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Building Simulation 2017, 10(4): 497-507 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-017-0349-0
Research Article | Issue | Published: 10 February 2017

Assessing dynamic efficiency of air curtain in reducing whole building annual energy usage

Show Author's Information Sherif Goubran,  Dahai Qi,  Liangzhu (Leon) Wang( )
Centre for Zero Energy Building Studies, Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Montreal, Quebec, H3G 1M8, Canada
Keywords:
infiltration, efficiency factor, air curtain, whole building energy simulation
Cite this article:
Goubran S, Qi D, Wang L(. Assessing dynamic efficiency of air curtain in reducing whole building annual energy usage. Building Simulation, 2017, 10(4): 497-507. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-017-0349-0
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Abstract Full text About this article

The efficiency of air curtain in reducing infiltration and associated energy usage is currently evaluated statically by using an efficiency factor, ηair, based on single steady/static condition, which is often not the case for actual buildings under variable weather conditions and door usages. Based on a new method to consider these dynamic effects on air curtains, this study uses a dynamic efficiency factor ηB in terms of whole building site end-use energy to assess the efficiency of air curtains when compared to single doors (i.e. without air curtains) and vestibule doors. Annual energy simulations were conducted for two reference building models considering their specific door usage schedules in 16 climate zone locations in the North America. The variations of the proposed efficiency factor for different climate zones illustrated the dynamic impacts of weather, building, unit fan energy and door usage frequency on air curtain efficiency. A sensitivity study was also conducted for the operation temperature conditions of air curtain and showed that ηB also considers these operational conditions. It was thus concluded that using whole building site end-use energy to calculate the efficiency factor, ηB, can provide more realistic estimates of the performance of air curtains operations in buildings than the existing static efficiency factor.


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About this article

Assessing dynamic efficiency of air curtain in reducing whole building annual energy usage

Show Author's information Sherif Goubran, Dahai Qi, Liangzhu (Leon) Wang( )
Centre for Zero Energy Building Studies, Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, 1455 de Maisonneuve Blvd. West, Montreal, Quebec, H3G 1M8, Canada

Abstract

The efficiency of air curtain in reducing infiltration and associated energy usage is currently evaluated statically by using an efficiency factor, ηair, based on single steady/static condition, which is often not the case for actual buildings under variable weather conditions and door usages. Based on a new method to consider these dynamic effects on air curtains, this study uses a dynamic efficiency factor ηB in terms of whole building site end-use energy to assess the efficiency of air curtains when compared to single doors (i.e. without air curtains) and vestibule doors. Annual energy simulations were conducted for two reference building models considering their specific door usage schedules in 16 climate zone locations in the North America. The variations of the proposed efficiency factor for different climate zones illustrated the dynamic impacts of weather, building, unit fan energy and door usage frequency on air curtain efficiency. A sensitivity study was also conducted for the operation temperature conditions of air curtain and showed that ηB also considers these operational conditions. It was thus concluded that using whole building site end-use energy to calculate the efficiency factor, ηB, can provide more realistic estimates of the performance of air curtains operations in buildings than the existing static efficiency factor.

Keywords: infiltration, efficiency factor, air curtain, whole building energy simulation

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Publication history
Copyright
Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 18 October 2016
Revised: 27 December 2016
Accepted: 03 January 2017
Published: 10 February 2017
Issue date: August 2017

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial and technical support from the Air Management and Control Association (AMCA), Mars Air Systems, Berner International, Powered Aire and Inter Code Incorporated. The authors would also like thank Mrs. Bing Liu and Mr. Rahul Athalye at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) for answering various inquiries regarding energy modeling and DOE reference building models’ details.

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