Development of an adaptive window-opening algorithm to predict the thermal comfort, energy use and overheating in buildings

H. B. Rijal, P. Tuohy, F. Nicol, M. A. Humphreys, A. Samuel, J. Clarke

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

139 Citations (Scopus)
252 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

This investigation of the window opening data from extensive field surveys in UK office buildings demonstrates: 1) how people control the indoor environment by opening windows; 2) the cooling potential of opening windows; and 3) the use of an ‘adaptive algorithm’ for predicting window opening behaviour for thermal simulation in ESP-r. It was found that when the window was open the mean indoor and outdoor temperatures were higher than when closed, but show that nonetheless there was a useful cooling effect from opening a window. The adaptive algorithm for window opening behaviour was then used in thermal simulation studies for some typical office designs. The thermal simulation results were in general agreement with the findings of the field surveys. The adaptive algorithm is shown to provide insights not available using non adaptive simulation methods and can assist in achieving more comfortable, lower energy buildings while avoiding overheating.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)17-30
Number of pages14
JournalJournal of Building Performance Simulation
Volume1
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jan 2008

Keywords

  • adaptive thermal comfort
  • building control
  • window-opening algorithm
  • heat engineering

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