Abstract
In the framework of various research projects at Hamburg University of Technology, a large-sized, non-residential building was investigated in a post-occupancy evaluation for several years. The building is designed as a lightweight construction with thermally activated ceilings, geothermal assisted heating and cooling, and partly manual ventilation. Thus, the users become part of the energy concept in terms of ventilation during summertime. The building's final energy demand is primarily covered by thermal energy from the ground for heating and cooling purposes. During winter, ground-coupled heat pumps characterize the overall electricity demand with seasonal fluctuations, whereas user-related electricity demands were comparatively constant throughout the year. User-related energy demands must be considered, since they were found to be a significant part of the electricity demand, especially for highly efficient office buildings, as this demand category accounted for around 50% of the total primary energy demand of the building considered, under standard conditions. As a counterpart of keeping thermal energy demands as low as possible, thermal comfort was maintained at a high level throughout the year, except for small limitations in winter due to the absence of humidity control, causing increased thermal discomfort at outside air humidity ratios beyond the desired indoor comfort zone. Furthermore, influences of manual user interventions on thermal comfort are considered. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding of the effects of user-related energy demands on the total energy performance of a building, and the interaction of fully-automated and manual building systems, with regard to thermal comfort.
Highlights
Against the background of the environmental impact of energy use, depletion of primary energy resources and economic consequences, significant efforts are being made to construct more environmentallyfriendly buildings, and thereby reduce the carbon dioxide emissions caused by the building sector
Post-occupancy investigations of energy demands and thermal comfort for a large-sized non-residential building were conducted for this study
Enhanced detailed knowledge was gained about how energy demands are connected to user-related applications and their magni tude, as well as about thermal comfort and user influence on thermal comfort
Summary
Against the background of the environmental impact of energy use, depletion of primary energy resources and economic consequences, significant efforts are being made to construct more environmentallyfriendly buildings, and thereby reduce the carbon dioxide emissions caused by the building sector. Menezes et al [6] discussed reasons for discrepancies between energy modeling prediction and actual performance of non-residential buildings From their post-occupancy evaluation, the authors highlight the need for better understanding of user behavior in office buildings. The energy demand related to different indoor thermal comfort levels was calculated for a typical of fice space of 19.8 m2, expressed in terms of the predicted mean vote (PMV), according to Fanger’s approach [16] They found significant reductions in energy demand for a not fully mechanically controlled building with a dynamic adaptive comfort approach, compared with a fully mechanically controlled building, and performed comfort evalua tion relying on Fanger’s approach for the same number of dissatisfied occupants. To the authors’ knowledge, no study has yet provided experimental results of detailed energy demands, indoor air quality for different office spaces, as well as detailed user-related demands for a lean non-residential building, relying on thermally activated ceilings with partly fully automated building systems, covering a period of several years. Thermal comfort and user influence were investigated for several speciallyequipped office spaces, in order to show the benefits and limitations of thermal comfort for an almost fully automated office building
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