Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 1-4 July, 2007.
Simulation of building thermal performance is important in
predicting comfort of the occupants in buildings. An analysis
and prediction of thermal comfort using DesignBuilder based
on EnergyPlus, state of the art building performance simulation
software, is presented in this study for an air conditioned multistoried
building in Rockhampton city of Central Queensland,
Australia. Rockhampton is located in a hot humid region;
therefore, indoor thermal comfort is strongly affected by the
outdoor climate. The actual thermal condition of the
Information Technology Division (ITD) Building at Central
Queensland University during winter and summer seasons is
evaluated and the possibilities of energy conservation without
compromising thermal comfort of the occupants are explored.
The Fanger comfort model, Pierce two-node model and KSU
two-node model were used to predict thermal performance of
the building. A sophisticated building analysis tool was
integrated with thermal comfort models which allow for the
determination of appropriate cooling technologies for the
occupants to be thermally comfortable with sufficient energy
savings. This study will also compare predicted mean vote
(PMV) and thermal sensation vote (TSV) on a seven point
thermal sensation scale calculated using the effective
temperature, relative humidity, discomfort hours for alternative
cooling and ventilation techniques.
