Development of Real-Time Indoor Temperature Distribution Simulation: A Pilot Study

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

1-1-2017

Abstract

It is well known that higher consumption of energy generated by fossil fuel leads to more greenhouse gas emissions, known to cause global warming. Especially, recent studies show that occupant behavior is a major factor affecting the energy consumption of buildings. While building energy simulation software may predict the overall energy consumption of buildings, it is not capable of determining the temperature distribution of a space, which is critical for studying occupant behavior. Thus, the authors have developed a pilot application of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations to the analysis of indoor temperature distribution (ITD) considering the impact of heat from various sources such as electrical devices and solar heat. The purpose for developing the CFD simulation is to better understand the balance between accuracy, calculation speed, and computational cost with the goal of reaching real-time analysis of ITD. The temperature distribution from the zero energy (ZOE) research laboratory at the University of North Texas (UNT) is used to validate the CFD simulation. A method for increasing analytical speed and reducing computational cost was proposed and discussed.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Congress on Computing in Civil Engineering, Proceedings

First Page

271

Last Page

279

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