Lecture 12: Building

Technology and Strategies

for Sustainability

Material prepared by GARD Analytics, Inc. and University of Illinois

at Urbana-Champaign under contract to the National Renewable Energy
Laboratory. All material Copyright 2002-2003 U.S.D.O.E. - All rights
reserved

Importance of this Lecture to

the Simulation of Buildings
Energy consumption of buildings (heating,

cooling, and lights) is a significant fraction

of energy consumption worldwide
Many energy sources are finite so we must
slow down energy consumption as much
as possible
Simulation can help reduce energy
consumption by modeling various
strategies before they are built thus
minimizing energy costs
Knowledge of various techniques for
sustainable design and what can be
simulated is crucial

Purpose of this Lecture

Gain an understanding of:

Some basic strategies for reducing

the energy cost of buildings

Various technology solutions that are

currently available

A few green capabilities of

EnergyPlus

General Strategies for

Reducing Building Heating
and Cooling
Non-mechanical system approach

Should always try to minimize heating and

cooling requirements first

Mechanical system efficiency important also

Building Envelope: Insulation and/or

Isolation
Solar Strategies (Passive Heating)
Alternate Cooling Strategies

Building Envelope: Insulation

and/or Isolation
Goal: Attempt to minimize the adverse

effects of the environment on a building

Note: effect of environment is always changing

Note: in some cases (e.g., temperate/mild
climates and high internally loaded buildings),
we may want to maximize impact of
environment because it is beneficial (Climate
Specific Strategies)

Adjust volume to exterior area ratio

Volume/living space desirable (maximize
volume)
Minimizing exterior surface area (usually) since
it affects conduction, convection, and radiation

Building Envelope: Change

Wall Construction
Reduce conduction by adding insulation

Conduction (q=AT/R)increase in R decreases q

Note differences in R-values of various exterior surfaces
and their relative areas
Windows vs. walls: windows generally have a lower R-value
Walls vs. roofs: building shape determines where to focus

attention

Consider the possibility of movable insulation for

various surfaces

Potentially reduce conduction by adding thermal mass

Interior internal mass damps various short term

effects, reducing or shifting conditioning needs
Exterior thermal mass delays impact of exterior
temperature swings, may send some/much of effect
back to exterior side
Thermal mass discussed in more detail later in this
lecture

Building Envelope: Change

Exterior Boundary Conditions
Create a local micro-climate
Air vs. ground temperature
Ground can be a thermal mass and insulator
Air temperature changes more extreme (harm
or help?)
Modification of air temperature using site
water resources (evaporative cooling to reduce
local air temperature)
Wind exposure
Use of vegetation as wind breaks in winter
(evergreens on north sidelocation specific)
Allow air movement for cooling?
Note surroundings and impact on air
movement around building
Surface properties

Solar Radiation: Light and

Heat
General concepts

Use solar energy when heating required, avoid it

when cooling is required

Sun angles (particularly altitude) can vary with

time of yearthis can work to our advantage

Solar adds heat and light, but only during the

day

Orientation of openings (windows) critical to the

success of the design; in general:
Maximize southern exposure
Minimize east/west exposure

Solar Radiation: Light and

Heat (contd)
Passive solar increasingly important

in design

A definition: a system that collects,

stores, and redistributes solar energy
without the use of fans, pumps, or
complex controllers (Lechner)
Lower first costs than active solar
systems because they are part of the
building rather than an additional
syste
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Solar Radiation: Light and

Heat (contd)
Using Direct Solar Gain (Windows)
Utilize the greenhouse effect of windows which allow
solar radiation to be transmitted but block most
thermal radiation
Benefit is maximized with south facing windows
Low winter sun more directly impacts this direction
High summer sun has little effect on south

windows, can be easily shaded

Potential for overheating during the day and

underheating at night
Thermal mass (interior) helps reduce this effect
Need to exercise caution about thermal mass color

and location relative to insulators such as carpet,

furniture, etc.

Direct gain easy to provide but there are

limitsincreasing windows to increase gain also
increases heat loss through windows (at night) or heat
gain when undesirable (in summer)

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Solar Radiation: Systems

Trombe Wall Systems (more details later in

this lecture)
Sunspaces (more details later in this

lecture)
Transpired Solar Collector

Perforated metal wall covering

Solar energy heats up wall

Fan assists in drawing air through panels

Panels reject heat to air, heating the air before

introduction into building

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Solar Radiation: Shading

Attempt to block solar radiation from impacting the

building during cooling season

Devices can be:

Natural or constructed
Fixed or variable (trees of differing types, movable
shades, etc.)
Opaque or somewhat transparent
Indoor or outdoor

Categories/characteristics

Overhangpanels or louvers, can be rotated

Fins/wingspanel(s), slanted or rotating
Eggcratereduced depth combined overhang/fin,
slanted or rotating
Roller shades/awnings
Trees/vinesfree standing, trellis, attached

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Solar Radiation: General

Shading Guidelines
Exterior shading more efficient, but weather can take its toll

on mechanized variable systems that are outdoors

South windows

Easiest to shade, overhangs very effective

Fins may be needed for early morning, late afternoon
Trees typically not much help to the south

East/west windows

Difficult to shade due to low altitude angles

Fins (slanted) more effective or eggcrates

Trees best on the east, west, southeast, and southwest (northern

hemisphere)
North windows

Little shading required

Desirable and even diffuse daylight
Fins typically enough, if needed at all

Skylights can be problematic

Potential for leaks is greater

Solar/light gain maximized at wrong time of year (summer)

Can be more difficult to shade

Other orientations may require combination solutions

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Alternate Cooling Techniques:

Air Movement
Ventilation

Comfort ventilation: increase comfort by

increasing air flow rates with the building
Night purge ventilation: ventilate (naturally or
mechanically) at night when the outside air
temperature is presumably cooler than inside

Technology

Windows (various types of openings)

Cool Towers (Down Draft Coolers)
Thermal Chimney

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Alternate Cooling Techniques:

Roof Cooling
Basic concept: block solar radiation during the day, then

take advantage of radiation to cold sky during the night

(clouds will significantly decrease nighttime performance)
Roof Pond

Simply a layer of water contained on a flat roof or

containers of water
Daytime operation
Pond is covered with insulation to deflect solar heat and

reduce connection to outside environment

Thermal mass of water soaks up heat from the interior
space

Nighttime operation
Pond is left uncovered to reject heat from water to outside

environment
Heat is rejected via convection to surrounding air and to
sky via radiation
Cycle can be reversed in winter to provide a Trombe Wall
type roofing system

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Roof Pond: Drawbacks

Added cost of system and

extra maintenance
Movable insulation systems

are typically not very

successful
Concerns about leaks

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Alternate Cooling Techniques:

Roof Radiator
Similar in concept to roof pond, but replaces

water and movable insulation with a metal

deck that is elevated above the roof

Can use interior movable insulation with a

closed deck
Can be fan assisted with an open deck

Can be used as a heating system in winter if

solar energy is trapped between metal deck

and roof

Hot air is then circulated to interior spaces

Drawbacks
Added costs of roof deck
Reliability/longevity of movable insulation

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Roof Radiator: Cooling

Operation
Daytime operation
Metal panel reflects a portion of the
solar radiation
Insulation blocks heat transfer to
building interior
Or ventilation air reduces heat transfer
from roof deck to actual roof
Nighttime operation
Roof radiates heat to sky
Roof temperature may be low enough
to actually cool outside air even further

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Earth Coupling: Direct Earth

Coupling
Underground or berms
Ground temperatures can be lower

than outside air, making this a good

heat sink
Concerns about winter may require

insulation of ground and/or building

surfaces in contact with ground
Potential moisture problems

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Earth Coupling: Indirect Earth

Coupling
Buried supply air tubes
Inlet air diverted through pipes that are buried
Air is cooled by the cooler ground, providing
some free cooling
Pipes must be buried significantly deep
Maintenance and moisture issues
Ground micro-climate change using

evaporation

Cool the ground surrounding a building using

evaporation
Ground connected buildings
Elevated buildings

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EnergyPlus Modeling
Capabilities
Thermal Mass
Trombe Wall
Sunspaces
Movable/transparent insulation

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Thermal Mass/Energy Storage

within Buildings: Theory
Storage energy (heat) within building elements

(exterior or interior) for use or release at a later

time/date (analogy of a sponge or a rechargeable
battery)
Building materials store heat as internal energy
Thermal mass a function of material properties
(specific heat and density) as well as volume of
materialhow much thermal mass is enough?
Energy stored in a building material will
eventually be releaseeither to the interior or
exterior depending on placement of mass,
environmental conditions, etc.

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Thermal Mass: Examples

Traditional Examples
Dense building types with very
thick walls
Ice blocks from Lake Michigan
More Modern Examples

Trombe Walls
Interior Water Walls or Containers
Phase Change Materials
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Thermal Mass: Seasonal

Effects
Cooling Season

Dampen the effect of outside temperature variations

Shift time of highest cooling loads to the night hours
(offices)
Absorb excessive internal gains during daytime
hours (usually combined with night ventilation
strategies)

Heating Season

Store solar energy absorbed for use during the

nighttime hours when temperatures are low and the
sun is not visible
Avoid potential overheating problems due to
excessive direct solar gains
Note: thermal mass effects will not show up in a
winter design day runmust look at an annual
simulation with actual weather data

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Thermal Mass: Key Terms in

EnergyPlus IDF
Material:Regularspecification

of specific heat and density

Constructionreference to a

material layer definition

Surfacereference to a

construction definition

25

Trombe Walls: Theory

Primarily a passive heating element

used to delay the impact of solar

radiation
Intended to cooperate with direct gain

through windows to provide heating via

solar radiation during all parts of the
day and night
Most useful on south, southeast, and

southwest facades
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Trombe Walls: System

components
Thermally massive wall (brick,

concrete, stone, water) painted a

dark color to absorb solar radiation
Air gap
Wall cover (transparent glass) to

allow sun light to get through to

the thermal mass and to block
some of the heat loss to the outside
environment
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Open vs. Closed Trombe

Walls
Open System
Similar to a mini-sunspace where the air
in the gap between the cover and the
wall mass is allowed to circulate to an
interior space
More important if no visual link to the
outside
These have fallen out of favor (in US) due
to difficulty in controlling the amount of
exchange between the air gap and the
attached space and due to the loss of
delay factor (easier to combine wall with
windows); also maintenance issues

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Open vs. Closed Trombe

Walls
Closed System

Air gap between the wall mass

and the cover is sealed

Heat is trapped and absorbed

better into the thermal mass

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Trombe Walls:
Performance
Best for heating when wall mass has both

a high storage capacity and a high

thermal conductivity
High thermal conductivity increases heat
gain/loss of overall wall assembly
Wall cover should be as transparent as
possible but also resistive
Solar must be kept out of the Trombe wall
in summer through use of:

Shading devices
Specialized transparent insulation materials
Electrochromic or thermochromic glazing

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Trombe Walls: Examples

Trombe walls are usually but not

necessarily restricted to simple flat southfacing walls (compare Zion National Park
Visitors Center to NREL Visitors Center)

Photos courtesy of www.nrel.gov

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Trombe Walls: Key Terms in

EnergyPlus IDF
Material:WindowGlassspecification of window

properties
Constructiondefinition of wall and window
constructions
Surfacespecification of wall and cover
(separate) with wall defined as an interzone
partition
Zonedefinition of Trombe Wall air gap as a
separate thermal zone

Cover is specified as a window covering a fictitious

exterior wall
Trombe wall shows up in TWO zones (equal and
opposite interzone partition)
Zone definition must include syntax to use special
Trombe wall coefficients

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Trombe Walls: Example of

Trombe wall syntax (Zone)
ZONE, Lounge,
0.0,
10.0,
14.9,
0.0,
1,
1,
4.0,
0.0,
TrombeWall;

!!!!!!!!!!-

Zone
Zone
Zone
Zone
Zone
Zone
Zone
Zone
Zone
Zone

Name
North Axis (relative to Building)
X Origin {m}
Y Origin {m}
Z Origin {m}
Type
Multiplier
Ceiling Height {m}
Volume {m**3}
Inside Convection Algorithm

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Sunspaces and Double

Skinned Buildings
Sunspaces and double skinned buildings can

also be modeled as separate zones

Note that in EnergyPlus solar radiation will

pass through one space and into another but
that once it gets to the second zone it is
assumed to be all diffuse
Both sunspaces and double skinned buildings
provide an extra buffer from the outside
Sunspaces add potentially usable space
For systems which exchange heat through air
transport, definition of a MIXING or CROSS
MIXING statement required (not very accurate)

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Movable Insulation:
Purpose
Apply insulating layer to exterior (or

interior) of building that can be scheduled

for various times of day or year
Intended to trap heat inside a building or

block heat from coming into a building

during certain times
Many applications, but in reality, most of

these are not feasible due to complexity

of the systems
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Movable Insulation:
Process
In EnergyPlus, movable insulation

can be applied to the interior or

exterior side of a surface (but not
windows)
Window insulation must be

specified as window blinds

Exterior insulation may be

transparent
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Movable Insulation:
Syntax
Insulation type: must be keyword

Interior or Exterior
Surface name: surface that insulation will
be applied to (link to a surface definition
within the input file)
Material name: composition/description
of material layer that makes up the
insulation (link to a material definition
within the input file)
Schedule: when the movable insulation is
applied (link to a schedule definition
within the input file)
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Movable Insulation: Example

Example of IDD format and IDF:
MovableInsulation,
A1, \field Insulation Type ( Exterior or Interior )
A2, \field Surface Name (heat transfer surface to which insulation applied)
A3, \field MaterialMovInsul- Name of the material used for movable insulation
A4; \field SchedMovInsul-Schedule for movable insulation

Schedule controls if insulation is present

and acts as a multiplier on the R-value of the
material
Material layer can be transparent if exterior
insulation

MovableInsulation,
Exterior,
Zn001:Wall001,
MovableInsulationMaterial,
ON;

MATERIAL:REGULAR-R,MovableInsulationMaterial,Rough,2.0,0.9,0.7,0.7;

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Summary
Careful attention to climate and building

heating and cooling needs as well as

knowledge of passive strategies can
help significantly reduce the amount of
energy consumed to condition a building
EnergyPlus green building modeling
capabilities:

Thermal Mass
Trombe Wall
Sunspaces
Movable/Transparent Insulation

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