Comparison of a ground-coupling reference standard model to simplified approaches

The transfer of energy from the ground to buildings through slabs and basements has long been a point of large errors in simulations. Work to increase the accuracy of this ground-coupled heat transfer was started under IEA Task 34/43. Detailed models of the ground heat transfer process were developed in TRNSYS for the IEA task work and refined further after for project work. The detailed models created for TRNSYS will be discussed in the context of the IEA task work as well as in comparison to the simplified methods used in mainstream energy modeling.