A procedure for automating thermal zoning for building energy simulation
- Authors
- Shin, Minjae; Haberl, Jeff S.
- Issue Date
- Apr-2022
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Keywords
- Building; Thermal zoning; Building energy simulation; Heating/cooling loads; Indoor temperature
- Citation
- Journal of Building Engineering, v.46, pp 1 - 18
- Pages
- 18
- Indexed
- SCIE
SCOPUS
- Journal Title
- Journal of Building Engineering
- Volume
- 46
- Start Page
- 1
- End Page
- 18
- URI
- https://scholarworks.bwise.kr/erica/handle/2021.sw.erica/107919
- DOI
- 10.1016/j.jobe.2021.103780
- ISSN
- 2352-7102
2352-7102
- Abstract
- Although many previous studies have addressed the accuracy of building energy simulations, very few studies of this subject have mentioned the importance of Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) thermal zoning strategies to sustainable building design. In addition, the building energy standards and guidelines related to building energy simulation recommend that only a core and perimeter thermal zoning strategy be used to reduce the total number of thermal zones in a model. However, although this simplifies modeling, it can lead to too many thermal zones in the building energy model of a multi-story building, or in some cases too few zones, which can impact the model's accuracy. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a new thermal zoning process for building energy simulation called the "grid/cluster method." that can be applied automatically to whole-building energy simulations of multi-zone commercial structures. To verify this new thermal zoning method, the indoor temperature profiles of grid units were carefully analyzed in a case study simulation. In this study, three thermal zoning simulation models for a rectangular building were created and applied in heating- and cooling-dominant climates. The results show that for both climate conditions, the new grid/cluster method reduced heating/cooling loads by 11%-27% as compared to the single-zone model. In addition, the results significantly improved the simulated indoor comfort conditions.
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