Simon Pallin

Probabilistic modeling of the indoor climates of residential buildings using EnergyPlus

The indoor air temperature and relative humidity in residential buildings significantly affect material moisture durability, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system performance, and occupant comfort. Therefore, indoor climate data are generally required to define boundary conditions in numerical models that evaluate envelope durability and equipment performance. However, indoor climate data obtained from field studies are influenced by weather, occupant behavior, and internal loads and are generally unrepresentative of the residential building stock. Likewise, whole-building simulation models typically neglect stochastic variables and yield deterministic results that are applicable to only a single home in a specific climate. The purpose of this study was to probabilistically model homes with the simulation engine EnergyPlus to generate indoor climate data that are widely applicable to residential buildings. Monte Carlo methods were used to perform 840,000 simulations on the Oak Ridge National Laboratory supercomputer (Titan) that accounted for stochastic variation in internal loads, air tightness, home size, and thermostat set points. The Effective Moisture Penetration Depth model was used to consider the effects of moisture buffering. The effects of location and building type on indoor climate were analyzed by evaluating six building types and 14 locations across the United States. The average monthly net indoor moisture supply values were calculated for each climate zone, and the distributions of indoor air temperature and relative humidity conditions were compared with ASHRAE 160 and EN 15026 design conditions. The indoor climate data will be incorporated into an online database tool to aid the building community in designing effective heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning systems and moisture durable building envelopes.

Hygrothermal simulations of foundations: Part 1: Soil material properties:

Deep basements, crawl spaces and slab on grade are typical foundations in residential buildings in North America. The foundation of a house is a somewhat invisible and at sometimes ignored component of the building. Appropriate foundation design and construction practice must not only include thermal performance, but also design for a durable and safe hygrothermal performance. A hygrothermal simulation tool can be used to evaluate and predict the hygrothermal behavior of an insulated foundation constructions, in cooperation with the surrounding soil. Though, further development of the tool might first be needed and validated to fulfill the prerequisites. Transient hygrothermal simulation tools have existed in Building Science for more than 20 years, but are mainly used for building envelope simulation above ground. A lot of knowledge already exists in Soil Science concerning the variation of the soil material properties in relation to soil texture, moisture content etc. However, Soil Science uses these properties for other purpose and with different modeling approaches, hence a conversion is needed. This paper studies the existing knowledge of soil properties, converted to apply for simulation in Building Science. Further, the soil properties are implemented in a transient hygrothermal simulation tool, studying the applicability for modeling soil temperature and moisture flow. Finally the results are compared with measurement and followed by a discussion of further investigations and development needed.

A rule-based expert system applied to moisture durability of building envelopes

The moisture durability of an envelope component such as a wall or roof is difficult to predict. Moisture durability depends on all the construction materials used, as well as the climate, orientation, air tightness, and indoor conditions. Modern building codes require more insulation and tighter construction but provide little guidance about how to ensure these energy-efficient assemblies remain moisture durable. Furthermore, as new products and materials are introduced, builders are increasingly uncertain about the long-term durability of their building envelope designs. Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the US Department of Energy’s Building America Program are applying a rule-based expert system methodology in a web tool to help designers determine whether a given wall design is likely to be moisture durable and provide expert guidance on moisture risk management specific to a wall design and climate. The expert system is populated with knowledge from both expert judgment and probabilistic hygrothermal simulation results.

Risk of Condensation in Mechanically Attached Roof Systems in Cold U.S. Climate Zones

Flat roofs have generally a high potential of nightly overcooling and therefore an increased risk of condensation within the construction, particularly in cold climate zones, depending on their specific assembly. A white exterior surface, so-called “cool roof”, applied to decrease cooling loads and to save energy, increases the condensation risk due to lower energy gains at day time. The nightly overcooling phenomena will be intensified and leads to much lower temperature at the exterior surface compared to a standard roof. Observations (Energy Design Update® 2006) show that the increased condensation risk may lead to moisture damage. There have been questions raised about the sustainability of using cool roof membranes in Northern US climate zones due to the potential of moisture accumulation below the membrane. Transient hygrothermal simulation using real climate data are state of the art today and can help to study different effects. Variations of several input parameter, such as short-wave absorptivity of the solar radiation, ventilation underneath the membrane with interior or exterior air, specific climate data, etc., show their influences on the moisture accumulation underneath the membrane of a typical mechanically attached roof systems for commercial buildings. Consequently, the most significant input parameter can be determined and used as additional criteria for a better design.