Implication of building energy modeling (BEM) and adaptive model to assess the efficiency of multi storied apartments in composite climate of north India

The paper is focused on identifying factors affecting the energy consumption & comfort conditions of multi-storied apartments in composite climate of north India. The findings reveal that the residents are very well adapted to their thermal environment and are comfortable at a broader temperature range (22.5–30.6 °C). The TSV-PMV difference was observed to be fairly significant for the winter and summer period, i.e. 50C and 1.10C respectively whereas marginally differed for the annual data i.e. 0.60 C. The energy-use evaluation through simulations has identified solar gain through ext. windows to be the most important contributor to the internal gains. The heat conduction through walls & glazing has also shown the highest values for heat gains. Building design, especially, the orientation and WWR is observed to be significantly affecting the thermal behaviour of the building envelope, and are suggested to be the prime focus while designing naturally ventilated buildings in this climatic zone.