On the Performance of Night Ventilation in a Historic Office Building in Nordic Climate

Hossein Bakhtiari, Jan Akander, Mathias Cehlin and Abolfazl Hayati
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Hossein Bakhtiari: Department of Building Engineering, Energy Systems and Sustainability Science, Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University of Gävle, 801 76 Gävle, Sweden
Jan Akander: Department of Building Engineering, Energy Systems and Sustainability Science, Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University of Gävle, 801 76 Gävle, Sweden
Mathias Cehlin: Department of Building Engineering, Energy Systems and Sustainability Science, Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University of Gävle, 801 76 Gävle, Sweden
Abolfazl Hayati: Department of Building Engineering, Energy Systems and Sustainability Science, Faculty of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University of Gävle, 801 76 Gävle, Sweden

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-26

Abstract: The effect of mechanical night ventilation on thermal comfort and electricity use for cooling of a typical historic office building in north-central Sweden was assessed. IDA-ICE simulation program was used to model the potential for improving thermal comfort and electricity savings by applying night ventilation cooling. Parametric study comprised different outdoor climates, flow rates, cooling machine’s coefficient of performance and ventilation units’ specific fan power values. Additionally, the effect of different door schemes (open or closed) on thermal comfort in offices was investigated. It was shown that night ventilation cannot meet the building’s total cooling demand and auxiliary active cooling is required, although the building is located in a cold climate. Night ventilation had the potential in decreasing the percentage of exceedance hours in offices by up to 33% and decreasing the total electricity use for cooling by up to 40%. More electricity is saved with higher night ventilation rates. There is, however, a maximum beneficial ventilation rate above which the increase in electricity use in fans outweighs the decrease in electricity use in cooling machine. It depends on thermal mass capacity of the building, cooling machine´s coefficient of performance, design ventilation rate, and available night ventilation cooling potential (ambient air temperature).

Keywords: night ventilation; historic buildings; office buildings; building energy simulation; IDA-ICE; Nordic climate (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 (4)

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