Conference Paper

Proceedings of Building Simulation 2019: 16th Conference of IBPSA

Modeling the Thermal Interactions between Buildings at an Urban Scale

Xuan Luo, Tianzhen Hong
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, United States of America

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26868/25222708.2019.210530
Abstract: Understanding the thermal interactions between buildings and environment is one key factor in urban modeling and simulation, as they can strongly influence buildings’ energy use, environmental impact and occupants’ thermal comfort. We added a new feature to EnergyPlus in version 8.8.0, modifying the heat balance of the building’s exterior surfaces to explicitly consider these effects. We conducted a case study with a district in the Chicago downtown area applying the feature, simulating and evaluating the heat exchange effects between the exterior surfaces of those high-rise buildings. Results show the radiant heat exchange between buildings have impacts on buildings’ energy demand and heat emissions to ambient, especially in the dense urban areas.
Keywords: inter-building effect, radiant heat exchange, buildings, EnergyPlus, urban environment, building simulation
Pages: 336 - 342
Paper: