Session: 02-04 Building Envelope, Building Energy, and Data Centers

Paper Number: 116870

116870 - Steady State Analytical Modeling of a Thermal Panel of a Climate Adaptive Building Envelope for Energy Efficient Buildings 

As of 2021, non-renewable energy resources fulfil 75% of the total energy demand in the US. The heating and cooling operation of buildings is responsible for a significant portion of this energy demand. Residential buildings consume 51% whereas commercial buildings consume 35% of its total energy solely for the purpose of regulating the temperature of the indoor space. In the US, buildings sector consumes 44% of its total energy that is equivalent to 0.54TWyr for thermal regulation and this energy demand is primarily being fulfilled by non-renewable sources. As the whole world is shifting towards a greener future, design of energy efficient thermoregulation system and reduction of non-renewable energy dependence of buildings are in high demand and a focus of multitude of research. This work explores a novel solution for reducing emissions and energy usage from buildings using a climate adaptive building envelope (CABE). CABE consists of a double-sided hydronic with water circuit loops embedded in a structural insulated panel and covered by a thin layer of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP), known as FROG panel, that utilizes the dynamic interaction between building and its surrounding renewable energy to cool down or heat up the indoor space. Depending on the thermal gradient between the exterior and interior space, the FROG panel can either operate in isolating (or isolation mode), where the two hydronic circuits operate independently or a heat exchange mode, where the two hydronic circuit operate in tandem.

A steady state analytical model is developed by solving a system of linear equations obtained through applying the conservation of energy to quantify the thermal performance of the FROG panel. The results obtained from the analytical model, with the panel operating under a range of conditions, are then compared to that obtained from the NX simcenter 3D thermal/flow simulation at the steady state. Under the simulated heat exchange mode cases with a laboratory scale FROG panel, the average prediction accuracy of the steady state analytical model for temperature differences of all the panel surfaces with respect to the interior temperature was 2.8% and that for heat fluxes was 8.7%. Increasing the water flow rate improved the heat flux to and from the interior and exterior spaces and there exists an optimum water flow rate after which there is negligible change in the heat flux but substantial changes in the water pressure drop. The validated model can be used to scale up the FROG panel for building level operation in the future.

Presenting Author: Amogh Wasti Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Presenting Author Biography: Ph.D. student with research focused on novel and energy efficient thermoregulation systems for buildings