Integration of Airflow and Energy Simulation Using CONTAM and TRNSYS

Published

July 1, 2003

Author(s)

Timothy P. McDowell, Steven Emmerich, J B. Thornton, George Walton

Abstract

The impact of infiltration and ventilation flows on the energy use in commercial buildings has received little attention. One of the reasons for this lack of study is that the commonly-used programs for estimating the energy use of buildings do not incorporate the inter-zonal air flow modeling techniques required to adequately account for the effect of these factors on energy usage. To remedy this issue and provide insigth into the impact of these flows, the CONTAM airflow modeling tool was incorporated into the TRNSYS energy analysis program. This integrated approach was then used to estimate the energy usage of 25 buildings representing the U.S. core office building stock over a range of infiltration and ventilation conditions. This paper will discuss the process of modeling the buildings in both programs, the integration of the two programs into a cohesive simulation, and some initial results of the study.

Proceedings Title

American Society of Heating, Refregerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Symposium Papers | | | ASHRAE

Volume

109

Issue

No. 2

Conference Dates

June 30-July 1, 2003

Conference Location

Undefined

Conference Title

ASHRAE Transactions

Pub Type

Conferences

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

building energy use, commercial buildings, infiltration, simulation, ventilation

Citation

McDowell, T. , Emmerich, S. , Thornton, J. and Walton, G. (2003), Integration of Airflow and Energy Simulation Using CONTAM and TRNSYS, American Society of Heating, Refregerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Symposium Papers | | | ASHRAE, Undefined, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=860887 (Accessed March 16, 2025)