Assessing the Energy and Indoor Air Quality Performance for a Three-Story Building Using an Integrated Model, Part One: The Need for Integration

Seyedmohammadreza Heibati,Wahid Maref,Hamed H Saber

doi:10.3390/en12244775

Abstract

In building applications, there is a dynamic interaction/coupling between the energy performance and the indoor air quality (IAQ) performance. Previously, the performance of energy consumption (EC) and IAQ has been evaluated independently. In this study, an energy performance model (EnergyPlus) and IAQ performance model (CONTAM: contaminant transport analysis) were simultaneously coupled as a new integrated simulation model in which the control variables were exchanged between the two models. Two scenarios were provided in this study for a three-story house. The first scenario addressed the effect of airtightness only. The second scenario, however, addressed the airtightness with an exhaust fan with an upgraded filter. In order to better analyze the accuracy of the simulations, the performance of the energy and IAQ were simulated independently using the EnergyPlus model and CONTAM model. Thereafter, the performance of the energy and IAQ were simulated using the present integrated simulation model. All simulations were conducted for the climatic conditions of Montreal and Miami. The results of the integrated simulation model showed that the exchange of control variables between both EnergyPlus and CONTAM produced accurate results for the performance of both energy and IAQ. Finally, the necessity of using the present integrated simulation model is discussed.

Highlights

A high-performance building is one of the most important goals in building research
The accuracy of indoor air quality (IAQ) and airflow modeling in buildings has been reduced due to the limitation of being unable to consider the impact of some energy performance technologies simultaneously [3]
We compared the results obtained by using the EnergyPlus and CONTAM programs separately and those obtained by using the co-simulation

Summary

Introduction

A high-performance building is one of the most important goals in building research. More recently, the focus on energy-efficient buildings and their energy needs can be met annually with high-efficiency and high-energy sources locally [1]. The accuracy of IAQ and airflow modeling in buildings has been reduced due to the limitation of being unable to consider the impact of some energy performance technologies simultaneously [3]. The idea of coupling methodologies for energy and IAQ was first carried out by Adams et al [4]. Using a coupled thermal–airflow model, in which the energy performance was improved by 20%. Combined methods of modeling energy and airflow have been used in some energy simulation tools. These models are capable of simultaneously simulating energy and multi-zone airflow, but the limitation regarding accurate airflow calculations is the main problem [5]. Gowri et al [6] proposed a method for estimating the infiltration in commercial buildings

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Conclusion