Simulating combined heat and moisture transfer with EnergyPlus: an uncertainty study and comparison with experimental data

This article presents a comparison between experimental and numerical results in terms of coupled hygrothermal behavior. The measurements were taken on an experimental wooden-frame house located in France. Several sensors were installed in the room and in several locations inside the walls. The external climate was measured as well. Numerical simulations were performed with the EnergyPlus tool and its algorithm for combined heat and moisture transfer, available since September 2011. First, the simulated and measured values were compared for temperature and humidity in the walls. Then the most influential parameters were obtained using a global sensitivity analysis. This method classifies the impact of parameters in a model that contains many factors with a relatively small number of simulations. As a second step, an optimization analysis was performed to determine the optimal value of the most important parameters within the corresponding uncertainty band. Finally, an uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo simulations was performed in order to complement the simulation results with uncertainty bands. A total of 1000 simulations were run to obtain a satisfactory result.