Improved thermal building management with the aid of integrated dynamic HVAC simulation

Building simulation is a tool that has only recently been recognised as a possible utility to accomplish enhanced building management (Build. Environ. 37 (8–9) (2002) 891). Thermal management however is often neglected. This is due to the complex nature of problems associated with determining the effect of changes to heating ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) system properties (Build. Environ. 32(2) (1997)). Effective thermal management is nevertheless a major concern since energy cost and operation cost of buildings are directly influenced by how well the HVAC systems perform (Occup. Med.—State Art Rev. 4(4) (1989)). The aim of this study was to introduce the process of integrated dynamic HVAC simulation as a viable tool to improve thermal management of buildings. This entails both improved maintenance and energy utilisation. The applicability of the integrated simulations was investigated by means of a case study for which a well-verified simulation model was constructed and discussed in a previous article. To illustrate the process of improved management three different scenarios are investigated. Finally the conclusion is drawn that improved management is indeed possible with the aid of integrated simulation.     

Modelling user acceptance of building management systems

This study examines user acceptance of building management systems (BMS) using a questionnaire survey. These systems are crucial for optimising building performance and yet it has been widely reported that users are not making full use of their systems' facilities. Established models of technology acceptance have been employed in this research, and the positive influence of user perceptions of ease of use and compatibility has been demonstrated. Previous research has indicated differing levels of importance of perceived ease of use relative to other factors. Here, perceived ease of use is shown generally to be more important, though the balance between this and compatibility is moderated by the user perceptions of voluntariness.     

智能建筑中的人工智能

人工智能的出现和发展对国民经济和社会产生了深刻的影响,就智能建筑而言,无论是从布线控制、楼宇交流还是集成管理,人工智能极大提升了智能建筑的技术内涵。本文主要对人工智能在构建及完善智能建筑方面进行了讨论,介绍了智能建筑的主要组成,人工智能在智能建筑中的主要表现特征和相关的技术优势,以期新兴技术在城市建设中更普及、更深入的应用。     

Multiobjective optimization of building design using TRNSYS simulations,genetic algorithm,and Artificial Neural Network

Building optimization involving multiple objectives is generally an extremely time-consuming process. The GAINN approach presented in this study first uses a simulation-based Artificial Neural Network (ANN) to characterize building behaviour, and then combines this ANN with a multiobjective Genetic Algorithm (NSGA-II) for optimization. The methodology has been used in the current study for the optimization of thermal comfort and energy consumption in a residential house. Results of ANN training and validation are first discussed. Two optimizations were then conducted taking variables from HVAC system settings, thermostat programming, and passive solar design. By integrating ANN into optimization the total simulation time was considerably reduced compared to classical optimization methodology. Results of the optimizations showed significant reduction in terms of energy consumption as well as improvement in thermal comfort. Finally, thanks to the multiobjective approach, dozens of potential designs were revealed, with a wide range of trade-offs between thermal comfort and energy consumption.     

Energy efficiency and building construction in India

The energy conservation has become an important issue in building design, it is logical to apply the principle of energy costing to building projects, and to look for ways to minimize the total energy consumed during their lifetime. Even though the total quantity of energy consumed in a building during its lifetime may be many times than that consumed in its construction, there are number of reasons why the energy use in the construction process, and in particular in the building materials used, should be treated as a matter of importance in looking for ways to minimize energy use in the built environment as a whole. In this paper the energy costs of alternative construction techniques using an optimization framework are assessed and compared. The techniques of construction evaluated in this paper are commonly used pucca techniques as well as low-cost construction techniques. Energy consumption and resource requirements due to the use of alternative techniques of construction for a representative room of size 3.5 m×3.5 m×3.14 m are evaluated. An assessment of the magnitude of energy consumption, if housing shortages have to be met, shows that a huge amount of energy would be consumed in housing sector alone. The associated levels of carbon dioxide emissions associated with this construction would also be prohibitively high. Finally the paper concludes with recommendations for structural changes in the energy and construction policy in India to minimize energy consumption in building construction.     

Effect of building integrated photovoltaics on microclimate of urban canopy layer

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) has potential of becoming the mainstream of renewable energy in the urban environment. BIPV has significant influence on the thermal performance of building envelope and changes radiation energy balance by adding or replacing conventional building elements in urban areas. PTEBU model was developed to evaluate the effect of photovoltaic (PV) system on the microclimate of urban canopy layer. PTEBU model consists of four sub-models: PV thermal model, PV electrical performance model, building energy consumption model, and urban canyon energy budget model. PTEBU model is forced with temperature, wind speed, and solar radiation above the roof level and incorporates detailed data of PV system and urban canyon in Tianjin, China. The simulation results show that PV roof and PV façade with ventilated air gap significantly change the building surface temperature and sensible heat flux density, but the air temperature of urban canyon with PV module varies little compared with the urban canyon of no PV. The PV module also changes the magnitude and pattern of diurnal variation of the storage heat flux and the net radiation for the urban canyon with PV increase slightly. The increase in the PV conversion efficiency not only improves the PV power output, but also reduces the urban canyon air temperature.     

Intelligent building energy management system using rule sets

The current study presents an intelligent decision support model using rule sets based on a typical building energy management system. In addition, the model's impact on the energy consumption and indoor quality of a typical office building in Greece is presented. The model can control how the building operational data deviates from the settings as well as carry out diagnosis of internal conditions and optimize building's energy operation. In this context, the integrated “decision support model” can contribute to the management of the daily energy operations of a typical building, related to the energy consumption, by incorporating the following requirements in the best possible way: (a) the guarantee of the desirable levels of living quality in all building's rooms and (b) the necessity for energy savings.     

The advantages of information management through building information modelling

As building information modelling (BIM) is positioned by governments and construction professionals as a solution to the problems in the construction industry, research is needed into the benefits BIM actually confers. The focus here is on the effectiveness of BIM as a medium for communicating information within a construction team. A case study of an offsite precast concrete fabrication facility was conducted. At the time of the study, the facility was supplying precast units for four public sector projects, and using four information management systems: e-mail, a construction project extranet tool, an Enterprise Resource Planning system and a new BIM-based system. The flow of information through the four media was measured and visualized as the projects progressed. This quantitative measurement of information flow was combined with qualitative data from interviews with facility staff. It was found that the introduction of the BIM-based system diverted information flow through the building model and away from the extranet system. The use of e-mail was largely unaffected. BIM allowed considerably more accurate, on-time and appropriate exchange of information. It is concluded it is possible to quantify some of the benefits of BIM to information management. This research paves the way for future research into the management of more construction project information linked more closely to building models.     

关于建筑施工管理的探讨

通过对项目施工过程质量控制重要性的阐述,从工程投标成本、技术创新、机械设备及材料等方面浅析了实现企业成本全方位管理的有效途径,并论述了安全管理在施工管理中的重要意义,从而实现企业的经济效益.     

Energy and comfort performance of thermally activated building systems including occupant behavior

In building simulations it is common practice to use standardized occupant behavior and internal gains. Although this is a valid approach for designing systems, the probabilistic nature of these boundary conditions influences the energy demand and achieved thermal comfort of real systems. This paper analyzes the influence of occupant behavior on the energy performance and thermal comfort of a typical office floor equipped with a thermally activated building system (TABS). A multi-zone TRNSYS model with 10 adjacent zones per orientation for a typical moderate Belgian climate is set up. First, the energy performance and thermal comfort of thermally activated building systems (TABS) are compared with the performance of idealized cooling with standardized user behavior. TABS are able to deliver good thermal comfort but show to have a higher energy demand. Secondly, probabilistic occupant behavior was implemented in the TABS simulations. The influence of the occupancy rate, the shading device use and switching of the lights are analyzed by defining user profiles. It is shown that occupant behavior may have an important influence on the cooling demand and thermal comfort. However, as long as good solar protection is foreseen and operated in a correct way, TABS are able to cope with different user behavior modeled in this paper. In this case, normal daily stochastic processes do not considerably affect the cooling demand and thermal comfort during summer.     

寒冷气候区的居住建筑的节能设计措施

随着世界能源问题的日益严重,尤其是建筑节能方面引起了全球的广泛关注。目前,世界各国均对建筑节能进行了深入的研究,在许多方面都有了一定的成果,例如建筑新材料、新工艺、新的建筑构件及构造方式、以及采用新能源等。但是缺少在考虑太阳辐射因素对能耗影响的情况下,对建筑的节能体型设计的研究。本文就寒冷气候区的居住建筑的节能设计的问题进行了讨论,举出一些有效措施。     

An investigation of the existing situation and trends in building energy efficiency management in China

According to the Chinese State Council's “Building Energy Efficiency Management Ordinance”, a large-scale investigation of energy efficiency (EE) in buildings in contemporary China has been carried out in 22 provincial capitals and major cities in China. The aim of this project is to provide reliable information for drawing up the “Decision on reinforcing building energy efficiency” by the Ministry of Construction of China. The surveyed organizations include government departments, research institutions, property developers, design institutions, construction companies, construction consultancy services companies, facility management departments, financial institutions and those which relate to the business of building energy efficiency. In addition, representatives of the media and residents were also involved. A detailed analysis of the results of the investigation concerning aspects of the current situation and trends in building energy consumption, energy efficiency strategy and the implementation of energy efficiency measures has been conducted. The investigation supplies essential information to formulate the market entrance policy for new buildings and the refurbishment policy for existing buildings to encourage the development of energy efficient technology.     

浅谈建筑节能的优化设计

本文针对建筑节能设计,在如何优化建筑设计,达到节能的效果,探讨建筑节能设计问题,加速我国建筑节能的步伐。     

浅谈建筑施工的成本管理

结合工作实际,对施工项目的成本管理、成本控制以及制度建设提出了独特的见解,指出施工企业为提高经济效益,确保工程的按期完成,降低生产成本,就必须加强对施工项目的成本管理。     

Application of an energy management and control system to assess the potential of different control strategies in HVAC systems

The significant and continuous increment in the global electricity consumption is asking for energy saving strategies. Efficient control for heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems (HVAC) is the most cost-effective way to minimize the use of energy in buildings. In this framework, an energy management and control system (EMCS) has been developed to schedule electricity end-uses in the campus of the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia (UPV), Spain. This paper presents an evaluation performed by using the EMCS of different control strategies for HVAC split systems. It analyzed the effect of different schedules for a common air-conditioning device and demand response strategies are tested in several situations. The economic saving is calculated taking into account the electricity contract clauses. Finally, a test is made for the control of a group of similar devices in order to reduce the maximum peak power in consumption and to obtain a flexible load shape with the HVAC loads. The studies are then extrapolated to a larger system, the whole University campus, for which energy and economic savings are quantified.     

建筑施工企业质量管理

针对工程质量的重要性,分析了我国建筑施工企业质量管理的现状,阐述了加强质量管理的措施,提出了建筑工程质量管理的长远目标,以保证建筑工程的质量,增强施工企业的竞争力。     

The integration of communications networks in the intelligent building

An Intelligent Building Communications Network (IBN) is a ubiquitous network that integrates Telecommunications, an Intelligent Building Information System (IBIS) and Business Resources over a digital communications platform and has interoperability between systems. Implementation of an IBN is dependent on the migration of IBIS communications networks into the domain of telecommunication and the adoption of Open Systems Interconnection to standardise protocol development. A mechanism suitable to achieve this goal is the Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN), a fully managed switched network service based on a 64 Kbps channel.     

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%.     

建筑企业的发展与管理之探讨

从发展和管理两个不同的层面，阐述了二者的关系，并从实践的角度讨论了建筑施工企业如何提升企业实力，增强竞争力，以实现企业长远的战略发展。     

Building Energy Analysis (BEA): A methodology to assess building energy labelling

The building sector, one of the fastest growing in terms of energy consumption, accounts for over 40% of final energy, a figure which is growing. Building energy legislation at EU level is found in EU Directive 93/73/CEE [Directive 93/73/EEC of the Council of 13 September 1993 on the Limitation of the Carbon Dioxide Emissions through the Improvement of Energy Efficiency (SAVE) 1993], EU directive 2002/91/CE called Energy Performance of Buildings Directive EPBD [Directive 2002/91/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2002 on the Energy Performance of Buildings] and the EU Green Paper [Commission of the European Committees, Green Paper, Towards an European Strategy for the Security of Energy Supply, Brussels, 2000]. This give a clear view of the need and priority that the EU has for reducing energy consumption in the building sector, both for furthering in compliance of international agreements (Kyoto protocol and forthcoming commitments) as well as for reducing its energy dependency, and hence for leading its development towards sustainability.