Influence of building parameters and HVAC systems coupling on building energy performance

The performance of different HVAC systems varies when coupled with different buildings. This paper examines the relationship between building heating and cooling load and subsequent energy consumption with different HVAC systems. Two common HVAC systems in use throughout the UK office building stock, variable air volume (VAV) system and fan coil (FC) with dedicated outside air system, have been coupled with a typical narrow plan office building with and without daylight control and for both cellular and open plan.The results presented in this paper clearly indicate that it is not possible to form a reliable judgment about building energy performance based only on building heating and cooling loads. For the two investigated systems, variable air volume system and fan coil with dedicated outside air system, the difference between system demand and building demand varied from over −40% to almost +30% for cooling and between −20% and +15% for heating. If a heat recovery unit is used, the difference in heating performance is even greater, rising to −70%.     

Predicting building energy requirements

This paper is concerned with methods of predicting the thermal performance and energy consumption of buildings. The advantages and drawbacks in practical office situations of both approximate methods and the more precise computer methods are discussed. The widespread use of the computer for these calculations will be necessary for implementation of a National Energy Conservation Standard for building design. The new ASHRAE Standard 90–75 essentially requires such computer methods.A case study carried out for the State of California in an effort to determine the practicality of energy budgets is discussed.The outputs of four proprietary energy programs for the same two buildings are compared and found to be remarkably different. The need for an ASHRAE-endorsed public domain computer program is discussed.     

Stochastic weather model for building HVAC systems

The weather is a multi-dimensional stochastic process; the traditional typical or standard meteorological year is not enough to describe the random behaviour of weather. The model presented in this paper is based on the vector auto-regressive (VAR) time series method. From the validation results, it can be seen that the stochastic weather model is essential to describe real climate behaviour, and the accuracy obtained is sufficient for the application of the stochastic weather model in the simulation and stochastic analysis of building HVAC systems.     

Membrane heat exchanger in HVAC energy recovery systems, systems energy analysis

The thermal performance of an enthalpy/membrane heat exchanger is experimentally investigated. The heat exchanger utilizes a 60gsm Kraft paper as the heat and moisture transfer surface for HVAC energy recovery. The heat exchanger sensible, latent and total effectiveness have been determined through temperature and moisture content measurements. The annual energy consumption of an air conditioner coupled with an enthalpy/membrane heat exchanger is also studied and compared with a conventional air conditioning cycle using in-house modified HPRate software. The heat exchanger effectiveness are used as thermal performance indicators and incorporated in the modified software. Energy analysis showed that an air conditioning system coupled with a membrane heat exchanger consumes less energy than a conventional air conditioning system in hot and humid climates where the latent load is high. It has been shown that in humid climate a saving of up to 8% in annual energy consumption can be achieved when membrane heat exchanger is used instead of a conventional HVAC system.     

暖通空调系统节能设计思考

暖通空调系统能耗是建筑能耗的主要组成部分,但以往的暖通空调设计多仅着眼于功能而忽略节能。通过多个案例分析指出了基于节能考虑的设计认识误区,提出了值得重视的若干节能设计理念,探讨了基于节能的暖通空调系统方案设计方法。     

有关建筑暖通空调系统节能方案设计的探讨

随着社会的进步,人们对建筑节能环保的要求也越来越高,节能已成为当今建筑设计行业追求的主旋律,而暖通空调系统节能方案的设计又是整个建筑节能设计的主要环节。从分析建筑暖通空调系统耗能高的原因出发,分析了我国暖通空调节能方面存在的问题,并提出了一些节能设计方面的新技术、新方法,以供同行之间相互学习和交流。     

A simulation appraisal of performance of different HVAC systems in an office building

The article reports on a simulation appraisal of energy consumption, energy costs and environment impact of three systems used for space heating, and space cooling of an office building in Kragujevac, Serbia. Three investigated systems are (1) a system with a natural gas boiler and convective baseboard heaters for water space heating and window air conditioners for air space cooling; (2) a system with a natural gas boiler and individual air reheaters for air space heating and a chiller plant for air space cooling; and (3) an air-to-air heat pump for air space heating, and cooling. The systems are modeled and simulated by using EnergyPlus software. After simulations, it is found that the first investigated system has the highest energy efficiency, the best economy, and the lowest environmental impact. That is because of the fact that the first system has water as a heating medium and uses predominantly natural gas as fuel. However, in future, when for generation the grid electrical energy requires less primary energy, and becomes decarbonized, the third system would be best to conserve energy resources and environment.     

Computational intelligence techniques for HVAC systems: A review

Buildings are responsible for 40% of global energy use and contribute towards 30% of the total CO2 emissions. The drive to reduce energy use and associated greenhouse gas emissions from buildings has acted as a catalyst in the development of advanced computational methods for energy efficient design, management and control of buildings and systems. Heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are the major source of energy consumption in buildings and ideal candidates for substantial reductions in energy demand. Significant advances have been made in the past decades on the application of computational intelligence (CI) techniques for HVAC design, control, management, optimization, and fault detection and diagnosis. This article presents a comprehensive and critical review on the theory and applications of CI techniques for prediction, optimization, control and diagnosis of HVAC systems. The analysis of trends reveals that the minimisation of energy consumption was the key optimization objective in the reviewed research, closely followed by the optimization of thermal comfort, indoor air quality and occupant preferences. Hardcoded Matlab program was the most widely used simulation tool, followed by TRNSYS, EnergyPlus, DOE-2, HVACSim+ and ESP-r. Metaheuristic algorithms were the preferred CI method for solving HVAC related problems and in particular genetic algorithms were applied in most of the studies. Despite the low number of studies focussing on multi-agent systems (MAS), as compared to the other CI techniques, interest in the technique is increasing due to their ability of dividing and conquering an HVAC optimization problem with enhanced overall performance. The paper also identifies prospective future advancements and research directions.     

A critical review of fault modeling of HVAC systems in buildings

Buildings consumed about 40% of primary energy and 70% of the electricity in the U.S. It is well known that most buildings lose a portion of their desired and designed energy efficiency in the years after they are commissioned or recommissioned. Majority of the Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems have multiple faults residing in the systems causing either energy, thermal comfort, or indoor air quality penalties. There are hundreds of fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) algorithms available, but there is lacking a common framework to assess and validate those FDD algorithms. Fault modeling is one of the key components of such a framework. In general, fault modeling has two purposes: testing and assessment of FDD algorithms, and fault impacts analysis in terms of building energy consumption and occupants’ thermal comfort. It is expected that fault ranking from the fault impact analysis can facilitate building facility managers to make decisions. This paper provides a detailed review of current state-of-the-art for the fault modeling of HVAC systems in buildings, including fault model, fault occurrence probability, and fault simulation platform. Fault simulations considering fault occurrence probability can generate realistic faulty data across a variety of faulty operating conditions, and facilitate testing and assessment of different FDD algorithms. They can also help the fault impact study. Three research gaps are identified through this critical literature review: (1) The number of available fault models of HVAC systems is still limited. A fault model library could be developed to cover all common HVAC faults for both traditional and non-traditional HVAC systems. (2) It is imperative to include the fault occurrence probability in fault simulations for a realistic fault impacts analysis such as fault ranking. (3) Fault simulation platforms need further improvements to better facilitate the fault impact analysis.     

建立适应建筑节能的暖通空调设计机制

列举了我国设计机制不适应建筑节能需求的现象。提出了在规划设计中应用综合资源规划(IRP)方法、建立各专业参与的会商制度、将建筑模拟技术用于设计阶段的能耗权衡、建立全程优化调整机制,以及采用基于性能的设计合同等方法,以进一步提高我国暖通空调节能设计水平。     

Predictions of energy savings in HVAC systems by lumped models

An approach to optimizing the energy efficiency of a Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) system is presented that utilizes computational predictions of the effect of heat load distribution on moist air temperature, density, and humidity variation. Lumped-HVAC (L-HVAC) is a new lumped parameter code that couples fluid transport, energy transport, thermodynamics, and psychrometrics in an HVAC system. This code contains a nonlinear implicit solution algorithm for steady-state and transient calculations for flow resistance, water mass balance, and energy conservation. L-HVAC has been validated using a simplified analytical model, the commercial lumped parameter code SINDA/FLUINT, and experimental measurements. Steady-state calculations for a single-room system suggest an order of magnitude greater energy savings using a variable chiller power control approach compared to control damper and variable-drive fan approaches. L-HVAC was also applied to predict that the fraction of latent to total heat load influences the steady-state system temperature by up to 0.4 °C for the example system in this study.     

Performance and sustainability assessment of energy options for building HVAC applications

In this study, a building with a volume of 351 m³ and a net floor area of 117 m² is considered as a case study with the indoor and exterior air temperatures of 20 and 0 °C, respectively. For the heating applications, four options are studied with (1) a heat pump, (2) a condensing boiler, (3) a conventional boiler and (4) a solar collector, which are driven by renewable and non-renewable energy sources. An energy and exergy analysis is employed to assess their performances and compare them through energy and exergy efficiencies and sustainability index. Energy and exergy flows are investigated and illustrated. Also, the energetic and exergetic renewability ratios are utilized here along with sustainability index. The results show that overall exergy efficiencies of heat pump, condensing boiler, conventional boiler and solar heating systems are found to be 3.66, 3.31, 2.91, and 12.64%, while the sustainability index values for the four cases considered are calculated to be 1.039, 1.034, 1.030 and 1.144, respectively. So, solar collector-based heating system gives the highest efficiency and sustainability index values.     

民用建筑暖通空调节能经济原理探讨

引入了民用建筑暖通空调节能经济原理的概念,分别对节能的外部经济性、暖通空调用能价格以及节能建筑产品生产的规模经济等方面进行了理论探讨,并分别提出了相应的经济及管理措施。     

Simulation-assisted control in building energy management systems

Technological advances in real-time data collection, data transfer and ever-increasing computational power are bringing simulation-assisted control and on-line fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) closer to reality than was imagined when building energy management systems (BEMSs) were introduced in the 1970s. This paper describes the development and testing of a prototype simulation-assisted controller, in which a detailed simulation program is embedded in real-time control decision making. Results from an experiment in a full-scale environmental test facility demonstrate the feasibility of predictive control using a physically-based thermal simulation program.     

暖通空调系统优化控制与能量管理的现状及发展趋势

分析了暖通空调优化能量消耗的特点,介绍了暖通空调控制系统基础控制器参数整定、工作点优化和能量管理的现状。根据暖通空调系统的未来需求和相关技术的发展,提出了其控制技术的发展方向。     

Climatic zoning and its application to Spanish building energy performance regulations

The main requirements of European Directive 2002/91/EC on the energy performance of buildings (EPBD) are the application of minimum energy performance requirements for new buildings and certification of the energy performance of buildings. Its transposition into the national law of member states of the European Union has signified the appearance of new and more onerous requirements in terms of construction quality from the point of view of energy performance, and in terms of the procedure for certification of the energy performance of buildings. In both cases, the levels required tend to be based on climatic conditions, fundamentally in countries such as Spain, where the climatic variability is very pronounced. This paper presents a methodology developed for the climatic zoning of the localities not included in the above-mentioned regulations in order to facilitate their application. By way of example, the method is shown which was used to generate the climatic files and carry out the subsequent climatic zoning of all the municipalities of the region of Andalusia in southern Spain.     

暖通空调系统几项重点节能设计措施探讨

详细探讨了暖通空调系统的几项重点节能设计措施,主要包括:室内设计计算温度取值、冷热负荷计算、供暖系统设计、风系统设计、空调水系统设计、冷热源选择、补水定压、保温及水力平衡、室温调控与冷热量计量,以供专业人员在工程设计中参考。     

Simulation of the full and part load energy consumption of HVAC system of building

A model based on dynamic heat transfers through the building envelope and between the contents inside the building is developed. This model has been incorporated into the Computer Aided Building Airconditioning Requirement and Environmental Temperature Simulation (CABARETS) program. The model takes into account the interaction between the external excitation, building envelope, contents inside the building, air handling systems and the mechanical equipment. An iterative numerical procedure has been implemented to solve the simultaneous heat transfer equations for the various components of the system. The indoor temperature and humidity variations with or without the operation of the HVAC system are established, and the energy requirements for maintaining the controlled environment are computed. The electrical power requirement for operating the HVAC mechanical equipment is estimated by the model, and the values are compared with the observed electricity consumption for the mechanical services.