Digital Commons Network^™

Flexible Residential Test Facility: Impact Of Infiltration And Ventilation On Measured Heating Season Energy And Moisture Levels, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Perhaps no residential topic has been discussed as much among building scientists as air infiltration and required mechanical ventilation. Usually, envelope tightening is recommended as an efficiency strategy for retrofitting an existing home. In humid climates, reducing infiltration can reduce summer moisture loads. However, during drier weather when the air conditioner is not running, lower infiltration can lead to potential condensation. Even though severe cold weather is rare in the Deep South, the prevalence of single-pane windows can lead to condensation events.

Energy And Economic Optimization To Achieve Near Zero Energy Homes In Europe: Implications Of Inclusion Of Lighting And Appliances, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Achieving annual net zero energy use in homes has been demonstrated as feasible in dozens of monitored projects in the United States.[1] In particular, very low energy use homes in Europe have been proven within the Passivhaus approach.[2] Achieving 'nearly zero energy buildings' (NZEB) has also been established as a vital objective over the next decade within the European Union (EU) (Boermans et al., 2011). However, reaching this result at the lowest possible cost remains a key challenge around the world. Balancing renewable power generation with energy efficiency will be vital in Europe as anticipated by Voss, Musall and Lichtmeß.[4] …

Technical Subtopic 2.1: Modeling Variable Refrigerant Flow Heat Pump And Heat Recovery Equipment In Energyplus, Florida Solar Energy Center, Richard Raustad

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The University of Central Florida/Florida Solar Energy Center, in cooperation with the Electric Power Research Institute and several variable-refrigerant-flow air conditioning (VRF AC) manufacturers, provided a detailed computer model for a VRF AC system in the United States Department of Energy's (U.S. DOE) EnergyPlus' building energy simulation tool. No other simulation tool currently has the capability to accurately model this state-of-the-art VRF heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) equipment. Detailed laboratory testing and field demonstrations were performed to measure equipment performance and compare this performance with that predicted by the use of this new model through computer simulation.

This project …

Current Best Practices For High Performance, Deep Energy Retrofits In Florida Affordable Housing, Florida Solar Energy Center, Janet Mcilvaine

FSEC Energy Research Center®

In the fall of 2009, researchers at the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) began working with affordable housing entities that were conducting major renovation projects in unoccupied, foreclosed homes. The study was funded by the Florida Energy Systems Consortium and the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America program. When components and equipment were being replaced because they were worn out, researchers provided savings projections for higher-efficiency choices. Savings were also projected for improvements that were strictly for energy efficiency, such as adding ceiling insulation. The best practices summarized in this document are a mixture of assessment, design, specification, quality assurance, …

Hers Index Scores As An Alternative Compliance Path For The 2015 Iecc, Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The analysis presented here is an extension of a previous study on HERS Index Scores as they relate to various version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) by the same author. This extension of the previous study is designed to examine the impact of advanced, ultra-high efficiency appliances and high efficiency HVAC systems on HERS Index Scores as they relate to reductions in the HERS Index Scores that may be used as 'tradeoffs' against best practice envelope efficiencies.

The Next Step Toward Widespread Residential Deep Energy Retrofits, Florida Solar Energy Center, Janet Mcilvaine

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The Building America Partnership for Improved Residential Construction (BA-PIRC) has been working with affordable housing entities to identify cost-effective technical pathways to achieve energy savings levels of 30% and safeguard or enhance indoor air quality (IAQ), durability, and comfort (McIlvaine et al. 2012; Fairey and Parker 2012).

Determining Appropriate Heating And Cooling Thermostat Set Points For Building Energy Simulations For Residential Buildings In North America, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Existing building energy simulation tools have a purported tendency to over-predict heating use and, in some cases, to under-predict cooling use, an outcome often attributed to inappropriate assumptions about thermostat management. As a result, a systematic review was conducted for the purposes of determining typical heating and cooling set points for single-family houses in North America. The preliminary consensus results provide an empirical basis for establishing typical inputs for building energy simulation models, increasing prediction accuracy of heating and cooling loads. The results of this review have been applied as default values in the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Home Energy …

Energy Retrofit Field Study And Best Practices In A Hot-Humid Climate, Florida Solar Energy Center, Janet Mcilvaine

FSEC Energy Research Center®

In the U.S. Census Bureau's Southern region, housing starts ranged from 4.6 to 5.9 million per decade from the 1970s through the 2000s, nearly twice as many as any other region across all decades. The potential for energy savings in these homes is vast, perhaps our most available untapped resource for reducing energy needs. This study was conducted in central Florida, which forms part of the Census Bureau's Southern region. It examines efficiency retrofit opportunities, typical renovation practices, and pathways for achieving U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) goals for existing homes in that region.

[Revised] Analysis Of Hers Index Scores For Recent Versions Of The International Energy Conservation Code (Iecc), Florida Solar Energy Center, Philip Fairey

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The EnergyGauge HERS software tool was used to examine the IECC Standard Reference Design (IECC SRD) configuration for one-story 2000 ft2 and two-story 2,400 ft2 single-family homes in sixteen representative U.S. cities. IECC SRD homes were configured for the 2006 IECC, the 2009 IECC and the 2012 IECC. Two additional set of analysis were conducted, both using the 2012 IECC SRD with enhanced equipment: 1) with equipment configured to meet the 2015 National Appliance Energy Conservation Act (NAECA) equipment requirements and 2) with equipment that is on the cusp of significant market penetration with efficiencies greater than the 2015 standard.HERS …

Measured Cooling Performance And Potential For Buried Duct Condensation In A 1991 Central Florida Retrofit Home, Florida Solar Energy Center, David Chasar

FSEC Energy Research Center®

The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) conducted energy performance monitoring of two existing residences in Central Florida that were undergoing various retrofits. These homes were occupied by FSEC researchers and were fully instrumented to yield detailed energy, temperature, and humidity measurements. The data gave feedback about the performance of two levels of retrofit in two types of homes in a hot-humid climate. This report covers a moderate-level retrofit and includes 2 years of pre-retrofit data to characterize the impact of improvements. The other home, covered in a separate report (Parker and Sherwin 2012), is a deep energy retrofit that has …

Sustainability Assessment Of Wind Energy For Buildings, Mehdi Noori

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Due to increasing concerns for global climate change, onshore and offshore wind energy technologies have stimulated a tremendous interest worldwide, and are considered as a viable solution to mitigate the environmental impacts related to electricity generation. Although wind energy technologies have been considered as one of the cleanest energy sources, they have a wide range of direct and indirect environmental impacts when the whole supply chain is considered. This study aims to quantify the direct and indirect environmental impacts of onshore and offshore wind power technologies by tracing all of the economy-wide supply chain requirements. To accomplish this goal, we …