| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this research was to compare the energy consumption of WinAM and
EnergyPlus when thermal mass and a temperature setback are applied. Since WinAM does not
account for thermal mass, a correction method was developed to correct the predicted savings
produced by a temperature setback. This correction method accounts for thermal mass, wall
resistance, building size, and wall area, and works best for climates with a wide range of
temperatures.
Hourly cooling coil and heating coil energy were plotted versus outside temperature for
WinAM and EnergyPlus with varying wall constructions, climates, and temperature schedules,
totaling 18 EnergyPlus simulations and 6 WinAM simulations. Consumption from these results
were summed to calculate the monthly cooling and coil energy. For each simulation, the
difference between energy consumption for a temperature setback and no setback were
calculated for each month; this value is the predicted savings produced each monthly by
implementing a temperature setback. The difference in predicted savings between WinAM and
EnergyPlus was then plotted versus outdoor air temperature. This was used to create the
correction method that adjusts WinAM predicted savings to better match EnergyPlus predicted
savings.
Results indicate WinAM under predicting hourly cooling and heating coil energy. Results
also show WinAM over-estimating the predicted savings due to temperature setback by 200
1000 Btu/ft² depending on the temperature. By implementing the WinAM correction method, the
WinAM over-estimation is reduced to 30-150 Btu/ft². The calculated percent reduction in the
difference between EnergyPlus and WinAM predicted savings is up to 99%.
The large reduction in the difference between WinAM and EnergyPlus predicted savings
indicates the correction method works well for the simulations produced. Implementing the
correction method leads to a WinAM model that more accurately predicts temperatures setback
savings when thermal mass is applied. | en |
