Thermal modeling of the occupied multi-zone buildings taking into account the uncertainties of occupant behavior

Abstract

In this paper, the interaction between residential apartments in the same building is considered by including the occupant behavior. The study is applied to three-floor residential building. First, a multi-zone building model was implemented and validated by comparison with thermal simulation tools. Deterministic study allows us to determine the worst case of energy highest consumption. The interior insulation thickness is then progressively increased to obtain its optimal value with respect to heat loss and equilibrated energy consumption between apartments. Finally, a random variation of family absence number and duration has been applied to evaluate their influence on energy demand considering heat interaction between apartments.