Influence of insulation configuration on heating and cooling loads in a continuously used building

This paper is focused on the energy performance of buildings containing massive exterior building envelope components. The effect of mass and insulation location on heating and cooling loads is analyzed for six characteristic wall configurations. Correlations between structural and dynamic thermal characteristics of walls are discussed. A simple one-room model of a building exposed to periodic temperature changes is analyzed to illustrate the effect of material configuration on the ability of a wall to dampen interior temperature swings. Whole-building dynamic modeling using DOE-2.1E is employed for the energy analysis of a one-story residential building with various exterior wall configurations for six different US climates. The best thermal performance is obtained when massive material layers are located at the inner side and directly exposed to the interior space.     

New equipment for testing steady and transient thermal performance of multilayered building envelopes with PCM

Thermal properties of the different building envelopes, such as thermal transmittance in steady state, heat storage capacity and dynamic thermal responses, must be taken into account during the design phase of buildings. The evaluation and measurement of these parameters in multilayered samples are difficult because of the irregular morphology of the used materials and the difficulty in providing the well-controlled environment needed for the measurements. A new equipment has been designed to measure the thermal response and heat capacity of composite walls of different materials simulating real building envelopes.The equipment presented in this paper was used to test the improvement in the thermal response of a building envelope due to the incorporation of PCM. This study is focused on wood structural panels attached to a gypsum board, which is either impregnated or not with PCM. The four edges of the composite sample are properly insulated to ensure one-dimensional heat flow. The two faces of the sample are exposed to controlled environments heated and cooled by copper coils with thermo stated water supplied by water baths. The measured surface heat fluxes at both surfaces of the sample and temperature distribution in the sample provide accurate assessment to thermal mass and dynamic response of the composite wall, while the steady state measurements provide an accurate estimate of its effective thermal transmittance.     

Difficulties and limitations in performance simulation of a double skin façade with EnergyPlus

Currently, several whole-building simulation tools (e.g., esp-r, EnergyPlus, TRNSYS, TAS, IES VE, IDA ICE, VA114, BSim, etc.) are used to assess the energy performance of double-skin façade (DSF) buildings. The aforementioned tools are well suited to assess energy performance of conventional building systems or whole buildings; however, it is questionable whether such tools can accurately describe the transient heat and mass transfer phenomena that occur in the complex three-dimensional geometry of DSFs. This paper describes an empirical validation of the EnergyPlus simulation tool for performance simulation of a DSF. A series of experiments were conducted for cavity airflow and thermal behavior of the DSF and then compared with simulation outputs. In this paper, it is shown that there are significant differences in both thermal and airflow behavior of DSFs between the measurements and simulation predictions by EnergyPlus. This study investigates three cases causing the differences and elucidates what should be considered when modeling DSFs using EnergyPlus.     

Topology optimisation of masonry units from the thermal point of view using a genetic algorithm

The aim of this work is to find an economic single leaf masonry wall for the building construction industry with minimised heat loss through the envelope. Lightweight aggregate concrete has the potential to offer weight reduction as well as good thermal and acoustic properties without significantly compromising the wall structural properties. The article presented here describes a search for the optimal topology of lightweight concrete masonry units according to normal thermal demands. The wall performance is measured through thermal transmittance values. The thermal behaviour of the units is calculated using three-dimensional finite element simulations. The developed topology optimisation method considers a numerical evolutionary algorithm iterating over the direct analysis performed by the finite element method. The obtained optimised topology unit will contribute towards sustainability and energy saving needs of today’s building construction industry.     

ECOTECT能耗模拟下既有住宅建筑围护结构节能改造的热环境分析研究

目前,既有住宅建筑节能改造主要有围护结构改造和供热计量改造两方面。围护结构节能改造主要包括:外墙节能改造、外窗节能改造、屋面节能改造等技术措施的研究;建筑物围护结构节能改造除了能够降低建筑能耗之外,对建筑物室内热环境也有很大影响。采用ECOTECT能耗模拟软件,对西安市某住宅建筑围护结构不同节能改造方案的热环境进行模拟,深入分析不同节能改造方案的能源消耗、不舒适度、围护结构得热、温度分布和热舒适度情况,以热舒适为前提、节能为目的选择最优的节能改造方案。为既有住宅建筑节能改造方案优选提供依据。     

Study of moisture transfer in a double-layered wall with imperfect thermal and hydraulic contact resistances

The objective of this work is to study the effect of taking into account interface contact resistance on the prediction of moisture distribution through multilayered building envelope. Therefore, two mathematical models to describe coupled heat and mass transfer in double-layered porous materials have been investigated: one that considers imperfect contact between layers and another that ignores this phenomenon. Both models are one-dimensional and were implemented using finite difference technique with an implicit scheme. Numerical results are presented in terms of moisture distribution for a double-layered wall and compared with the experimental data available in the current literature. The comparison has shown that the model that disregards interface contact resistance between layers cannot predict correctly one-dimensional heat and moisture transfer within double-layered porous materials. The sensitivity analysis of the simulation parameters and the impact of contact resistances at the whole building level are presented in detail and their effect on the whole building level was analysed. Our results suggest that the thermal contact resistance is the most influent parameter on the moisture flux across the hydraulic contact interface. On the whole building level, simulations indicate that taking into account contact resistances had a slight effect on the indoor relative humidity but a noticeable effect on heating input energy. A decrease of 10% in energy consumption is obtained when contact resistances are considered.     

Development of a radiant heating and cooling model for building energy simulation software

Efficient radiant heating and cooling systems are promising technologies in slashing energy bills and improving occupant thermal comfort in buildings with low-energy demands such as houses and residential buildings. However, the thermal performance of radiant systems in buildings has not been fully understood and accounted for in currently available building energy simulation software. The challenging tasks to improve the applicability of radiant systems are the development of an accurate prediction model and its integration in the energy simulation software. This paper addresses the development of a semi-analytical model for radiant heating and cooling systems for integration in energy simulation software that use the one-dimensional numerical modeling to calculate the heat transfer within the building construction assemblies. The model combines the one-dimensional numerical model of the energy simulation software with a two-dimensional analytical model. The advantage of this model over the one-dimensional one is that it accurately predict the contact surface temperature of the circuit-tubing and the adjacent medium, required to compute the boiler/chiller power, and the minimum and maximum ceiling/floor temperatures, required for moisture condensation (ceiling cooling systems), thermal comfort (heating floor systems) and controls. The model predictions for slab-on-grade heating systems compared very well with the results from a full two-dimensional numerical model.     

The effect of variations in convection coefficients on thermal energy storage in buildings Part II — Exterior massive walls and simulations

A theoretical study has been performed to determine the effect of variations in convection coefficients on the storage of thermal energy in structural materials in the exterior envelope of buildings. Detailed analytical and numerical analyses have been performed to study the fundamental aspects of the problem for simple geometries. Based on the detailed analyses, a thermal energy storage effectiveness parameter has been defined in terms of the changes in heating and cooling energy requirements of a single-zone building in response to the introduction of mass in its exterior walls. Calculations of the exterior wall effectiveness have been made to investigate the effect of variations in convection coefficients at the interior surface of external envelope materials, as well as the influence of dditional building parameters, such as internal loads, interior air temperature control strategy, and internal mass.To extent the results of the detailed analysis and to study the effects of variable convection coefficients on heating and cooling energy requirements in real buildings, simulations of two prototype residential buildings (in Mexico and the United States) have been performed using the building energy analysis computer program BLAST². Results indicate that the energy consumption of a typical uninsulated Mexican residence is quite sensitive to the variations in convection coefficients commonly occurring in buildings (a difference up to a factor of three over the range 0.5 ⩽ h ⩽ 10.0 W/m²K). Buildings energy consumption of a typical well-insulated U.S. residence is less sensitive to variations in convection coefficients, although for some climates the effects are still significant (up to a 40% increase over the range 0.5 ⩽ h ⩽ 10.0 W/m²K). Since the convection coefficients at interior building surfaces vary quite widely within this range, this work suggests that for some climates and building constructions, improved characterization of convection coefficients is needed to permit reliable calculation of the energy requirements of buildings incorporating large amounts of thermal mass.     

节能建筑中应用保温砂浆的性能分析

随着环保和节能意识的增强,建筑节能正在成为世界建筑业的发展趋势,因此,建筑围护结构的绝热性能日益受到重视。保温砂浆通过改变其容重和厚度可以调节墙体围护结构的热阻,改善其热工性能,目前已成为我国重要的建筑节能技术措施之一,正在迅速发展并广泛应用工业与民用建筑中。基于保温砂浆的导热系数和蓄热系数及其大量的工程实践经验,分析了保温砂浆在我国节能建筑中应用的绝热机理和性能参数,进而综述了节能建筑对其性能的进一步要求,为拓宽保温砂浆在节能建筑中的应用范围奠定了基础。     

Study on hybrid ground-coupled heat pump systems

Although ground-coupled heat pump (GCHP) systems are becoming attractive air-conditioning systems in some regions, the significant drawback for their wider application is the high initial cost. Besides, more energy is rejected into ground by the GCHP system installed in cooling-dominated buildings than the energy extracted from ground on an annual basis and this imbalance can result in the degradation of system performance. One of the available options that can resolve these problems is to apply the hybrid ground-coupled heat pump (HGCHP) systems, with supplemental heat rejecters for rejecting extra thermal energy when they are installed in cooling-dominated buildings. This paper presents a practical hourly simulation model of the HGCHP system by modeling the heat transfer of its main components. The computer program developed on this hourly simulation model can be used to calculate the operating data of the HGCHP system according to the building load. The design methods and running control strategies of the HGCHP system for a sample building are investigated. The simulation results show that proper HGCHP system can effectively reduce both the initial cost and the operating cost of an air-conditioning system compared with the traditional GCHP system used in cooling-dominated buildings.     

Dynamical building simulation: A low order model for thermal bridges losses

Thermal bridges losses represent an increasing part of heat losses owing to significant three-dimensional heat transfer characteristics in modern buildings, but one-dimensional models are used in most simulation software for thermal analyses to simplify the calculations.State model reduction techniques were used to develop low-order three-dimensional heat transfer model for additional losses of thermal bridges, which is efficient and accuracy. Coupling this technique with traditional one-dimensional model for walls losses, it is possible to reduce a large amount of time simulations.Low-order model was validated from frequency response and time-domain output. And the effect of this model was shown with its implementation in software “TRNSYS”.     

Static and dynamic thermal characterisation of a hollow brick wall: Tests and numerical analysis

This article explains the adjustment procedure of a calibrated hot-box unit and the execution of the corresponding tests to measure the dynamic thermal properties of walls needed to calculate the thermal load of buildings. The results of a test for a heterogeneous wall are also presented, in a dynamic temperature rating. These results are compared with those obtained from a simulation carried out on the performance of the same wall through the application of a finite volume software. Subsequently, the error introduced by assuming one-dimensional heat flow through a nonhomogeneous wall is discussed. This is equivalent to considering the heterogeneous layer of the wall as an equivalent homogeneous layer, which is done in several whole building simulation programs. It is concluded that the error committed may be appreciable, even when the heterogeneities are not excessive.     

Seismic fragility analysis of low-rise unreinforced masonry structures

Unreinforced masonry (URM) is one of the most common structural types for low-rise buildings in the United States. Its dynamic behavior is highly nonlinear, and generally shows high vulnerability to seismic loading. Despite the need for seismic risk assessment of this class of structures, the fragility curves for URM buildings based on analytical models are scarce in the field of earthquake engineering. This study performs seismic fragility analysis of a URM low-rise building. Fragility curves are developed for a two-story URM building designed to represent a typical essential facility (i.e., a firehouse) in the central and southern US (CSUS) region. A structural modeling method is proposed such that it can be effectively used for fragility analysis without significant increase in computational time, and maintains an acceptable level of accuracy in representing the nonlinear behavior of the structures. A set of fragility curves are developed and include different configurations of the out-of-plane walls and their associated stiffness. The fragility analysis shows that the seismic performance of URM buildings is well below the desirable building seismic performance level recommended by current seismic codes, indicating high vulnerability of URM buildings within the CSUS region. It is also shown that the out-of-plane wall stiffness should not be ignored in the risk assessment of URM buildings because the overall seismic performance of URM buildings is rather sensitive to the out-of-plane wall stiffness. The analytical fragility curves developed are compared with those of HAZUS. The comparison shows that the analytical fragility curves developed have lower variation in the seismic response than those of HAZUS. Several reasons for the discrepancy are discussed. The model-based analytical fragility curves developed in this study can increase the accuracy and effectiveness of seismic risk assessment of essential facilities of the CSUS region. Moreover, the structural modeling method introduced in this study can be effectively used for development of the fragility curves of URM buildings.     

新建节能建筑墙体材料层及排布对干燥过程的影响

建筑围护结构内的热湿耦合传递是一个非常复杂的过程,其研究是降低建筑能耗、评估和预防湿害、提高室内热舒适性、室内卫生及优化围护结构性能的基础。新建节能建筑墙体具有初始含湿量大的特点,若墙体湿积累过大,则容易出现墙体表面剥蚀、渗漏、发霉甚至结构出现损坏的现象。墙体干燥时,传热传质过程同时发生且相互耦合。目前相关热物性仿真软件、理论研究和设计规范主要建立在热传递的基础上,忽略了湿传递的影响,对新建建筑墙体干燥不适用。WUFI~? Pro热湿仿真软件充分考虑了材料本身含湿量、风驱雨、太阳辐射、长波辐射、毛细传输和夏季结露等典型气候的影响,实现了对自然气候条件下建筑构件非稳态热湿性能的真实计算。节能墙体多在外墙添加内外保温层来增加围护结构的传热热阻,且在保温层内外两侧分别添加隔汽层和空气层的措施来防止保温层受潮,最终提高围护结构的保温性能。为墙体美观,多在围护结构的内外两侧分别黏贴墙纸和釉面砖。采用WUFI~? Pro对北京地区2种典型的建筑墙体进行热湿耦合传递模拟,分析新建建筑墙体在不同保温层材料和位置时的干燥过程,以及保温层两侧的隔汽层和空气层、墙体两侧的墙纸和釉面砖对墙体干燥过程的影响。模拟用室外条件为北京典型气象年小时室外气象参数,室内条件设定室内冬季供暖温度T_1=20℃,夏季室内温度设计值T_2=25℃,全年平均相对湿度为50%。模拟外围护结构属于西向,墙体温湿度初始条件为:相对湿度为100%,温度为15℃。模拟结果表明:内保温层的设置非常不利于围护结构的干燥,容易在内保温层和砌块之形成湿积累,降低围护结构的耐久性;EPS、PU和XPS都能降低围护结构含湿量,但EPS更有利于墙体干燥;隔汽层和空气层的添加可一定程度上阻止保温层受潮,避免造成湿积累,进而提高围护结构的保温性能;釉面砖和墙纸的黏贴将严重延缓围护结构的干燥过程,降低围护结构的保温性能,缩减建筑构件的使用寿命。     

The energy requirements of buildings

In this study a simple and accurate dynamic one-capacity model is used to investigate systematically the effect and potential of energy conservation measures on the heating requirement of buildings. The value of present and future building codes is studied under various Central European weather conditions. Three building codes are identified. For these building codes, parameter variations of the envelope, the inner part, and the operational mode of the building are performed. Three static parameters (the total heat loss coefficient, the internal capacity and the response time) and one dynamic parameter (the heating period, here defined as the number of hours with a heating requirement) turn out to be central quantities in the characterization of the thermal behaviour of a building.     

Heat loss characteristics for a typical solar domestic hot water storage

It is common practice to predict the performance of solar domestic hot water (SDHW) systems by computer simulation. This process relies on the accurate specification of the system's physical and thermal characteristics, and is often based on a number of simplifying assumptions. An important aspect of system performance is storage heat loss characteristics; however, these are often represented by an average heat loss coefficient or U-value that does not account for the complex geometry of the thermal storage or the interaction of the various inlet and outlet ports that may act as thermal conduits. In addition, most solar storage models assume that the tank temperature profile is one-dimensional and that conduction within the tank wall is negligible. To investigate these effects, tests were conducted on a typical thermal storage used in SDHW applications and included a cool-down test and a heat diffusion test sequence. The values derived from these test sequences were then compared to computer predictions based on estimated thermal properties. In addition, the basic assumptions typically used in the computer modelling of solar storage heat losses (e.g., one-dimensional temperature profiles, minimal tank wall conduction, uniform wall heat loss) were investigated, particularly in the context of a thermally stratified thermal storage.     

Impact of sun patch and three-dimensional heat transfer descriptions on the accuracy of a building’s thermal behavior prediction

A thermal transient numerical model (M_3D) which considers the three-dimensional heat transfer through the envelope of a room and the sun patch through a window has been developed and validated in a recent paper. The use of a refined spatial and temporal discretization allows considering more precise interactions between the sun patch projection with the structure and quick time perturbations in the stresses. This is particularly necessary for highly insulated and low energy consumption buildings. In this new paper, M_3D is subsequently transformed to simpler configurations, close to classical modelling thermal building simulation software that neglects the sun patch and the 3D heat transfer, in order to quantify the main contributions of this model. A first configuration is to consider one-dimensional heat conduction for the envelope and the transmitted solar radiation is only projected onto the floor (M_1D). A second configuration considers also one-dimensional heat conduction but the transmitted beam radiation falls on each wall or floor that is impacted (M_1D,sp). Comparison between experimental data and numerical results of these three models shows, as expected, that M_1D and M_1D,sp are less accurate than M_3D. This is particularly true when wanting to evaluate surface temperature distributions or heating power evolution in winter.     

Indonesian residential high rise buildings: A life cycle energy assessment

This study evaluates the effect of building envelopes on the life cycle energy consumption of high rise residential buildings in Jakarta, Indonesia. For high rise residential buildings, the enclosures contribute 10-50% of the total building cost, 14-17% of the total material mass and 20-30% of the total heat gain. The direct as well as indirect influence of the envelope materials plays an important role in the life cycle energy consumption of buildings. The initial embodied energy of typical double wall and single wall envelopes for high residential buildings is 79.5 GJ and 76.3 GJ, respectively. Over an assumed life span of 40 years, double walls have better energy performance than single walls, 283 GJ versus 480 GJ, respectively. Material selection, which depends not only on embodied energy but also thermal properties, should, therefore, play a crucial role during the design of buildings.     

Building environment simulation before desk top computers in the USA through a personal memory

In the USA, full scale computer applications for HVAC related problems started in the early 1960s when the author was involved in the US government’s projects to evaluate the thermal environment in fallout shelters by an hour by hour simulation of heat and moisture transfer processes between human occupants and the shelter’s interior surfaces under a limited ventilation condition. General building energy simulations based on hour by hour calculations were started a few years later by the gas and electric industries. This led to the formation of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Task Group on Energy Requirements to develop a comprehensive hourly energy performance simulation of buildings, as well as to the activities of automated procedure for engineering consultants (APEC) for cooling load calculations. These activities eventually developed into the formation of four international symposia (Gaithersburg, Banff, Paris, and Tokyo) on the use of computers for environmental engineering related to buildings, the forerunner of IBPSA. A considerable amount of effort went into the earlier thermal simulation programs to improve the physical and empirical modeling of air, moisture and heat transfer processes in and through a complex building structure under varying weather conditions and building use conditions. Parallel and equally comprehensive efforts were made to improve the simulations of HVAC systems and equipment, and the development of typical weather data.     

Evaluation of energy efficient design strategies for different climatic zones: Comparison of thermal performance of buildings in temperate-humid and hot-dry climate

Since the Kyoto protocol signed in December 1997 the majority of governments around the world have committed themselves to reducing the emission of the greenhouse gases. Thus, efficient use of energy and sustainability has become a key issue for the most energy policies. Sustainability and energy saving terms take place in building construction industry too since buildings are one of the most significant energy consumers. It is known that heating energy demand of a building has a great rate in building total energy consumption. In addition to that, the most of the heating energy has been lost from building envelope. TS 825, Heating Energy Conservation Standard for Buildings in Turkey, aims the reducing of heat loss in buildings through the envelope. But within buildings, one of the fastest growing sources of new energy demand is cooling and especially in hot-humid and hot-dry climatic parts of Turkey cooling season is much longer than the heating season. Moreover in hot-dry climate heat storage capacity of the envelope becomes more important issue than heat insulation for energy efficiency of the building. Since the Turkish standard is considering only heating energy conservation by using degree-day concept, Istanbul and Mardin are considered in the same zone, however those are in temperate-humid and hot-dry climatic zones, respectively. In this study energy efficient design strategies for these climatic zones have been explained and thermal performance of two buildings, which are constructed according to the TS 825 in Mardin and Istanbul cities were evaluated to show the importance of thermal mass in hot-dry climates.