Mutual Influence of External Wall Thermal Transmittance, Thermal Inertia, and Room Orientation on Office Thermal Comfort and Energy Demand

David Božiček, Roman Kunič, Aleš Krainer, Uroš Stritih and Mateja Dovjak ()
Additional contact information
David Božiček: Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Jamova Cesta 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Roman Kunič: Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Jamova Cesta 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Aleš Krainer: Institute of Public and Environmental Health, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Uroš Stritih: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Aškrčeva Cesta 6, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Mateja Dovjak: Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Jamova Cesta 2, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 8, 1-29

Abstract: Upgrades in building energy efficiency codes led to differences between buildings designed according to outdated codes and those with most recent requirements. In this context, our study investigates the influence of external wall thermal transmittance, thermal inertia, and orientation on energy demand (heating, cooling) and occupant thermal comfort. Simulation models of an office building were designed, varying (i) the thermal transmittance values (0.20 and 0.60 W/(m 2 K)), (ii) the room orientation (four cardinal directions), and (iii) the wall thermal inertia (approximately 60 kJ/(m 2 K) for low and 340 kJ/(m 2 K) for high thermal inertia. The energy demand for heating and cooling seasons was calculated for Ljubljana using EnergyPlus 9.0.0 software. The reduction of the external wall thermal transmittance value from 0.6 W/(m 2 K) to 0.2 W/(m 2 K) contributes to significant energy savings (63% for heating and 37% for cooling). Thermal inertia showed considerable potential for energy savings, especially in the cooling season (20% and 13%, depending on the external wall insulation level). In addition, the orientation proved to have a notable impact on heating and cooling demand, however not as pronounced as thermal inertia (up to 7% total energy demand). Comparison of the thermal comfort results showed that when internal air temperatures are identically controlled in all the rooms (i.e., internal air temperature is not an influencing factor), the external wall thermal transmittance, thermal inertia, and room orientation show negligible influence on the average occupant thermal comfort. The simultaneous achievement of thermally comfortable conditions in the working environment and low energy use can only be achieved by simultaneously considering the U -value and thermal inertia.

Keywords: office building; thermal comfort; energy demand; thermal inertia; orientation (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: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/8/3524/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/8/3524/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:8:p:3524-:d:1126706

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().