A simple model for temperature response of single-zone passive buildings: Fid-Bau Portal

A simple model for temperature response of single-zone passive buildings

Stiles, Michael R

This article presents a method for calculating interior air temperature as a function of ambient conditions for simple structures (single-zone passive buildings with low infiltration). Examples of such structures are unconditioned greenhouses, storage facilities, and wholly passive solar houses. The method was tested in a partially unoccupied apartment building for 8 days. A simple model was applied to the data in which interior air temperature was taken as an exponential step response to a change in exterior temperature. The time constant calculated from this relationship exhibited periodic fluctuations from day to day. A method is described for reconstructing the interior temperature record using these findings in the step change model. The average difference between the recorded and modeled data was −0.1°C for the period of monitoring. This was unexpected considering that insolation was not monitored or taken into account in the model. The simple step response model was thus sufficient to reconstruct the recorded interior temperature data at this test site. The paper concludes with recommendations for further testing of the method.