Analysis of the Impact of Self-Isolation of Residents during a Pandemic on Energy Demand and Indoor Air Quality in a Single-Family Building

Walery Jezierski, Mirosław Zukowski and Beata Sadowska
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Walery Jezierski: Department of Energy Efficient Construction and Geodesy, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Bialystok University of Technology, Wiejska 45E Street, 15-351 Bialystok, Poland
Mirosław Zukowski: Department of HVAC Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Bialystok University of Technology, Wiejska 45E Street, 15-351 Bialystok, Poland
Beata Sadowska: Department of Energy Efficient Construction and Geodesy, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, Bialystok University of Technology, Wiejska 45E Street, 15-351 Bialystok, Poland

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 23, 1-24

Abstract: This work presents the results of analysis of the final energy demand ( Q k ) for a single-family house in a pandemic situation and accompanying self-isolation of residents. It was assumed that the object of study is located in Bialystok (Poland). This analysis covers the impact of various factors such as specific periods of the active pandemic phase, the length of the inhabitants’ self-isolation period, the number of residents at home, and the type of energy source used in the building. Based on the results of computational experiments, a deterministic mathematical model of the relationship between these variables was developed, and the effects of the selected factors on the final energy demand were analyzed for the typical meteorological year (TMY) weather data. It turned out that the change in the length of the self-isolation period from 0 to 31 days caused an increase of Q k by about 6.5% for the analyzed building. When the number of inhabitants changed from 1 to 4, Q k increased by 34.7%. A change from 4 to 7 people causes an additional 26.7% increase in Q k . It was found that the structure of energy demand for this building operation during the period of inhabitants’ self-isolation also changed. With the increase in the length of the self-isolation period from 0 to 31 days, the electricity demand ( E el ) increases by about 40–42%, while the demand for energy related to fuel consumption ( Q g ) decreases by about 7–10%. The article also presents an analysis of the impact of residents’ self-isolation on indoor air quality (IAQ) and thermal comfort. The simulation results showed that the use of variable air volume ventilation allows the CO 2 concentration to be kept significantly below the limit value.

Keywords: energy demand; indoor air quality; building energy simulations; self-isolation of residents; deterministic mathematical model (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 (1)

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