2022 Building Performance Analysis Conference and SimBuild – Special Issue

Abstract

This session introduces recent advances in daylighting analysis and design technologies. First, we consider a novel computational workflow to customize illuminance ranges and select target areas to examine local light levels in residential applications. Then, we explore the ability of vectorized computer languages to increase the speed of annual daylighting calculations. Finally, we show how parametric iterative algorithms can be used to design prismatic skylights that optimize useful daylight, glare reduction, and energy consumption. 1. This session will be an interactive exploration of climate change, carbon removal, energy use, and indoor air quality in the built environment. Through a participatory framework using a software tool to help facilitate conversation, we will simulate a methodology for assessing risks in the built environment, identifying pain points of building owners and occupants, and developing a novel solution for the identified energy, indoor air quality, and climate adaptation challenges. A technical background will be provided at the start of the session and then a series of questions will be asked to guide participants through the simulated product development experience. Modelling of existing buildings presents unique challenges which can differ quite substantially from one building to the next depending on many technical and non-technical factors. This session covers two tools for assessing existing buildings as well as one unique case study of a historic museum. The first tool discussed is focused on retrofitting opportunities for small to medium commercial buildings while the second is focused on rapid modelling for ESG assessments. The museum case study presents the use of specialized simulation techniques to solve the specific challenges facing the museum. This session presents three studies that use advanced simulation and analysis techniques to assess the impacts of the built environment on human occupants. The first presentation investigates the variation of temperature across time and across space in single family residences and its impact on thermal comfort. This is followed by a study of the impact of thermal conditions on sleep for older occupants. The final presentation considers the impact on occupant behavior patterns of simulated building performance metrics. This session discusses the role future weather, climate and other extreme climate events play in decisions concerning the nexus between energy efficiency, resiliency, and load flexibility. The first presentation discusses optimization approaches for building envelope to account for future climatic demands. The next presentation discusses the development of a simplified battery storage sizing tool to estimate storage needs for homes operating off-grid. The session discusses the importance of a stochastic model of future weather conditions, so that dynamics between resilience metrics and efficiency metrics can be fairly assessed. The final presentation evaluates the passive survivability under extreme weather events. This session starts with discussing a new tool that assists designers by integrating commercial building energy surveys, recent ASHRAE research, and comparative analysis of historical vs. future weather data. This session also covers the predictability of future occupant presence based on collected occupancy sensor data, as well as the impact of tangential costs (repairing damaged interior finishes as part of a fenestration replacement project, e.g.) on results of Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA). The session concludes with a discussion of balancing simulation precision and detail with efficiency and profit margins via benchmarking, simplified analysis, and isolated test models. This seminar introduces recent efforts in developing open source modeling tools for district energy systems based on URBANopt and Modelica Buildings library, which is a joint effort of NREL, LBNL and Penn State. We will introduce new Modelica models for steam-based district heating system and future low carbon systems. Then we will discuss the integration of URBANopt and Modelica. We will also demonstrate the usage of such tool with some real-world examples. this session discuss several strategies evaluated for the City of to reduce residential heating loads, natural ventilation as a passive technology and shows two data-driven advanced control designs for natural ventilation, integrating algae photobioreactors into facades, to act as a passive HVAC system, and recover the heat generated by the system for space heating. Also presented are façade-integrated photovoltaics and an evaluation of different configurations which can impact the efficiency of the system as well as an innovative wall component integrating the flexible PV panels with the wall insulation system. Flexible Photovoltaic This session covers various topics related to large-scale residential building analysis and validation of modeling results using empirical data. The first speaker covers a large-scale simulation methodology which evaluated the impact of trade-offs on building envelope performance. The second presentation introduces a methodology for using empirical data for residential buildings to validate predicated energy use results. Next, a random forest machine learning model to predict envelope assembly characteristics for existing buildings is presented. The final presentation evaluates the effects of a new daylighting system on the thermal and electric load of a typical office building. How can we best choreograph the many moving parts of building systems for greatest efficiency or effectiveness? This session explores new integrations of coordinated space heating systems, the optimization of fire prevention systems, and the development and application of an extensive new end use load profile database. This session is a follow-up to our 2021 ASHRAE BPAC session: 30-yr GHG Forecasts Using Marginal and Average Emissions, where we sought to optimize office building design for minimal operational carbon by employing strategies including electrification, onsite renewables, and battery storage. This session will focus on analyzing multifamily buildings’ lifetime emissions using NREL’s hourly Cambium data and design optimization using the same intervention strategies. We will discuss updates to the Cambium data, which now includes upstream methane, and the impact on the previous results. We will also analyze the mechanical systems’ refrigerants and their Scope 1 emissions. Urban scale and building stock simulations present the challenge of representing many buildings through a much smaller number of models. First, authors share how building type can be inferred from utility-provided energy use data. Then, they evaluate how well common data-driven black-box models work for regulatory calculations to support policy making. Next, speakers identify comparable variables in urban scale models that correlate inputs with results. Using Manhattan as a case study, we share a framework for renewable energy-based urban planning. Finally, the authors examine how optimal control of battery sizes can promote equity in energy access. Building performance depends on not only how the building is designed but also how the building is operated. In this regard, it is important to improve building operational performance by optimal controls, automatic fault detection and diagnosis, and machine learning. The first three papers cover input data uncertainty, sensor faults and the use of collected data for optimal building controls. The fourth paper investigates the dual fuel heat pump controls for energy and cost savings in residential buildings. Finally, the 5 th paper presents the optimal demand response control for heat pump water heaters. systems and address common missteps regarding building envelope performance values for energy models. . Specifically, we will review fenestration and spandrel U-factor calculations, envelope thermal bridges and thermal comfort, mechanical system impact on surface condensation, and review envelope air leakage assumptions. The seminar includes case studies to provide practical examples of each topic. This session covers several topics including CFD for grow houses, inequities in building energy use, lighting for demand response, and strategies for balancing IAQ and energy consumption. The first presentation introduces an approach using CFD to optimize grow house designs for plant growth. The second is a review of recent research on inequities in building energy use and guidance for how professionals can drive change. The third outlines the potential for using lighting as a distributed energy resource via demand response signals. The fourth is an evaluation of different contaminant removal strategies balancing indoor air quality and energy consumption. With air-conditioning, and for many, that means packing an extra sweater to keep the goosebumps at bay. Winter can be equally challenging, as people in cold climates swelter in offices warmed to a toasty 72F. Is it possible that the ASHRAE 55 standard comfort zone is due for an update? The urgency of addressing climate change, the high energy consumption of space heating and cooling and the limited research base supporting the standard comfort zone suggest that, perhaps, it could be. In this debate, we’ll hear experts in the field debate the resolution. This session includes three papers which cover diverse but highly interesting topic. This session starts off with a presentation which explores visual comfort and daylight performance of an office building through metrics including sDA and ASE. The next presentation in this session evaluates how algae bio-reactive building envelopes can regulate a building’s natural lighting and demonstrates the significance of self-adaptive shading to a building’s heat gain and energy savings. The final presentation in this session introduces climate adaptive opaque bui