Building America House Simulation Protocols

Abstract

for their valuable technical contributions. In addition, the simulation experts for each of the Building America teams provided important new perspectives and critical assistance with the development of these protocols. Finally, we would like to express our gratitude to David Lee, Terry Logee, Ed Pollock, and George James of the U.

Imagine Homes New Construction Occupied Test House

“…The model predicted that 5 MBtu/yr of electricity would be used for hot water production, which is based on 55 ft² of solar collectors and an average hot water demand of 80 gal/day (in accordance with BA HSP simulation procedures) (Hendron and Engebrecht 2010). This was compared to the measured value of 9 MBtu of energy use, which does not include pump energy for the system and is based on 55 ft² of solar collectors and an average hot water demand of 71 gal/day.…”

“…The gas consumption of the fireplace was extrapolated from the difference between measured furnace gas usage and modeled predictions of heating gas usage using actual meteorological year (AMY) weather files and measured indoor set point temperatures. The gas consumption of the range was not measured, but its contribution was determined according to the BA HSP (Hendron and Engebrecht 2010) and was included as 4.2 MBtu/yr. For the purpose of this research, the separate monitoring of the range and fireplace did not justify the additional expense and complexity of another meter.…”

“…The home achieves a source energy savings of 32% without the installed photovoltaic (PV) system and 44% savings with the PV system contribution relative to the Building America (BA) House Simulation Protocols (HSP) (Hendron and Engebrecht 2010). Monitoring of the energy use, energy generation, and temperature conditions related to this high performance residential project took place between July 2010 and October 2011.…”

“…Imagine Homes constructed a test house in San Antonio, Texas, under BA activities with the intention of achieving a source energy savings of 50% relative to the BA HSP (Hendron and Engebrecht 2010). The test house, shown in Figure 1, faces predominantly east, has a slab-ongrade foundation, and has 3,856 ft 2 of living area on two stories with five bedrooms.…”

Predicted Versus Actual Savings for a Low-Rise Multifamily Retrofit in Boulder, Colorado

“…There are various methods for estimating this electricity use, however, energy modeling typically makes predictions that are heavily influenced by FFA and number of bedrooms (#BR) in the home. For instance, the MEL estimate for a gas/electric household in BEopt is based on the BA House Simulation Protocol developed by NREL and is calculated with the linear equation form that is indicated in Equation 1 (Hendron and Engebrecht 2010).…”