Calculation method of energy consumption for intermittent space heating

In order to optimise new buildings designers need calculation methods which help them to assess the effect of design choice on energy consumption and expenses. AICVF the French association of heating, ventilation and air conditioning engineers proposes guidelines presenting different types of methods to assess energy consumption for all energy uses. In particular, one of these methods developed by CSTB and AICVF takes account of intermittent space heating and enables the calculation of monthly energy requirements and expenses. This method will be used to choose between different solutions during the project design stage, to verify that the building fulfils the requirements of future French thermal regulation on non-residential sectors. This method includes a simplified dynamic calculation of the temperature changes in the building. It takes into consideration the characteristics of the heating system and its control. This evolution is calculated by using a simple dynamic first order model. The input data is very simple: for the building (global U-value, thermal inertia class), for the climate (monthly external temperatures average and range total monthly solar radiation) and for the occupancy (internal set-point temperature, average internal gains). CSTB has proposed this model which is inspired by pr EN 832. From 1993 until 1996 an AICVF working group has compared the results of the method with 4 dynamic models (DOE-2, TRNSYS, TAS and ALLAN). The paper presents: - the method itself with its main hypothesis and input data - results of its application.