Abstract
The prevalence of variable airflow (VA) parallel fan-powered terminal units (FPTUs) points to the need of developing a performance model for building energy simulation. However, current version of EnergyPlus does not allow modelling variable speed fans in FPTUs using existing standard modules. This paper provided an alternative approach to modelling VA parallel FPTUs in EnergyPlus using Energy Management System (EMS) and user-defined modules to demonstrate the feasibility of integrating the model of VA parallel FPTUs with the rest of HVAC system. Also, the effect of constant airflow (CA) and VA parallel FPTUs on the component and system energy consumption was investigated based on the energy simulation results conducted on a single-story, five-zone small office prototype building model. The results showed that although VA parallel FPTUs have great potential in saving terminal unit fan energy, the selection of VA units over CA units alone does not guarantee net energy savings.
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