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Getting the Most Out of Energy Consumption in Buildings with the Assistance of
Hydronic Heating Systems
There has been lot of research conducted to learn about the applicability or replication and optimization
of apparatuses for resolving multiple energy management glitches in HVAC system or building design
problems. We are all aware that designing a building is not an easy task. It requires multi-parametric
problem solving with rare intentions or restraints.
It has also been found that the intentions or restraints do not have identical corporeal connotations. For
the efficient energy consumption, the scrutinisation of the energy cost considering the thermal comfort
is mandatory. In this write-up we have discussed about a case of conducting building energy analysis for
a school building with the assistance of hydronic heating system.
To resolve the case EnergyPlus software has been utilized so that the weather information pertaining to
school building and its heating system are taken into consideration. The problem is that there are
different constraints that are impacting the total costs of the school building and thermal comfort by
utilizing the computer generated tools.
The various characteristics that have been defined in the case in question encompass the insulation
thickness of the building wrapping, the supply-water temperature and the heat exchange area of the
radiators. The objective of the case in question is to showcase how to advance with two objectives
utilizing the one objective optimization algorithms.
Understanding the Building Geometry and Delineating the Zones:
For conducting energy analysis, the software package EnergyPlus is linked with the common
optimization program GenOpt. The case under purview is a school building with 134 rooms. The
construction of the building is very light with the outdoor walls prepared from wood, while the windows
and outside door is made up of three layer glass consisting of air filling. The dividing walls are made up
of light concrete while the interior doors are wooden.
The maximum temperature in wintertime for the building is -11.5 degrees Celsius while the maximum
temperature during summer is 33.4 degrees Celsius. To understand the building geometry in EnergyPlus
it was imperative to delineate the zones. The persistence, positioning and the air-conditioning system of
the rooms must be well-thought-of while outlining the zones. For the specified building, 21 zones were
recognized.

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Energy Consumption and Analysis: Understanding the Essentials:
It was found that during the occupancy period from 07:00 to 19:00, the preferred value of enclosed
temperature was 20 degree Celsius, during the rest of the day; the temperature remained 15 degrees
Celsius. The important thing to note here was the fact that the radiators were in constant utilization
throughout the day. It was also found that the radiator heat rate was the highest supply-water
temperature of 90 degrees Celsius.

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Besides, the heat exchange area of the radiator was king-size, and his supply-water temperature was 90
degrees Celsius and due to this, the radiator heat rate was at the peak in the transitory period. It was
found that the interior temperature in the zone was preserved at the anticipated level during the entire
tenancy period for the maximum supply-water temperature. In this particular case, the heat losses were
the maximum due to the fact that interior temperature was on the higher side.
Energy Simulations and Analysis:
For specific simulations having PPD less than 10% the least amount of total cost was pursued for every
value of the supply-water temperature. This connotes that when the supply-water temperature was 60
degree Celsius the smallest of total cost was pursued between 1st and 150th simulation, as the range of
PPD happens to be less than 10%. It was also very significant to conduct every optimization in the region
between 350 to 400 simulations for every optimization. But the least amount of total cost was pursued
so that the thermal comfort was gratified.
It was found that the total cost reached at the least at temperature of 60 degree Celsius at a given point
of time. For higher temperatures of supply water, the total cost enhances due to the fact that upper
indoor temperature in the zone is preserved for long period of time and energy consumption is higher.
According to Rosa DeLauro, “The Texas Energy Office’s Loan Star program has condensed building
energy consumption and taxpayers’ energy costs through effective process of public buildings, saving
taxpayers more than $172 billion with the assistance of energy efficiency projects.”
Solving Multiparametric Problems:
This write-up was written with the objective of solving multiparametric problems with both objectives
and constraints for the design of buildings and HVAC systems. With the help of this write-up we were
able to scrutinize the problem of two tangibly diverse objectives by utilizing one-objective problem and
the practical utilization of mathematical optimization connected to simulation software. It was
concluded that the supply-water temperature has great impact on the time requisite to stretch the
anticipated indoor air temperature.
About Author:
Nikunj Patel is a design engineer working with HiTechCADDServices.com for the past 4 years. He loves
designing specialized industrial equipments and can always be found in the lab discussing, brainstorming
& tweaking designs. He has also worked on architectural projects taking interest in every aspect of
design & analysis.
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