Simulation-based coefficients for adjusting climate impact on energy consumption of commercial buildings

Na Wang; Atefe Makhmalbaf; Viraj Srivastava; John E Hathaway

doi:10.1007/s12273-016-0332-1

Building Simulation 2017, 10(3): 309-322 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-016-0332-1

Research Article | Issue | Published: 23 November 2016

Simulation-based coefficients for adjusting climate impact on energy consumption of commercial buildings

Show Author's Information Hide Author's Information Na Wang^¹(

), Atefe Makhmalbaf^¹, Viraj Srivastava^¹, John E Hathaway^²

1Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd, Richland, WA 99354, USA

2Brigham Young University–Idaho, Rexburg, ID 83460, USA

Keywords:

energy efficiency, commercial buildings, energy simulation, asset rating, climate normalization

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Wang N, Makhmalbaf A, Srivastava V, et al. Simulation-based coefficients for adjusting climate impact on energy consumption of commercial buildings. Building Simulation, 2017, 10(3): 309-322. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-016-0332-1

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Abstract Full text About this article

Abstract

This paper presents a new technique for and the results of normalizing building energy consumption to enable a fair comparison among various types of buildings located near different weather stations across the United States. The method was developed for the U.S. Building Energy Asset Score, a whole-building energy efficiency rating system focusing on building envelope, mechanical systems, and lighting systems. The Asset Score is based on simulated energy use under standard operating conditions. Existing weather normalization methods such as those based on heating and cooling degrees days are not robust enough to adjust all climatic factors such as humidity and solar radiation. In this work, over 1000 sets of climate coefficients were developed to separately adjust building heating, cooling, and fan energy use at each weather station in the United States. This paper also presents a robust, standardized weather station mapping based on climate similarity rather than choosing the closest weather station. This proposed simulated-based climate adjustment was validated through testing on several hundreds of thousands of modeled buildings. Results indicated the developed climate coefficients can adjust the climate variations to enable a fair comparison of building energy efficiency.

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Simulation-based coefficients for adjusting climate impact on energy consumption of commercial buildings

Show Author's information Hide Author's Information Na Wang^¹(

), Atefe Makhmalbaf^¹, Viraj Srivastava^¹, John E Hathaway^²

1Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 902 Battelle Blvd, Richland, WA 99354, USA

2Brigham Young University–Idaho, Rexburg, ID 83460, USA

Abstract

Keywords: energy efficiency, commercial buildings, energy simulation, asset rating, climate normalization

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Publication history

Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 11 May 2016

Revised: 20 August 2016

Accepted: 19 October 2016

Published: 23 November 2016

Issue date: June 2017

Copyright

Acknowledgements

This project is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Building Technologies Office. The authors would like to thank Joan Glickman and Andrew Burr at the U.S. Department of Energy for their support and guidance throughout this effort. In addition, the authors would like to thank the Building Energy Asset Score team members at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and our collaborators at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.