As the ratings industry in the United States shifts from a subsidized market to an unsubsidized one, we look at four areas of opportunity for home energy raters. Will these opportunities be growing or collapsing in the 21st century?
This paper describes the fluid mechanics of natural ventilation by the combined effects of buoyancy and wind. Attention is restricted to transient draining flows in a space containing buoyant fluid when the wind and buoyancy forces reinforce one another. The flows have been studied theoretically and the results compared with small-scale laboratory experiments. Connections between the enclosure and the surrounding fluid are with high-level and low-level openings on both windward and leeward faces.
An innovative calculation methodology is proposed in this paper which retains the accuracy of sophisticated computer simulation programs, such as DOE 2.1, but maintains the simplicity of simplified building energy calculation methods, such as the Modified Bin method. The entire calculation procedure is discussed and followed by a full-scale experiment on a VAV (Variable Air Volume) system which successfully demonstrated its effectiveness. This method is now proposed to be adapted as the main p<ut of the national building energy code or PACS index in Taiwan