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Chantrasrisalai, C., D.E. Fisher, I.S. Iu, and D. Eldridge. 2003. "Experimental Validation
of Design Cooling Load Procedures: The Heat Balance Method", ASHRAE Transactions.
109(2):160-173.
Reprinted by permission from ASHRAE Transactions (Vol. #109, Part 2, pp. 160-173).
© 2003 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.
Copyright 2003, American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning
Engineers, Inc. (www .ashrae.org). Reprinted by permission from ASHRAE
Transactions 2003, Volume 109, Part 2. This paper may not be copied nor
distributed in either paper or digital form without ASHRAE's permission .
4646 (RP-1117)
ABSTRACT sis. Recently, two new procedures for design cooling load
calculations were developed by ASHRAE (Pedersen et al .
Under an ASHRAE-sponsored research project (RP-
1997, 1998). They are the heat balance method (HBM) and the
1117), two office-sized test cells having identical geometry but
radiant time series method (RTSM) .
different thermal mass were constructed in order to experi-
mentally validate the performance of two new procedures for Although the HBMhas been used as a thermal load model
design cooling load calculations: the heat balance method in building energy simulation programs for over two decades
(HBM) and radiant time series method (RTSM) . In this paper, (BSO 1991), it has rarely been used as a design cooling load
the HBM is compared with measured cooling loads . The vali- calculation method. This was primarily due to the fact that the
dation of the RTSM is presented in a companion paper (Iu et procedure had not been codified and documented in a format
al. 2003). The performance of the experimental facility is that supported the basic assumptions required for cooling load
presented in a third paper (Eldridge et al. 2003) . calculations . The ASHRAE Loads Toolkit (Pedersen et al .
The heat balance method coded in the ASHRAE Loads 2001) now provides a flexible and well-documented version of
Toolkit was used in this study. Cooling loads predicted by the the heat balance method that is tailored specifically for cooling
HBM deviatedfrom measured data by less than 4%for base load calculations . Although the HBM requires more compu-
case and drop ceiling configurations . The HBMoverpredicted tation rime than other existing load calculation methods, such
the cooling by more than 10% for the carpeted zone, but the as the total equivalent temperature difference/time averaging
addition of thermal mass and furniture did not significantly (TETD/TA) method, cooling load temperature difference/
affect the cooling load. Although the effect of blinds could be cooling load factor (CLTD/CLF) methods, and transfer func-
estimated by varying the thermal parameters, the ASHRAE tion method (TFM), the time constraint has become less of a
Loads Toolkit does not support the modeling of blinds . The concern due to the low cost of computing power.
resultsfrom this study demonstrate that the HBMisfundamen-
The RTSM (Spitler et al . 1997) is a simplified, heat
tally reliable, but that additional studies are required in order balance-based design cooling load method intended for
to determine the significance of input parameters for the spreadsheet applications . The RTSM is similar in concept to
carpeted zone and additional models are required in order to the TFM in that both methods are based on the principle of
estimate the effect of blinds on the cooling load.
superposition. This means that these methods do not solve the
system of heat balance equations simultaneously but calculate
INTRODUCTION
the individual heat gains independently of one another. The
Building thermal load calculations underpin the design of overall thermal response of the building element at a given
all indoor environmental systems. The accuracy of the thermal time is equal to the sum of the responses caused by several
load calculation procedure is, therefore, of concern to heating, input heat gain/temperature excitations during previous times.
ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) engineers, who Although less accurate than the HBM, the RTSM has the
design HVAC systems and/or perform building energy analy- advantage of allowing the user to directly compare the magni-
Chanvit Chantrasrisalai and Ipseng Iu are research assistants and D .E. Fisher is an assistant professor at Oklahoma State University, Still-
water, Okla . David S. Eldridge is a project engineer at Grumman/Butkus Associates, Chicago, Ill .
TABLE 1
Details of Building Construction for Base Case Configuration
Type of
Construction Heavy Building Light Building
Walls 4 in. face brick 1/4 in. stucco
1 in. plastic foam (expanded polystyrene, extruded) 1 in. plastic foam (expanded polystyrene, extruded)
8 in. HW concrete block filled w/ HW concrete 1/2 in. plywood
3 ½ in. fiberglass insulation
1/2 in. gypsum board
Roof Shingle roll Shingle roll
Tarpaper Tarpaper
1/2 in. plywood 1/2 in. plywood
2 in. plastic foam (expanded polystyrene, extruded) 2 in. plastic foam (expanded polystyrene, extruded)
1/2 in. plywood 1/2 in. plywood
5 in. concrete Ceiling air space
Metal decking Metal decking
Floor Metal decking Metal decking
5 in. concrete 3.5 in. concrete
Window Clear 1/8 in. glass Clear 1/8 in. glass
Thermal
Thickness Conductivity Density Specific Heat Resistance
m W/mK kg/m³ kJ/kgK m²K/W
Material Layer (in.) (Btu⋅in./h⋅ft²⋅°F) (lb/ft³) (Btu /lb²⋅°F) (h⋅ft²⋅°F/Btu)
Acoustic tile 0.019 0.061 481 0.84 -
(3/4) (0.423) (30.0) (0.20)
B3-insulation 0.051 0.043 32.0 0.84 -
(2) (0.298) (2.0) (0.20)
carpet - - - - 0.306
(1.740)
Ceiling air space - - - - 0.176
(1.00)
3.5 in. concrete 0.0889 0.1730 641 0.84 -
(3 ½) (1.20) (40.0) (0.20)
5 in. concrete 0.1270 0.1730 641 0.84 -
(5) (1.20) (40.0) (0.20)
4 in. face brick 0.1016 1.333 2002 0.92 -
(4) (9.24) (125) (0.22)
3 ½ in. fiberglass insulation 0.0889 0.036 96 0.96 -
(3 ½) (0.025) (6.0) (0.23)
Clear 1/8 in. glass - - - - 0.00667
(0.038)
1/2 in. gypsum board 0.0127 0.727 1602 0.84 -
(1/2) (5.00) (100) (0.20)
8 in. HW concrete block filled w/ HW 0.2032 1.731 2243 0.84 -
concrete (8) (1.20) (140) (0.20)
Metal decking 0.002 45 7689 0.42 -
(0.08) (31.20) (480) (0.10)
1/2 in. plywood 0.0127 0.116 540 1.21 -
(1/2) (0.080) (33.7) (0.29)
Shingle roll 0.001 0.0369 1100 1.51 -
(0.04) (0.026) (68.7) (0.36)
1/4 in. stucco 0.0064 0.692 1858 0.84 -
(1/4) (0.480) (116) (0.20)
1 in. plastic foam 0.0254 0.0280 32 1.21 -
(expanded polystyrene, extruded) (1) (0.019) (2.0) (0.29)
2 in. plastic foam 0.0508 0.0280 32 1.21 -
(expanded polystyrene, extruded) (2) (0.019) (2.0) (0.29)
Tarpaper 0.0010 0.0129 1100 1.26 -
(0.04) (0.009) (68.7) (0.30)
Wood 0.10 0.121 593.0 2.51 -
(4) (0.084) (36.6) (0.60)
TECHNICAL APPROACH
The ASHRAE Loads Toolkit program (Pedersen et al.
2003), which was used in this investigation, was originally
based on algorithms from the BLAST program (BSO 1991).
Figure 1 Heat balance processes in a space (Pedersen et The toolkit employs a single-zone heat balance model and is
al. 1998). intended to be a collection of component models rather than a
full-featured program for energy analysis or load calculations.
Its modular nature conveniently allows incorporation of sub-
models available in other programs with little restructuring.
Although the HBM is extensible to multinode or computa- This feature facilitates an investigation of various combina-
tional fluid dynamic (CFD) models, previous investigations tions of different models using the heat balance method.
(Fisher and Pedersen 1997) have shown that the well-stirred
Using the Loads Toolkit program, the heat balance proce-
zone model is adequate for the calculation of cooling loads in
dure was validated at two input levels designated “baseline
office-sized zones with radial ceiling diffusers. Additional
model” and “tuned model.” With the exception of outdoor
assumptions in the ASHRAE Loads Toolkit version of the heat
temperatures and incident solar radiation, the baseline model
balance include:
is constructed based on published and estimated values of
1. All exposed surfaces of the room are diffuse radiators and input parameters. This model is expected to yield results simi-
have uniform longwave and shortwave emissivities. lar to those calculated under realistic field conditions. Typical
2. All exposed surfaces have uniform surface temperatures. design data obtained from the literature (ASHRAE 1997) were
used as input data for the baseline model, while measured data
3. Conductive heat transfer through envelopes is one-dimen-
collected at the OSU test facilities and the Mesonet weather
sional.
station were used to improve input parameters for the tuned
4. All airborne moisture entering and generated in the space is model. The measured data included outside and inside air
added to the zone air and is not absorbed by the building temperatures, global horizontal solar radiation, wind speed,
materials. wind direction, system air temperature, system airflow rate,
These assumptions are reasonable for building applica- and surface shortwave absorptances. These observed data1
tions. With these assumptions, computational complexity can were averaged and utilized as hourly input data.
be reduced without introducing significant inaccuracies into In order to field validate the load calculation method
the solution. properly, hourly measured outside air temperatures were used
Pedersen et al. (1998) describe the heat balance procedure for both the baseline and the tuned models. Since the Loads
in terms of three different energy balance processes: the Toolkit program predicted the amount of global horizontal
outside surface heat balance, the inside surface heat balance, solar radiation quite well on a clear day and since all field
and the air heat balance. The relationship between these experimental results were selected for clear or almost clear
energy balance processes is illustrated in Figure 1. The outside days, design solar radiation was used for the baseline model.
and inside surface heat balances are linked by the conductive To use measured data, two changes in the Loads Toolkit
heat transfer process through the envelope, while the inside program were required for the tuned model. First, the
surface and air heat balances are linked by the convective heat ASHRAE clear sky model was modified to use measured solar
transfer process at the inside surface. Each part of the heat
1.
balance procedure consists of various component models. For Except for measured shortwave absorptances, which are constant.
radiation instead of using apparent solar irradiation tabulated surfaces.4 However, measured surface absorptances used for
in the literature (ASHRAE 1997). The other change in the the Toolkit-tuned model were 0.9 for exterior roofs, 0.7 for a
tuned model was to replace the constant wind speed and wind heavy building’s exterior walls, 0.6 for a light building’s exte-
direction parameters in the baseline model with measured rior walls, and 0.3 for interior surfaces. In this study, no inter-
hourly data. Table 3 summarizes input data and component nal heat gains were considered since the test buildings were
models used for the Toolkit baseline and tuned model tests. unoccupied. For infiltration, the rate of 0.25 air changes per
Both baseline and tuned models employed almost the hour (ACH) was included for all test runs. Eldridge et al.
same component models. However, radiative distribution and (2003) present an analysis of infiltration for the test buildings.
interior convection algorithms differed between the baseline
and tuned models for the following reasons:
TEST CELL CONFIGURATIONS
1. Design practitioners typically specify the radiative distribu-
tion.2 The field experiments collected hourly cooling loads for
2. It is difficult to properly estimate hourly system air temper- various test cell configurations, as shown in Table 4. The
atures and flow rates3 at the design stage as required by experiments were designed to vary one parameter at a time
Fisher’s model (Fisher and Pedersen 1997). with a single test (office case) showing the combined effect of
Therefore, the baseline model, which represents a design all parameters. Default configurations for heavy and light
HB model, utilized the user-specified radiative distribution buildings, extensively described by Eldridge et al. (2003),
and constant interior convection models. However, the tuned were used for base case comparison. Each test ran for at least
model, which represents a field-validated HB model, 24 consecutive hours after the room had reached steady-peri-
employed the BLAST radiative distribution and Fisher’s inte- odic conditions. As previously mentioned, the experimental
rior convection algorithm. tests selected for this study were on clear or almost clear days.
For the Toolkit baseline model, design shortwave absorp- The experimentally measured cooling loads were compared to
tances were 0.9 for exterior roofs and 0.5 for all other cooling loads calculated by the HBM under comparable envi-
ronmental conditions. The results are presented and discussed
2.
This is quite important, especially for passive solar design when thoroughly for each configuration in the next section.
designers need to specify thermal mass location.
3. 4.
These are system air conditions that enter a zone of interest, not Exterior roofs were black while other surfaces were medium-
the conditions that leave the cooling coil. color.
Base Suspended
Test Configuration Ceiling Carpet Blinds Furniture Office Configuration
Suspended ceiling: No Yes No No No Yes
2 ft × 4 ft lay-in ceiling
below bar joists
White venetian No No No Yes No Yes
blinds (at 45°) (at 0°)
Carpet with ¼ in. pad No No Yes No Yes Yes
Furniture: office furni- No No No No Yes Yes
ture including desks,
tables, chairs, and
bookshelves filled with
books
TABLE 5
Peak Errors and Sources of Errors in Baseline Models Relative to Tuned Models (%)
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION to assess the uncertainty associated with commonly made
modeling assumptions. Although the baseline model cooling
Overview of Results load profiles shown in the following sections give some idea
To validate and illustrate the performance of the heat of the suitability of the baseline model, they do not give an
balance method, hourly cooling load profiles calculated by accurate picture of the uncertainty associated with the baseline
both baseline and tuned models are plotted against measured modeling assumptions. This uncertainty, which is calculated
results. The results are plotted as a percentage of the total as a deviation from the tuned model peak cooling load, and its
measured peak load in order to facilitate comparative analysis sources of errors are shown in Table 5.
of the methods. That is, the measured peak cooling load is The peak error is based on the assumption that the indi-
always shown as 1.0 in the graphical comparisons. Iu et al. vidual errors are independent and random and can therefore be
(2003) describe how cooling loads are normalized. The calculated as the RMS error. The peak error shows the maxi-
discussion focuses on the ability of the HBM to accurately mum expected deviation of the baseline model from the tuned
predict the 24-hour cooling load profile for each configuration model. It does not address deviation of the results from the
using the two different input models described in the previous measured data but serves to illustrate the sensitivity of the
section. As shown in Table 3, the input data and components predicted cooling load to various input parameters.
that form the models can have offsetting effects on the overall Table 5 shows that the ASHRAE interior convection coef-
cooling load calculation. The purpose of the baseline model is ficients, which are used in the baseline models, could predict
cooling loads during the night. For the light building, the over- the space. Consequently, the base case tuned models overpre-
prediction of the solar heat gain during the early morning dict the ceiling heat transfer rate. The Fisher correlations,
hours by the baseline model showed up as an “on-peak” which were valid for the relatively high air circulation rates
(daytime) error in the cooling load. For this building, there was experienced by the test cells, correctly predict the cooling rate
no noticeable nighttime error in the baseline model results. of the thermal mass.
The tuned model, which used measured solar data to correctly
predict the early morning solar heat gains, resulted in signifi- Carpet Configuration
cantly improved calculated cooling loads for the heavy build-
To investigate the effect of floor coverings on the cooling
ing during the night and for the light building during the day.
load profile, carpet was installed in each test building. Peder-
Together, the two models (baseline and tuned) illustrate the
sen et al. (1998) tabulate R-values of typical carpet samples
sensitivity of the heat balance procedure to thermal mass
and suggests that carpet can be modeled as a purely resistive
effects.
layer because of its lightweight construction. When the R-
value of the carpet is not available, it can be estimated by
Suspended Ceiling Configuration
multiplying 18.64 m⋅K/W (2.69 h⋅ft2⋅°F/Btu⋅in.) by the total
Suspended ceilings, which were installed in both build- carpet thickness in meters (inches) (CRT 2001). The test cell
ings, were modeled by adding a ceiling air space layer and an carpet was modeled by adding a resistive layer of R-value of
acoustic tile layer to the roof constructions shown in Table 1. 0.30 m2⋅K/W (1.74 h⋅ft2⋅°F/Btu) to the floor constructions
Cooling load data for the suspended ceiling configuration shown in Table 1.
were recorded in mid-August. Figure 3 shows predicted Test cell cooling loads with the carpet installed were
hourly cooling load profiles and measured data for both build- measured in mid-October. Figure 4 shows predicted hourly
ings. The tuned model underpredicts the peak cooling load by cooling load profiles plotted against measured data for both
less than 2% for the heavy building and overpredicts the peak buildings. Surprisingly, the tuned model overpredicted the
load about 2% for the light building. The baseline model peak cooling loads by more than 10% for both buildings, while
underpredicts the peak result by 6% for the heavy building and the baseline model underpredicted the peak load by 4% for the
overpredicts the peak loads by 9% for the light building. This heavy building and overpredicted the peak load by 10% for the
is well within the uncertainty intervals predicted in Table 5 for light building.
this configuration. The off-peak (nighttime) error for both the tuned and base-
The suspended ceiling case produced the best agreement line models for both buildings indicates that a significant frac-
between measured and predicted cooling loads of all config- tion of the error is due to one or more model input parameters
urations tested. This is likely due to the fact that the Fisher (in addition to those shown in Table 5) that were incorrectly
inside convection correlations, employed by the tuned model, specified in the load calculation. The most likely candidates are
were developed for an attached radial ceiling jet (Fisher and an incorrectly reported outdoor dry-bulb temperature or an
Pedersen 1997). This convection model closely matches the underspecified infiltration rate. Both would have a significant
suspended-ceiling configuration. The base case models, as effect at night and a negligible effect during the day when the
illustrated by Iu et al. (2003), calculate the ceiling convection cooling load is dominated by solar heat gains. The measured
as if the ceiling jet is attached, when, in fact, the diffuser is temperature data show rapid 2°C (3.6°F) temperature varia-
located at the suspended ceiling level, resulting in a free jet in tions during the night that were lost in the translation to hourly
model input data. In addition, a higher than expected infiltra- ties are less than 8% over the expected range for both build-
tion rate likely occurred due to a change in wind direction and ings. The original tuned model (with R-value of 0.3 m2⋅K/W
wind speed that resulted in an increased pressure differential or 1.74 h⋅ft2⋅°F/Btu) predicted an increase in the peak cooling
across the door. For the measured temperature difference, an load of only 3% and 4% for the heavy and light buildings,
infiltration rate of 1 ACH would completely account for the respectively, with no carpet layer. The uncertainty in the ther-
off-peak error, as shown in Figure 5. mal resistance of the carpet layer, therefore, contributes little
Four factors may contribute to the on-peak error: the to the total on-peak error.
carpet thermal resistance, the convective heat transfer coeffi- The convective heat transfer coefficient has already been
cient associated with the carpeted surface, the radiation distri- shown to have a significant effect on the cooling load for the
bution, and the carpet solar absorptivity. To assess the effect of test cell configuration. The carpet test was run without the
the carpet thermal resistance, R-values of the carpet were suspended ceiling in place. This alone can result in a signifi-
investigated over an expected range (0.0 – 0.8 m2⋅K/W or 0.0 cant error in the predicted cooling load, as shown in the base
– 4.5 h⋅ft2⋅°F/Btu) for the tuned model. The carpet was also case analysis. In addition, the Fisher model for inside convec-
modeled as a thermal mass layer (see thermal properties in the tion coefficients was developed for smooth surfaces. Approx-
literature [ASHRAE 2001]). Figure 6 shows hourly cooling imating the carpet as a smooth surface could introduce
load profiles predicted by the tuned model with the carpet significant error in the predicted floor convective heat flux, as
having different thermal properties. shown in Figure 7.
As shown, the maximum differences between peak loads The cooling load was most sensitive to the internal solar
predicted by the tuned model using different thermal proper- distribution algorithm and the solar absorptivity of the carpet.
Using the detailed beam solar algorithm results in a decrease lightweight test cell to investigate the effect of furnishings on
in predicted peak loads of 6% for the heavy building and 3% the cooling load. As recommended by Pedersen et al. (1998),
for the light building. Changing the solar absorptivity of the furnishings can be modeled as an additional surface with a
carpet from 0.3 to 0.7 results in an increase in the peak cooling surface area and thermal mass roughly equivalent to the
load of 10% for the heavy building and 8% for the light build- furnishings in the zone. For this investigation, the thermal
ing, as shown in Figure 8. The uncertainty in the measured
mass was modeled as three material layers: wood, B3-insula-
solar absorptivity is at least ±0.1, and the uncertainty associ-
tion, and sheet metal (see properties in Table 2). These mate-
ated with an estimate of solar absorptivity in the absence of
rials approximate the mass and surface area (15.0 m² or 161.5
measured data is even higher. For carpeted zones with high
solar heat gains, the solar absorptivity, not the thermal resis- ft²) of the furniture used in this study.
tance, is the significant parameter. To facilitate accurate calcu- Figure 9 shows cooling loads predicted by both models
lation of design cooling loads, radiative properties, such as compared with the measured results for the light building. The
those given by Mabinton and Goswami (1980), should be tuned model overpredicted the peak load by about 12%, while
published in the ASHRAE literature. the baseline model overpredicted the peak result by about
10%. These results do not vary significantly from the carpet
Furniture Configuration
only test (Figure 4) for the light building. This suggests that it
Several desks, chairs, tables, and bookshelves filled with is reasonable to model the furniture as an additional surface in
340 kg (750 pounds) of books were moved into the carpeted the zone.
6. 7.
Differences between the three models have a trivial effect on The total thermal resistance was used in the calculation of
cooling load results. The maximum difference in peak loads conductive heat transfer through the fenestration system because
predicted by the three models is less than 2%. all layers (glass, air, and blinds) have very low thermal mass.
parameters (including inward/outward flowing fractions, ther- blind configuration, the Parmelee model was used to predict
mal resistance, and convection coefficients for various situa- solar radiation transmitted through fenestration with blinds at
tions) are needed to predict thermal characteristics of the blind 0° slat angle. In the literature (ASHRAE 2001), information of
systems so that they can be used in conjunction with the optical IAC values is only available for blinds at 45° slat angle. Since
blind models in design calculations. the blinds were set at the fully opened position, it could be
It is worth noting that the presence of blinds caused reduc- expected that the IAC for this case would be higher than that
tions of peak measured cooling loads of 26% for the heavy for the blinds at 45° slat angle. Therefore, the IAC of 0.85 was
building (from 2573 to 1905 W) and 35% for the light building used in this simulation.
(from 3413 to 2231 W) as compared to the peak measured Again, the R-values for a fenestration system having
loads for the base-case configuration. The differences between opened blinds are unknown. It was assumed that the total ther-
blind and base-case measured results are more significant than mal resistances for the fenestration system with blinds set at
differences between base-case measured results for other different slat angles were not significantly different;9 thus, the
configurations.8 This indicates the importance of using shad- R-value of 0.100 m2⋅K/W (0.568 h⋅ft2⋅°F/Btu), which gave
ing devices to reduce building heat gains and cooling require- good agreement for the window blind configuration, was also
ments for highly glazed spaces. The effect of blinds on the used for this case for both buildings. Figure 11 shows cooling
peak cooling load is related to the fractional contribution of the load profiles predicted by the baseline and tuned models using
solar heat gain. For the test buildings, solar radiation the research version of the Loads Toolkit program compared
accounted for approximately 75% of the total heat gain. Thus, with measured data for both heavy and light buildings. Once
the impact on the peak cooling load was significant. The again, the results illustrate the ability of the heat balance
results also illustrate the importance of the thermal interac- method to support interior shading devices but cannot be
tions between the zone and the blind. Although the blind generalized in the absence of thermal blind models in the tool-
settings were the same in the two buildings, the resulting kit.
reduction in cooling load was 9% greater for the lightweight
building. A thermal blind model that accurately predicts the Summary of Results
convective and radiative heat transfer rates from the fenestra-
Figure 12 shows the deviation of the predicted peak cool-
tion system is required to account for these effects.
ing load from the measured peak cooling load for each build-
ing configuration. The baseline model underpredicts the peak
Office Case Comparison
load for the heavy building and overpredicts the peak loads for
A general office configuration combined the effects of the the light building. This suggests that for the thermally massive
four previous tests by configuring each building with a structure, the inside convection coefficient has a relatively
suspended ceiling, blinds, carpet, and furnishings, as shown in greater influence on the instantaneous cooling load than the
Table 4. It should be noted that the blinds were set at 0 degrees solar heat gain. On the other hand, solar radiation becomes
(opened blinds) instead of 45 degrees. Similar to the window
9.
The most substantial difference of thermal resistance could be
8.
Different environmental conditions had an important influence on expected between the fully closed (90° or –90°) and opened (0°)
cooling loads as well as different building configurations. blind cases.
relatively more important than inside convection for the light heat transfer processes, the accuracy of the procedure is
building. Additionally, it was observed that the BLAST solar dependent on which component models are used. In addition,
distribution algorithm tends to overpredict the peak loads the cooling load can be quite sensitive to various input param-
when the inside absorptance of the floor is significantly differ- eters.
ent from the absorptances of other surfaces. For these cases, Both the tuned and baseline model results deviated from
accurate distribution of the beam radiation significantly measured cooling loads by less than 15% for all cases. This
improves predicted results. Finally, the Fisher convection excellent agreement was obtained for cooling load profiles
model tends to overpredict the peak loads when the air diffuser that were entirely dominated by solar and conductive heat
results in a free jet instead of a radial wall jet. Peak cooling gains. It is expected, that the models will accurately predict
load errors for the drop-ceiling case were minimized by the hourly building thermal loads for all cases where reasonable
inlet jet configuration. input data and appropriate sets of component models are used.
It should also be noted that the tuned model underpredicted the
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS cooling for only one case, and that by less than 2%.
To evaluate the performance of the heat balance proce- The investigation showed that the cooling loads were
dure, cooling loads predicted by the ASHRAE Loads Toolkit quite sensitive to interior convection coefficients and solar-
program were compared with measured results for various related parameters. This suggests that more research on solar
building configurations. Since the heat balance procedure radiation transmitted through complex fenestration system,
consists of a series of component models describing various internal solar distribution, and inside convection for various
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