IBPSA2007

Reliable information regarding user presence and behavior in buildings is crucial for building performance simulation applications (energy consumption, indoor environment). In this context, the present contribution describes an effort to observe control-oriented occupant behavior in 29 offices of a large high-rise office complex over a period of one year. The observations regarding control behavior tendencies suggest relationships to both indoor environmental conditions and outdoor environment parameters.

The effectiveness of building performance simulation can be increased if more reliable information regarding user presence and behavior in buildings become available. In this context, the present contribution describes a study of control-oriented actions by the occupants of 6 offices in an office building over a period of nine months. The results suggest that control behavior may be related to both indoor environmental conditions and outdoor environment parameters.

This study aims to reveal the advantages of district heating and cooling system (DHC) in energy efficiency as an urban energy system in the future. In this study, an existing absorption-chiller-and-boilertype DHC plant, which utilizes large-scale combined heat and power (CHP), is chosen for a case study. We evaluate the energy-saving potential of the plant in the future by a simulation model.

As in most buildings windows, shades, luminaries, radiators, fans, and other control devices can be operated by building occupants, information on user control behavior is crucial toward accurate prediction of building performance (energy consumption, indoor environment). The present contribution describes an effort to observe control-oriented occupant behavior in an educational building over a period of one year.

Guiyang is the capital city of Guizhou province in southwest China, located in the Mild Climatic zone in China. With the economy booming in recent years, the energy consumption in heating and cooling buildings in Guiyang continues to increase. This paper presents a computer simulation study using DeST software package, which is broadly used to simulate building energy consumption in China.

This paper describes the development of computational thermal manikins (CTMs) to be used in a coupled simulation envrionment to simulate the human thermoregulary response in buildings. 3D graphic design and engineering tools have been used to create CTMs with different postures and clothing insultation levels. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of a nude CTM in a space with displacement ventilation has shown good agreement with experimental data of measured convective and radiative heat transfer coefficients.

Water heating in the U.S. has been identified as a major component of total energy consumption used in buildings, mostly coming from the residential sector at around 11%. A potential opportunity for energy savings in water heating systems is to improve the design of hot water distribution systems (HWDS). Due to the complex heat losses of HWDS, models are needed to optimize HWDS by reducing heat losses. There are three models currently used to simulate thermal performance of hot water distribution systems (HWDS): HWSim, ORNLHWDS, and TRNSYS.

While most current building simulation tools consider occupants as predictable robots the true nature of human behaviour is more complex. This article describes a set of stochastic models aimed at capturing this complexity by decoupling occupant presence from occupant behaviour, then considering separately each means of occupant interaction (use of appliances, of windows, of lighting, etc.) with the building and finally modeling each of these  appropriately.

The Canadian residential sector contributes approximately 80 megatonnes (Mt) of greenhouse gases (GHG) to the environment each year. With the ratification of Kyoto protocol, Canada has committed to reduce its GHG emissions by at least five percent between 2008 and 2012 on the basis of its 1990 emission levels. To meet this target Canada has to evaluate and exploit every feasible meaning to reduce the fossil fuel energy consumption and the consequent GHG emissions. In this work, test-case Canadian houses were modeled in the building energy simulation software ESP-r.

An ESP-r component model for gas-fired water storage tanks was developed within the context of the simulation for building-integrated cogeneration systems. Charged by the cogeneration unit with gas back-up, the tank can be used to satisfy both domestic hot water needs and space heating.