due to its non-linearity. Its relation with electricity consumption depends on internal gains, exterior temperatures, building size and thermal capacity of the walls and could not be described by a linear regression equation. Some limitations were identified and shape factor limits were provided. The envelope efficiency label is obtained by the comparison of the electricity consumption indicator of the proposed building with the electricity consumption indicators of two other building envelopes presented.     

Double cooling coil model for non-linear HVAC system using RLF method

The purpose of heating, ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system is to provide and maintain a comfortable indoor temperature and humidity. The objective of this work is to model building structure, including equipments of HVAC system. The hybrid HVAC model is built with physical and empirical functions of thermal inertia quantity. Physical laws are used to build the sub-model for subsystems that have low thermal inertia while the empirical method is used to build the sub-model for subsystems with high thermal inertia. The residential load factor (RLF) is modeled by residential heat balance (RHB). RLF is required to calculate a cooling/heating load depending upon the indoor/outdoor temperature. The transparency, functionality of indoor/outdoor temperatures and simplicity of RLF makes it suitable for modeling. Furthermore, the parameters of the model can be calculated differently from room to room and are appropriate for variable air volume (VAV) factor. Nowadays, a VAV system is universally accepted as means of achieving both energy efficiency and comfortable building environment. In this research work, a pre-cooling coil is added to humidify the incoming air, which controls the humidity more efficiently inside conditioned space. The model presented here is verified with both theoretical and numerical methods.     

公共建筑项目中暖通空调专业的绿色设计

室内环境质量、节能与能源利用与暖通空调专业紧密相关的。在设计阶段,室内设计参数决定着室内环境质量,而围护结构的热工性能和暖通空调系统设计直接决定着绿色建筑中节能与能源利用。本文对绿色建筑项目中的暖通空调设计做了初步探讨,旨在为绿色建筑项目中的暖通空调设计提供一定的指导。在项目设计中,不仅需要选择节能型的设备、设计合理的系统形式,还需与建筑师共同探讨建筑围护结构的热工性能,同时还需根据项目所在地的情况做到因地制宜,切忌盲目使用可再生能源。     

HVAC system optimization for energy management by evolutionary programming

Energy management of heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems is a primary concern in building projects, since the energy consumption in electricity has the highest percentage in HVAC among all building services installations and electric appliances. Without sacrifice of thermal comfort, to reset the suitable operating parameters, such as the chilled water temperature and supply air temperature, would have energy saving with immediate effect. For the typical commercial building projects, it is not difficult to acquire the reference settings for efficient operation. However, for some special projects, due to the specific design and control of the HVAC system, conventional settings may not be necessarily energy-efficient in daily operation.In this paper, the simulation-optimization approach was proposed for the effective energy management of HVAC system. Due to the complicated interrelationship of the entire HVAC system, which commonly includes the water side and air side systems, it is necessary to suggest optimum settings for different operations in response to the dynamic cooling loads and changing weather conditions throughout a year. A metaheuristic simulation–EP (evolutionary programming) coupling approach was developed using evolutionary programming, which can effectively handle the discrete, non-linear and highly constrained optimization problems, such as those related to HVAC systems. The effectiveness of this simulation–EP coupling suite was demonstrated through the establishment of a monthly optimum reset scheme for both the chilled water and supply air temperatures of the HVAC installations of a local project. This reset scheme would have a saving potential of about 7% as compared to the existing operational settings, without any extra cost.