Determination of energy savings for passive solar buildings

Abstract

As part of a larger effort to define a series of performance indices for passive buildings, this report presents a method for calculating the energy saved by any specific passive design. The energy use of a passive building is measured. A conventional building counterpart to the passive structure is defined and its energy use is modeled by computer. The results for the conventional building are adjusted, using a correction factor obtained for a building which can be both measured and computer-modeled. Such a building is obtained by crippling the passive components of the passive solar building so that the crippled building can be modeled as well as measured. The crippled building provides a method of calibrating building measurements to building simulations. The procedure is illustrated. The success and limitations of the methods are discussed. Two applications are described in the Appendix.