Night ventilation control strategies in office buildings

Journal Article · Thu Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2009 · Solar Energy

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/J.SOLENER.2009.07.003· OSTI ID:21227423

Wang, Zhaojun; Yi, Lingli; Gao, Fusheng ^[1]

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1. School of Municipal and Environmental Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090 (China)

In moderate climates night ventilation is an effective and energy-efficient approach to improve the indoor thermal environment for office buildings during the summer months, especially for heavyweight construction. However, is night ventilation a suitable strategy for office buildings with lightweight construction located in cold climates? In order to answer this question, the whole energy-consumption analysis software EnergyPlus was used to simulate the indoor thermal environment and energy consumption in typical office buildings with night mechanical ventilation in three cities in northern China. The summer outdoor climate data was analyzed, and three typical design days were chosen. The most important factors influencing night ventilation performance such as ventilation rates, ventilation duration, building mass and climatic conditions were evaluated. When night ventilation operation time is closer to active cooling time, the efficiency of night ventilation is higher. With night ventilation rate of 10 ach, the mean radiant temperature of the indoor surface decreased by up to 3.9 C. The longer the duration of operation, the more efficient the night ventilation strategy becomes. The control strategies for three locations are given in the paper. Based on the optimized strategies, the operation consumption and fees are calculated. The results show that more energy is saved in office buildings cooled by a night ventilation system in northern China than ones that do not employ this strategy. (author)

• OSTI ID: 21227423
• Journal Information: Solar Energy, Journal Name: Solar Energy Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 83; ISSN 0038-092X; ISSN SRENA4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
CHINA
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CONTROL
Control strategy
E CODES
ENERGY CONSUMPTION
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
ENVIRONMENT
INDOORS
MASS
Mechanical night ventilation
OFFICE BUILDINGS
OPERATION
PERFORMANCE
TIME DEPENDENCE
URBAN AREAS
VENTILATION
VENTILATION SYSTEMS