IBPSA2013

The capacity of intermittent power sources like wind and PV is steadily increasing. The existing balance between production and consumption is seriously affected by these new sources. Flexible demand for example in buildings is one solution to come back to a stable system. Buildings provide a huge potential for flexible electricity demand. This flexibility can be addressed by using model predictive control (MPC) with optimized scheduling for the buildings’ heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems.

The reliable assessment of the annual energy demand has become necessary in view of building energy performance certification. Accurate models must be used to simulate the behaviour of HVAC components in real operation, usually characterized by a wide variation of building loads. In this context, this paper deals with the development and validation of an algorithm aimed at the assessment of part load performance of various kinds of controls for vapour compresion based heat pumps and chillers, in particular referring to on-off, inverter-driven and multi-stage vapour compression.

Recent researches propose the integration of performance analysis to early stages of the design process in order to obtain the building´s best final performance (Kolarevric; Malkawi, 2005; Holzer, 2010; Oxman, 2007). Thus, choosing the appropriate set of solutions and digital tools to develop this task is of high complexity and responsibility.

Natural ventilation in building is a common way to ensure indoor air quality, thermal comfort in summer and reduce energy consumption due to air conditioning. However, efficiency of such a system is highly dependent on climatic conditions. In this paper we review the different ways to use natural ventilation in buildings and then we propose indicators to assess the potential of a site. The study focuses on the Mediterranean climate and especially the coastal zones, characterized by the occurrence of thermal breezes which can be used to improve natural cross ventilation.

Integrated building performance simulation (IBPS) provides an appropriate means to appraise the performance of low energy communities featuring cooperating technologies for demand management and low carbon heat/power delivery.

In this paper, dynamic simulation software (in this case, DesignBuilder) has been used to model and to simulate a typical 1960s UK social housing in order to examine the impact of retrofit, occupant behaviour and user lifestyle on energy pattern. In terms of retrofitting study, various energy efficiency measurements have been considered such as improving level of insulations and heating system’s efficiency. For the occupant behaviour influence study, three types of heating control patterns have been created such as ‘Constant On’, ‘NCM’ and ‘Programmed Heating Control’.

This paper describes and focuses on the applications of a new range of smart building products, particularly Integrated Building Technology (IBT) systems, with the aim to demonstrate savings for improving energy efficiency and indoor environments in buildings. A typical commercial office space has been modelled via dynamic computer simulation software, considering scenarios of before and after the installation of IBT systems. This has then been compared against different building regulations and standards e.g. UK Building Regulation 2006 and ASHRAE 90.1.