Evaluation of the Passive Cooling Potential of Thermal Mass Inherent in Medium to Large Commercial Buildings

Nelson, John; Henze, Gregor

doi:10.1061/(asce)ae.1943-5568.0000460

Evaluation of the Passive Cooling Potential of Thermal Mass Inherent in Medium to Large Commercial Buildings

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Journal of Architectural Engineering

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1061/(asce)ae.1943-5568.0000460· OSTI ID:1774874

Nelson, John ^[1]; ^[2]

Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Integral Group, Denver, CO (United States)
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Renewable and Sustainable Energy Inst., Boulder, CO (United States)

Typical commercial construction inherently contains large surface areas of relatively thin mass located in the floor slabs. This research asks how effective this mass could be for passive cooling, relative to other mass depths, if it were to be exposed and used as thermal mass. Although much of the rich literature on thermal mass has been conducted with far greater mass depths, a more limited amount of research suggests that because the surface heat transfer rate is limited, the focus should be on the surface area of exposed mass, not its depth. This presents an opportunity for more buildings to behave more thermally massively, if the mass inherent in typical floor slabs contains utility, particularly over diurnal cycles. In all climates analyzed, it was found that there is a pronounced shoulder where energy savings from passive cooling of increasing mass depths was steep until roughly 7.5–10 cm, and beyond this point the achieved energy savings diminished rapidly. When considering the embodied energy of concrete, the incremental benefit of added mass beyond a typical topping slab of 10 cm does not justify the incremental embodied energy cost from a total energy standpoint alone.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

OSTI ID:: 1774874

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA--5500-79654; MainId:35875; UUID:458d8fdd-d391-42a1-b2e7-8bf298e7db14; MainAdminID:21191

Journal Information:: Journal of Architectural Engineering, Journal Name: Journal of Architectural Engineering Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 27; ISSN 1076-0431

Publisher:: American Society of Civil EngineersCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
commercial buildings
energy efficiency
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Evaluation of the Passive Cooling Potential of Thermal Mass Inherent in Medium to Large Commercial Buildings

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