The selection Selecting the right of a thermal comfort model for establishing optimal indoor optimal hygrothermal conditions during the hot period has a major impact on energy consumption of Net Zero Energy Buildings in hot climates. The objective of this paper is to compare the influence of using different thermal comfort models for zero energy buildings in hot climates. The paper compares the...

For Nonlinear Model Predictive Control (NMPC) to be implemented in real application, data driven models are advantageous since they can be easily constructed and are relatively fast, compared to first principle based models (simplified calculation [ISO 13790], dynamic simulation [EnergyPlus, ESP-r, TRNSYS, etc.], state space models, etc.). Gaussian Process Model (GPM), one of the data-driven ap...

Traditional dynamic shading systems are usually driven by electricity for continuously controlling the angle of blind slats to minimize the indoor solar heat gain over times. This paper proposed a novel design of buoyancy driven dynamic shading system, using only minimum amount of electricity. The energy performance and the improved thermal comfort induced by the system were simulated by Energy...

Recent advances in computing and sensor technologies have pushed the amount of data we collect or generate to limits previously unheard of. This paper focuses on the big data challenges that building modeling experts may face in data collected from a large array of sensors, or generated from running a large number of building energy/performance simulations. A case study is presented that highli...

Due to increasing pressure to reduce the energy demand in buildings, thermochromic thin film based glazing has become a recognized potential solution due to the intrinsic ability to modulate the solar heat gain of a window as a function of the materials temperature. These “intelligent” glazings have been investigated for several years, and it has been found that, through variation of synthetic ...

Several studies have highlighted the significant disparities between the predicted performance of new buildings and their post occupancy measured performance. Occupant window opening behaviour has been shown to have a significant impact on both classroom indoor air quality and building energy use; and is currently poorly represented in building simulation tools. A post occupancy assessment of a...

Cold formed steel-framed constructions have been strongly disseminated with particular emphasis on the residential sector due to their fast execution, quality control and final cost. However, this construction typology presents a weakness associated with a low thermal inertia and a consequential risk of overheating. The present research addresses the overheating rate reduction of a cold formed ...

As established by the recast of the European Union (EU) Directive on Energy Performance of Buildings (EPBD), all new buildings have to be nearly zero energy buildings (nZEBs) by the end of 2020. However, reaching this result considering cost-optimality is still an open challenge. Balancing renewable power generation with energy efficiency to reach the nZEB target is a key goal of all EU Member ...

Choosing the optimal combination of building components that minimize investment and operational costs is a topic of great importance in the building simulation community. Optimization using simulation tools, i.e., EnergyPlus, becomes computationally expensive for traditional search approaches. An additional challenge is the complexity of the input parameter space, which is usually very large a...

In building retrofit projects, dynamic simulations are performed to simulate building performance. Uncertainty may negatively affect model calibration and predicted lighting energy savings, which increases the chance of default on performance-based contracts. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to develop a simulation-based method that can analyze lighting performance risk in lighting retrofit ...