Impact of Passive Cooling on Thermal Comfort in a Single-Family Building for Current and Future Climate Conditions

Krzysztof Grygierek and Izabela Sarna
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Krzysztof Grygierek: Faculty of Civil Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Akademicka 5, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland
Izabela Sarna: Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering, Silesian University of Technology, Konarskiego 20, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 20, 1-17

Abstract: Today, there is a great deal of emphasis on reducing energy use in buildings for both economic and environmental reasons. Investors strongly encourage the insulating of buildings. Buildings without cooling systems can lead to a deterioration in thermal comfort, even in transitional climate areas. In this article, the effectiveness of natural ventilation in a passive cooling building is analyzed. Two options are considered: cooling with external air supplied to the building by fans, or by opening windows (automatically or by residents). In both cases, fuzzy controllers for the cooling time and supply airflow control are proposed and optimized. The analysis refers to a typical Polish single-family building. Simulations are made with the use of the EnergyPlus program, and the model is validated based on indoor temperature measurement. The calculations were carried out for different climate data: standard and future (warmed) weather data. Research has shown that cooling with external air can effectively improve thermal comfort with a slight increase in heating demand. However, to be able to reach the potential of such a solution, fans should be used.

Keywords: building simulation; thermal comfort; climate change; passive cooling; EnergyPlus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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