A Quantitative Investigation of the Impact of Climate-Responsive Indoor Clothing Adaptation on Energy Use
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- To propose a climate-responsive indoor temperature control strategy based on the climate-responsive indoor clothing adaptation.
- To devise a methodology for integrating the control strategy into building energy simulations.
- To quantitatively assess the impact on energy use of indoor clothing adaptation among rural residents across different seasons and varying thermal comfort requirements.
2. Methodology
2.1. Climate-Responsive Indoor Temperature Control Strategy
2.1.1. Indoor Clothing Prediction
2.1.2. Indoor Comfort Temperature Calculations
2.2. Building Energy Simulations
2.2.1. Simulation Software
2.2.2. Modeling the Prototype
2.2.3. Simulation Periods
2.2.4. Simulation Scenarios
- (1)
- Summer simulation scenarios
- (2)
- Winter simulation scenarios
3. Results
3.1. Predicted Daily Indoor Clothing Insulation
3.2. Daily Indoor Comfort Temperature
- (1)
- Winter simulation scenarios
- (2)
- Summer simulation scenarios
3.3. Heating Loads
3.4. Cooling Loads
4. Discussion
4.1. Impact of Outdoor Temperature on Energy Use Reduction
4.2. Seasonal Differences in Energy Reduction
4.3. Rethinking Setpoint Temperatures
4.4. Research Limitations
5. Conclusions
- The influence of indoor clothing adaptations on indoor comfort temperature varied between winter and summer. During winter, indoor comfort temperature was on average reduced by 5.0 () and 6.7 (). Conversely, in summer, mean indoor comfort temperatures increased marginally by only 0.3 () and 0.2 ().
- The impact of indoor clothing adaptation on energy use was significant in both seasons. Peak loads were significantly reduced during the winter simulations, while the number of no-cooling days increased during the summer simulations. The total heating and cooling energy consumption could be reduced by 35.6% and 20.2%, respectively, under optimal thermal comfort conditions (). The energy use reduction was more significant with lower levels of thermal comfort requirements. The proportion of the reduction in total heating and cooling energy use increased to 63.1% and 34.4%, respectively, under the 80% acceptable thermal comfort conditions ().
- The climate-responsive indoor temperature control strategy based on indoor clothing adaptation and its significant impact on energy consumption suggested a viable approach for improving building energy efficiency in rural China and similar cost-sensitive contexts where economic factors, such as income and fuel costs, take precedence in decision-making regarding air conditioning. This approach leverages rural residents’ climate-responsive indoor clothing adaptation capability, providing acceptable indoor thermal environments while achieving significant energy reductions.
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Envelope | U-Value | U-Value Limit |
---|---|---|
Exterior wall | 0.52 | 0.65 |
Interior wall | 1.95 | \ |
Roof | 0.30 | 0.50 |
Ground floor | 0.34 | \ |
Unit: W/(m2·K) |
Winter Simulation Scenarios | Summer Simulation Scenarios | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
WC0 | WD0 | WC1 | WD1 | SC0 | SD0 | SC1 | SD1 | |
Relative humidity | 60% | 60% | 60% | 60% | 60% | 60% | 60% | 60% |
Air velocity | 0.02 m/s | 0.02 m/s | 0.02 m/s | 0.02 m/s | 0.24 m/s | 0.24 m/s | 0.24 m/s | 0.24 m/s |
Metabolic rate | 1.2 met | 1.2 met | 1.2 met | 1.2 met | 1.0 met | 1.0 met | 1.0 met | 1.0 met |
PMV | 0 | 0 | −0.85 | −0.85 | 0 | 0 | +0.85 | +0.85 |
Clothing insulation | 1.0 clo | Dynamic | 1.0 clo | Dynamic | 0.46 clo | Dynamic | 0.46 clo | Dynamic |
Winter | Summer | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Min | Max | Mean | S.D. | CV (RMSE) | Min | Max | Mean | S.D. | CV (RMSE) | |
Constant clothing | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 0.00 | 81.6% | 0.46 | 0.46 | 0.46 | 0.00 | 11.5% |
Dynamic clothing | 1.72 | 1.93 | 1.82 | 0.05 | 0.39 | 0.45 | 0.41 | 0.01 | ||
Unit: clo. |
PMV | Scenario | Min | Max | Mean | Total | Energy Use Reduction |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | WC0 | 25.5 | 41.1 | 34.4 | 2442.1 | 868.6 |
WD0 | 14.2 | 28.0 | 22.5 | 1573.5 | ||
−0.85 | WC1 | 16.6 | 31.7 | 25.2 | 1778.3 | 1129.0 |
WD1 | 2.0 | 14.2 | 9.3 | 659.2 |
PMV | Scenario | Min | Max | Mean | Total | Energy Use Reduction |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | SC0 | 0.0 | 47.8 | 12.1 | 858.4 | 173.8 |
SD0 | 0.0 | 44.4 | 9.6 | 684.6 | ||
+0.85 | SC1 | 0.0 | 19.6 | 1.6 | 108.2 | 37.2 |
SD1 | 0.0 | 16.3 | 1.0 | 71.0 |
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Zhuang, Z.; Liu, Z.; Chow, D.; Zhao, W. A Quantitative Investigation of the Impact of Climate-Responsive Indoor Clothing Adaptation on Energy Use. Buildings 2024, 14, 2311. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14082311
Zhuang Z, Liu Z, Chow D, Zhao W. A Quantitative Investigation of the Impact of Climate-Responsive Indoor Clothing Adaptation on Energy Use. Buildings. 2024; 14(8):2311. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14082311
Chicago/Turabian StyleZhuang, Zhaokui, Zhe Liu, David Chow, and Wei Zhao. 2024. "A Quantitative Investigation of the Impact of Climate-Responsive Indoor Clothing Adaptation on Energy Use" Buildings 14, no. 8: 2311. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14082311