Predictive Modeling in an Automated Building Facade
Validation of method in a passively conditioned building using a test cell
Presented on August 12, 2020 at Facade Tectonics 2024 World Congress
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Overview
Abstract
Computer simulations of an automated dynamic facade in a passively heated and cooled building by using predictive modeling of short-term future weather conditions show that it is possible to achieve thermal comfort in a passively heated and cooled building in at least 10 of the 15 different climate zones in the United States. A small-scale test cell was used to test the ability to predict the interior operative temperature based on predicted weather forecasts and compared the measured results to simulated results. The test cell ran during the part of the Winter, all of the Spring and part of the Summer of 2017 for approximately 6 months. The results of the experiment were promising and they suggest ways to advance the method of predictive modeling in buildings. For the hours when an office building would most likely be occupied, 8AM until 6PM, the test cell was outside the SET operative temperature range 10% of the time. The test cell was too cold 8% of the time and too hot 2% of the time. The results of both the simulation study and the test cell were similar so modifications to the predicted model and predicted control procedure can be studied further with simulation only.
Authors
Troy Nolan Peters PhD
Associate Professor
Wentworth Institute of Technology
peterst2@wit.edu
Keywords
Introduction
The main hypothesis for this research work is that an automated dynamic façade can provide whole year thermal comfort in a passively heated and cooled building by using predictive modeling
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Experimental Setup
The test cell was designed to be highly insulated and used a constructed window. The interior shape of the test cell was based on the approximate shape of the whole
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Discussion of Experimental Results
The results of the experiment were encouraging, and they provide indications for methods to advance the method of predictive modeling in buildings. For the 137 days in the experiment, the
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Future Research
Future research will focus on refining the predictive modeling methods and algorithms. The basic premise of this study was that by changing the amount of shading and the amount of
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Summary and Conclusions
The simple test cell had good results and improvements can be made to the predictive modeling method. The results of the experiment were encouraging and they do give indications to
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Rights and Permissions
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