Influences of occupant ventilation-behavior during off-periods on indoor thermal environment in intermittently heated buildings

Abstract

A validated analytical model is proposed to quickly calculate the transient indoor air temperature and wall temperature by using Laplace transformation and the method of constant variation. The analytical model is further combined with predicted mean vote (PMV) model to evaluate the indoor thermal environment. The quantitative influence of occupants’ ventilation behavior (OVB) during the off-periods on indoor thermal comfort is studied for an intermittent heating (IH) room in the whole heating season. The results indicate that the OVB during the off-periods of IH system can significantly reduce the indoor thermal comfort level during the heating periods. The predictive model of minimum PMV during the heating periods is thus determined to provide a theoretical basis for balancing the OVB during the non-heating periods and indoor thermal comfort during the heating periods. In addition, considering the occupants who have the need for both ventilation and indoor thermal comfort, preheating may be a solution while the heating energy consumption will be increased. The increasing rate of heating energy consumption is approximately 32.5%–74.9%. To reduce the extra heating energy consumption caused by the preheating, occupants need to limit the OVB during the non-heating periods of IH system.