Effect of HVAC’s Management on Indoor Thermo-Hygrometric Comfort and Energy Balance: In Situ Assessments on a Real nZEB

Rosa Francesca De Masi, Antonio Gigante, Valentino Festa, Silvia Ruggiero and Giuseppe Peter Vanoli
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Rosa Francesca De Masi: DING—Department of Engineering, University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy
Antonio Gigante: DING—Department of Engineering, University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy
Valentino Festa: DING—Department of Engineering, University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy
Silvia Ruggiero: DING—Department of Engineering, University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy
Giuseppe Peter Vanoli: Department of Medicine and Health Sciences—Vincenzo Tiberio, University of Molise, 86100 Campobasso, Italy

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-30

Abstract: This paper proposes the analysis of real monitored data for evaluating the relationship between occupants’ comfort conditions and the energy balance inside an existing, nearly zero-energy building under different operational strategies for the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system. During the wintertime, the adaptive comfort approach is applied for choosing the temperature setpoint when an air-to-air heat pump provides both heating and ventilation. The results indicate that in very insulated buildings with high solar gains, the setpoint should be decided taking into consideration both the solar radiation and the outdoor temperature. Indeed, when the room has large glazed surfaces, the solar radiation can also guarantee acceptable indoor conditions when a low setpoint (e.g., 18.7 °C) is considered. The electricity consumption can be reduced from 17% to 43% compared to a conventional setpoint (e.g., 20 °C). For the summertime, the analysis suggests the adoption of a dynamic approach that should be based on the outdoor conditions and differentiated according to room characteristics. Considering the indoor comfort and the maximization of renewable integration, the direct expansion system has better performance than the heat pump; this last system should be integrated with a pre-handling unit to be energy convenient.

Keywords: nZEB; HVAC management; monitoring campaign; indoor comfort; load matching; computational fluid dynamics (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: 2021
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