building controls

This investigation of the window opening data from extensive field surveys in UK office buildings investigates 1) how people control the indoor environment by opening windows, 2) the cooling potential of opening windows, and 3) the use of an “adaptive algorithm” for predicting window opening behaviour for thermal simulation in ESP-r. We found that the mean indoor and outdoor temperatures when the window was open were higher than when it was closed, but show that nonetheless there was a useful cooling effect from opening a window.

States that it is possible to integrate HVAC blinds and lighting, which could make possible energy savings, a reduction of peak demand and the improvement of comfort level. Presents some of the results of the INTECOM research project, which aims to define data to be exchanged between different controllers in multi-vendor solutions. The article focuses on the integrated control at zone level. Integrated control strategy performances are analysed by simulation. Prototypes have been produced and assessed on virtual buildings by emulation techniques.

Intelligent coordination of the thermodynamical and air ventilation processes can achieve the necessary compromise between comfort demands, necessary air exchange and low heating costs. A new user demand guided field bus based coordination of single room control and air change rate control is developed and tested for a commercial building automation system. A reconstructed block of 65 flats was used in the field test to show that the control strategy ensures the necessary air exchange in an energy-efficient manner.

A dynamic computer program was used to analyse the operation and performance of a thermal comfort controller for HVAC systems with forced-air ventilators. The software tool used was GEMS (Generalized Engineering Modeling and Simulation). Simulations indicated that when using a conventional thermostat, any form of mechanical ventilation is likely to increase the moisture content of the air inside a conditioned space in a cooing-dominated hot and humid climate. States that mechanical ventilators in this situation may contribute to indoor air quality problems of high moisture levels.

This paper summarizes part of the work held at ENTPE within the framework of the IEA Annex 35 project. The aim of the work is to develop and experimentally evaluate control strategies for hybrid ventilation systems to provide comfortable indoor environment and good air quality by combining the best aspect of natural and mechanical ventilation. To reach this target and asses the physical model elaborated in this project, a test cell "HYBCELL" has been designed within the laboratory.

The work of Kohn Pedersen Fox (London) emphasises the civic responsibility of buildings and is primarily concerned with the integration of environmentally responsive elements into buildings within a civic context. The development of facades and roofs that perform a range of environmental tasks has been explored through a series of building designs. These use passive environmental control as a contribution to urban design by providing transition zones between street and building that can be used by both the public and building users.

The operation and performance of forced-air ventilation systems with the aid of a dynamic modeling and simulation computer program are presented. The functions and features of GEMS (Generalized Engineering Modeling and Simulation), a dynamic modeling and simulation software tool, are briefly described. Using GEMS, the effects of different ventilation airflow rates and sensible and moisture efficiencies on the thermal comfort environment within the conditioned space were analyzed.

During design phase, Liberty Tower of Meiji University, a high-rise building located at the center of Tokyo Metropolitan area, several testing methods were applied to ensure the effectiveness of the various components used in the principle of hybrid ventilation system design. Its special design feature is the "wind-floor'', whereby the central core is planned to induce natural ventilation for every floor by creating stack-effect.