Building Performance Evaluation Using Coupled Simulation of EnergyPlus™ and an Occupant Behavior Model

Mengda Jia,Ravi Srinivasan

doi:10.3390/su12104086

Abstract

Building energy simulation programs are used for optimal sizing of building systems to reduce excessive energy wastage. Such programs employ thermo-dynamic algorithms to estimate every aspect of the target building with a certain level of accuracy. Currently, almost all building simulation tools capture static features of a building including the envelope, geometry, and Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems, etc. However, building performance also relies on dynamic features such as occupants’ interactions with the building. Such interactions have not been fully implemented in building energy simulation tools, which potentially influences the comprehensiveness and accuracy of estimations. This paper discusses an information exchange mechanism via coupling of EnergyPlus™, a building energy simulation engine and PMFServ, an occupant behavior modeling tool, to alleviate this issue. The simulation process is conducted in Building Controls Virtual Testbed (BCVTB), a virtual simulation coupling tool that connects the two separate simulation engines on a time-step basis. This approach adds a critical dimension to the traditional building energy simulation programs to seamlessly integrate occupants’ interactions with building components to improve the modeling capability, thereby improving building performance evaluation. The results analysis of this paper reveals a need to consider metrics that measure different types of comfort for building occupants.

Highlights

Building performance plays an important role in the life cycle of a building [1]
A few studies have focused on modeling occupant interactions with buildings and the impact of occupant on building performance, most traditional building energy simulation tools oversimplify the human dimension in their modeling and calculation progress [5]
The occupant behavior model used in this paper was developed by the authors previously, and a preliminary validation study was conducted to test the applicability of the model [6]

Summary

Introduction

Building performance plays an important role in the life cycle of a building [1]. Organizations such as American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Airconditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and U.S Green Building Council (USGBC) have proposed various guidelines, standards, and rating protocols to evaluate the performance of a building. A few studies have focused on modeling occupant interactions with buildings and the impact of occupant on building performance, most traditional building energy simulation tools oversimplify the human dimension in their modeling and calculation progress [5]. This may cause inaccurate building energy estimation that deviates from reality. Gives insights of occupant comfort conditions and preferences of the built environment Incorporating such dynamic occupant behavior information to building energy models has the potential to improve the comprehensiveness of the modeling approach, and optimize building design to achieve a better performance

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Methods

Findings

Conclusion