Engineering Commons^™

Rebuilding For Efficiency: Improving The Energy Use Of Reconstructed Residences In South Florida, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

On August 24th, 1992, Hurricane Andrew devastated a large part of South Dade County in Florida. With over 35,000 homes to be rebuilt, there is interest in seeing if these reconstructed residences can be made more energy-efficient.

This report provides a comprehensive assessment of potential energy efficiency improvements for both new and existing homes in South Florida. Over forty energy-efficiency measures were considered in the analysis. Many homes in the effected zone experienced damage to their windows, roofs and the surrounding landscape. As a result, the analysis closely examined options associated with these design aspects. All major end-uses of electricity …

Measured Electricity Savings Of Refrigerator Replacement: Case Study And Analysis, Florida Solar Energy Center, Ted Stedman

FSEC Energy Research Center®

There are approximately seven million refrigerator-freezers in the State of Florida. The average demand of these units is at least 1,000 MW. The average life of a residential refrigerator is approximately 20 years (U.S. DOE, 1989). At least 25% of Florida's existing stock are old inefficient units built before the advent of recent appliance efficiency standards. The least efficient are existing models of which approximately 5% of the stock is replaced each year. This represents a significant opportunity for efficiency improvement since recently established standards will greatly improve refrigerator efficiency by 1993 (NAECA, 1987). A number of studies have identified …

Fsec 3.0: Florida Software For Enervironment Computation: V3.0 Draft User's Manual. 01-92, Florida Solar Energy Center, Alp Kerestecioglu

FSEC Energy Research Center®

FSEC 3.0 was developed to support research. It is a general-purpose software package especially designed to simulate complex building science problems. The program offers several unique features.

The major feature is its ability to solve user-defined systems of governing equations. Up to 250 coupled differential equations and their corresponding boundary conditions may be either selected from libraries or defined by the user. The equations may be linear or nonlinear; spatially-lumped or spatially-distributed; steady-state or transient; ordinary or partial. The structure of the software also allows users to incorporate their own routines or programs. Thus, researchers may define their specific problem …

Energy-Efficient Lighting For Florida Homes, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

Although lighting doesn't constitute a major portion of the average homeowner's electric bill (generally from 3 to 15 percent), you can cut your lighting costs significantly by installing new energy-efficient bulbs. As an added plus for Florida residents, these new bulbs produce less heat, meaning less work for your air conditioner.

Measured Natural Cooling Enhancement Of A Whole House Fan, Florida Solar Energy Center, Danny Parker

FSEC Energy Research Center®

An experimental study was carried out in the summer of 1991 to investigate the natural cooling potential of use of a whole house fan in Central Florida's hot and humid climate. The residential building, in Cocoa Beach, FL, is typical of much of the existing housing stock in Florida: a concrete block structure with R-11 ceiling insulation. The building was ventilated with all windows open during the three month summer test period (June-August). Air temperatures and relative humidity inside the home interior along with exterior meteorological conditions (insolation, wind speed, air temperature, relative humidity) were scanned every five seconds with …