AR50354 BUILDING ENERGY MODELLING

IES COURSEWORK SUBMISSION JAPFIIO KAYINA 2011-12

1. INTRODUCTION
The building to be modelled is of an English and Drama building proposed to be built in Bath which comprises of three classrooms and a large performance space. The building is modelled completely in IES Virtual Environment and various performance parameters will be tested by running simulations with different settings. The Building bulletin 101 and Energy performance guide will be referred to extensively throughout the report. The present simulation does not take into account thermal bridging.

2. MODEL SET-UP
a) Views from two directions Figure 2a-1 shows the investigated building from the north-east showing the entrance to the building and the large glazed areas of the hall space. Figure 2a-2 shows a view from the south-west showing the classrooms. Clerestory windows are also clearly visible in both the views.

Figure 2a-1 View from north east

Figure 2a-2 View from south-west

b) Daily weekday occupancy and lighting profiles for classroom and hall

Figure 2b-1 Daily weekday occupancy profile for classroom

Figure 2b-2 Daily weekday occupancy profile for theatre Figure 2b-3 Daily weekday classroom lighting profile

Figure 2b-3 Daily weekday lighting profile for classroom

Figure 2b-4 Daily weekday lighting profile for theatre

c) Construction details used for walls, roof, floor and windows

Figure 2c-1 Summary of different types of constructions used in the building

Figure 2c-2 External wall construction details

Figure 2c-3 Internal wall partition details

Figure 2c-4 Roof construction details

Figure 2c-5 Floor construction details

Figure 2c-6 Window construction details

Figure 2c-7 Additional derived parameters for glazing

d) Room conditions, system, internal gains and air change settings for Classroom A

Figure 2d-1 Room conditions in Classroom A

Figure 2d-2 System settings in Classroom A

Figure 2d-3 Internal gains Lighting Classroom A

Figure 2d-4 Internal gains People in Classroom A

Figure 2d-5 Internal gains Computers in Classroom A

Figure 2d-6 Internal gains Whiteboard projector in Classroom A

Figure 1 Air exchange settings for Classroom A

e) Room Data and Internal gains settings for theatre

Figure 2e-1 Room data for theatre

Figure 2e-2 Internal gains - Lighting in Theatre

Figure 2e-3 Internal gains - People in theatre

f) Apache systems window showing building services used New Heating system

Figure 2f-1 Apache system settings for room heating

Figure 2f-2 Cooling set as natural ventilation

10

Figure 2f-4 UK NCM settings - Heating system

Figure 2f-3 Heating system - Auxiliary energy settings

Figure 2f-5 UK NCM settings - Ventilation

Hot water system

Figure 2f-6 Hot water system settings

Figure 2f-7 Auxiliary energy settings

11

g) Simulation setting window showing the options used for simulations

Figure 2g-1 Simulation settings used

The screen grab shows the use of weather file for Bristol and simulation timestep set to 2minutes,reporting every 10 minutes from 1st January to 31st December. h) If the thermal bridging for the project has a Y-value of 0.10w/m2K, the sum of this value and the present project U-value of a particular construction will give the target U-value of that construction. This may be repeated for any externally exposed construction to obtain the target U-value. To model this target U-value in IES, some realistic U-values may be entered for the different layers in a construction to ultimately reduce the U-value to target value.

3. ENERGY PERFORMANCE
a) Monthly breakdown of total energy consumption and CO2 emitted by the boiler, lighting, equipment and total for whole building.

Table 3a-1 Monthly breakdown of energy consumption by sectors in MWh

12

Table 3a-2 Monthly breakdown of carbon dioxide emissions by sector in kgCO2

b) Heating load as a function of internal air temperature and external temperature for first week in January in Classroom A

Figure 3b Graph showing heating load as a function of internal temperature and external temperature

c) Simulation 2 The thermal resistance of a material is a function of the thickness and the conductivity of the material. Considering the insulation layer to be homogeneous and its conductivity to be constant, an increase in the thickness of the insulation layer will increase the overall thermal resistance of the construction. Therefore, the thickness of the insulation layer is increased to achieve double the thermal resistance of the walls and roof as compared to the base case simulation. This simulation was named as Simulation 2.

13

d) Comparison of room heating load for the base case simulation and simulation 2

Figure 3d Room heating loads for the base case simulation and simulation 2 for classroom B in the first week of February

4. VENTILATION AND INTERNAL AIR QUALITY

a) Formula used to control the window opening on the daily profile

Figure 4a IES Screenshot showing formula for window opening

14

b) CO2 concentration for Classroom A in April

Figure 4b Graph showing the CO2 concentration in classroom A in base case simulation

In April, the CO2 concentration in Classroom A reaches a maximum of 1474 ppm while maintaining a mean value of 634ppm.

c) Volume of air exchange through windows on the south facade of Classroom A for the first full week in April

Figure 2 Graph showing volume of airflow through windows in l/s

15

d) Volume of air exchange through the clerestory windows in Classroom A for first weekm of April

Figure 4d Volume of air exchange through the clerestory windows

e)Comparison of CO2 concentration for classroom A in Base case simulation against simulation with clerestory windows closed for the first week of April

1500 ppm BB101 standards

Figure 4e Comparison of CO2 concentration with clerestory windows open and closed

Table 4e-1 CO2 concentration when clerestory windows are open

Table 4e-2 CO2 concentration when clerestory windows are closed

16

According to the recommended performance standards mentioned in Building bulletin 101, the average CO2 concentration should not exceed 1500ppm for any occupied time of the day. From Table 4e-2, it is evident that the peak CO2 concentration in Classroom A does not exceed the limits although it is evident from the Figure 4e that the slightly increases when the clerestory windows are closed. The difference in the peak CO2 level was marginal at about 62ppm while the mean CO2 concetration is well under performance limits in both cases. This implies that the openable clerestory windows may be value engineered out to decrease sohphistication in building management systems and cost implications. The clerestory windows may however be used as fixed window lights for daylighting purposes.

5. SUMMERTIME OVERHEATING
The Building Bulletin 101 prescribes 3 conditions out of which a minimum of two should be met for compliance with Approved document L2 for teaching and learning areas inorder to avoid overheating during 1st May and 30th September. The conditions are: a) There should be no more than 120 hours when the air temperature in the classroom rises above 28C b) The average internal to external temperature difference should not exceed 5C (i.e. the internal air temperature should be no more than 5C above the external air temperature on average) c) The internal air temperature when the space is occupied should not exceed 32C. Base case simulation results for investigated building Investigation 1:

Figure 5a-1 Number of hours when internal air temperature exceeds 28C

17

Investigation 2:

Table 5a-1 Difference in internal and external air temperature

Table 5a-1 shows the different temperatures at different times of the day on 1st May at varying external temperatures. It can be deduced that the internal temperature exceeds the external temperature by more than 5C in most period of the day. This pattern continues for other months of . the period that is mentioned in the Building bulletin. Investigation 3:

Figure 5a-2 Number of hours when temperature exceeds 32C

18

Space
Classroom A Classroom B Classroom C Theatre

Condition 1

Condition 2

Condition 3

Approved L compliant

Table 5a-2 Demonstration of compliance to requirements by Building Bulletin 101

b) Maximum temperatures in classrooms and theatre.

Table 5b-1 Maximum temperatures of classrooms and theatre occurring within the time period considered by BB101

c) Proposal to reduce internal temperatures (Simulation 4)

Figure 5c-1 View of south facade with external shading on classroom windows

The application of external horizontal shading device above the classroom windows can bring down the internal temperatures to acceptable levels. In this particular simulation 4, the designed shading devices project from the wall surface by 1m and are of a thickness of
Figure 5c-2 Close up view of external shading

19

0.05m, at the top of the window. Additional vertical shading devices projecting 0.5m from the wall surface are also modelled in IES to investigate its effect on the internal temperatures. Although the main contributing factor in this case is the horizontal shading, the vertical shading devices are left for further investigation in glare reduction at a later section. d) Results of simulation 4 with external shading devices Investigation 1

Figure5d-1 Reduced number of hours exceeding 28C

Investigation 2 Comparison of Simulation 4 and base case

Figure 5d-2 Zero number of hours exceeding 32 C

20

Investigation 3 Maximum and mean temperatures

Figure 5d-3 Reduction in maximum and mean temperatures

Improvements and compliance to BB101 standards

Space
Classroom A Classroom B Classroom C Theatre

Condition 1

Condition 2

Condition 3

Approved L compliant

Figure 5d-4 Demonstration of compliance to BB101 standards after alteration to design

6. POTENTIAL GLARE AND SHADING The following sets of images show the pattern of direct sunlight penetrating into the interiors of a typical classroom at morning, midday and afternoon throughout the different months of the year. One single day, i.e. 15th of each month has been considered for this. Month Morning 9:00 Mid-day 12:00 Afternoon 15:00

January

February

21

March

April

May

June

July

22

August

September

October

November

December

23

b) Potential times and locations for glare For this simulation, a local shade was drawn in each of the classrooms at a height of 0.80m to represent the working plane of the student desks. The lighter tint of yellow in the images represent the sunlight falling on the working plane. More area of the yellow signifies more surface area which has direct sunlight incident on it. The potential for glare on the students desks is, maximum during the winter months when the sun angle is low. This is caused by the deeper penetration of direct sunlight into the rooms. It is evident that, in January, February, November and December, sunlight penetrates up to a 50% depth of the room from 9am to 3am. This is admitted through the windows on the south faade. The level of sunlight penetration significantly reduces once the summer months approach. The potential for glare is minimum during the months of June and July when the sun angle is high. Throughout the working hours, there is high potential for glare for students seated near the windows throughout the year. This problem gets worse during the winter months as mentioned earlier. On the other hand, there is reasonably lower risk for glare for students seated away from the windows. c) Design recommendations to mitigate glare In Figure 5c-2, the application of vertical shading devices slightly mitigates the risk for glare on the working plane. This is evident in the set of images below in the slimming of the beams of light entering the room. The following images are simulated for 15 th January, taken as an example in this case, as the risks are highest in the winter months. 9:00 12:00 15:00

January

Although this design recommendation may work in other cases, locations or design features, it is not very successful in this case because of the sun angle being very low. In this type of situation, it may be preferable to consider the use of controllable internal shading devices such as venetian blinds.

24

7. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS a) Summary of performance of base design Energy consumption

The following table is from Energy Consumption guide 73, and it gives the benchmarks for energy consumption (calculated from 1997 survey).

Figure 7a-1 Energy consumption benchmarks

Figure 7a-2 Breakdown of energy usage in building

25

The investigated building covers a total area of 456m2. The electricity consumption per square meter of floor area is 59.552 kWh/m2. Thus, the electricity consumption of the building is over two times higher than the energy consumption benchmark for a secondary school (refer Figure 7a-1). The natural gas consumption is 77.495 kWh/m2. In this case, the energy consumption is almost half of the benchmark standards. Although the hot water heating demands may be normal, the high energy electricity consumption may be because of the lighting fixtures that are on throughout the occupied periods regardless of illumination from natural day lighting. Additionally, the computers, whiteboard projectors and other accessories which are on throughout the day add up to the high electricity consumption. This may be reduced by developing a new pattern of energy usage which uses energy only when it is absolutely required especially in the case of electrical equipment and lighting fixtures. The possibility of natural day lighting should also be realised and exploited. Internal air quality and ventilation regimes

The following study on performance of the building in terms of air quality and ventilation is based on the standards given in Building bulletin 101.

8l/s per person 5l/s per person 3l/s per person

The minimum requirement of supply of external air ventilation rate of 3 l/s per person is met in all cases in all the spaces. The daily average requirement of 5 l/s per person is also met throughout the year in all the spaces. However, the capability to achieve 8 l/s per person at any occupied time is not achieved in many situations. This is particularly worse during the summer months and in the theatre. The capacity of 8l/s per person however, is a recommendation and not a necessity. Therefore, it is safe to say that the building is acceptable in terms of the ventilation rate provided.
26

The building bulletin 101 also mandates keeping the CO2 concentration in all occupied spaces to be below 1500ppm at any occupied time. This is achieved in all the classrooms and the average CO2 concentration is kept low at most times making it acceptable. On the other hand, the theatre shows high maximum concentration of CO2 at some selected periods of the year which is unacceptable. This may be amended by providing higher ventilation rates in the theatre with the use of fans to assist the flow of air. The number of fans to be used and placement will be critical to find a balance with energy consumption.

Summertime Overheating

As discussed in section 5 of the report, the building passes the first condition of maintaining less than 120 hours where air temperature was more than 28C. However, it fails on the remaining two conditions. Thus, according to Building bulletin 101, the building at the base case simulation stage is not acceptable in terms of summertime overheating. The use of external shading devices improved the performance in subsequent simulations. Direct solar penetration using Suncast

The Suncast studies showed high levels of direct solar penetration in the classrooms during winter months. This presented high risks of glare discomfort at the working plane. This could be amended to a small extent by the use of vertical shading. However, other options such as the use of internal shading devices such as blinds are recommended. b) Recommendations for improvement on energy performance For overall improvement on energy performance of the building, a few of the recommendations that can be pointed out are : Exploration in effective usage of thermal mass can effectively reduce both heating and cooling loads. An increase in suitable thermal mass would reduce the U-value of the constructions and thereby reduce energy consumption. The building is currently oriented in the E-W direction on the longer side. This faces the south faade of the building to face the sunlight directly incident on it. A slight shift in orientation can reduce overall energy consumption by reducing cooling loads. The current usage pattern of electricity especially regarding lighting and equipment is wasteful in the sense that it is on throughout the day with disregard to daylighting and illumination levels. A change in the usage pattern for use only when it is absolutely necessary can but energy use.

27

The glazing ratio in the north faade of the theatre is very high and is observed in the way that the theatre is overheating in many cases as mentioned in previous sections. Therefore, a lower glazing ratio should be devised to reduce overheating and cooling loads.

REFERENCES
(1997). Energy Consumption Guide 73 : Saving energy in schools. Watford: BRECSU. (2006). Building Bulletin 101:Ventilation of school buildings. Carbon Trust. (2007). Schools : Learning to improve energy efficiency. Retrieved April 1, 2012, from http://www.kingston.gov.uk/learning_to_improve_efficiency_in_schools CIBSE Guide B :Ventilation, Air conditioning and acoustics. (n.d.). Watford: BRE. NBS. (2010). Approved Document Part F, Ventilation: Means of Ventilation. NBS.

28