Simulating Energy Efficient Upgrades in a Residential Test Home to Reduce Energy Consumption

ENERGY EFFICIENCY‟S ROLE IN A ZERO ENERGY BUILDING: SIMULATING ENERGY EFFICIENT UPGRADES IN A RESIDENTIAL TEST HOME TO REDUCE ENERGY CONSUMPTION by Andrew Frye A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of M.S. Mechanical Engineering University of Tennessee at Chattanooga May 2011 UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE AT CHATTANOOGA ABSTRACT Energy Efficiency‟s Role in a Zero Energy Building: Simulating Energy Efficient Upgrades in a Residential Test Home to Reduce Energy Consumption by Drew Frye Chairperson of the Thesis Committee: Dr. Prakash R. Dhamshala College of Engineering With the steady rise in power consumption, automobile usage, and industrial production worldwide for the past century, countries have realized that meeting these ever-growing energy demands could potentially devastate the environment. In the United States, generating electrical power constitutes the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions and the majority of this power is used to electrify buildings both in the commercial and residential sectors. It is estimated that 21% of all electrical power generated in the United States is consumed by residential buildings. To reduce the total amount of electricity that need be generated (and therefore, the amount of pollution) governments have invested heavily into energy efficiency research especially in the major power consuming sector of residential buildings. The ultimate goal of energy efficient measures is to cut the power consumption of a building enough that all of the energy needs can be met by an on-site renewable energy system such as photovoltaic solar panels. This would result in what many call a “zero energy building.” This paper quantitatively investigates the effectiveness of potential energy efficient upgrades in a residential home through various building energy simulation techniques including the computer building load and energy requirement software entitled “Transient Analysis of Building Loads and Energy Requirements” or TABLER. Energy savings from energy efficient upgrades were investigated in the areas of residential lighting, building envelope infiltration mitigation, advanced insulating materials, advanced window technologies, electrical plug-load reduction strategies, and energy efficient appliance options. Results of simulations show significant energy savings for various energy efficient upgrades can be achieved either by a reduction in the electrical power consumed directly by the device (lighting, electronics, and appliances) or by a reduction in power consumption of the home heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment used to remove or add heat to the conditioned space throughout the year. The effectiveness of individual upgrades as compared to the total investment required to implement them is a matter of opinion slanted by whether energy conservation or return on investment is the ultimate goal. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables viii List of Figures xi List of Symbols xv Chapter 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Thesis Research Purpose 5 Chapter 2 Residential Test House 7 2.1 Floor Plan / Home Design 7 2.2 Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) System 13 2.3 Typical Power Consumption of Home 18 Chapter 3 Lighting 23 3.1 Light Efficiency and Efficacy 24 3.3 Lighting Energy (Electricity and Thermal) Loads 32 3.3 Baseline Lighting Simulation Procedure 34 3.4 Lighting Results / Savings Estimates 40 3.5 Daylighting Techniques 45 3.6 Brief Remarks on Lighting 54 Chapter 4 Infiltration Mitigation 56 4.1 Infiltration Basic Concepts and Terminology 56 iv 4.2 Infiltration Simplified Models – LBNL Model 69 4.3 Infiltration Energy Loads 73 4.4 Baseline Simulation Procedure 75 4.5 Energy Efficient Upgrades for Infiltration Mitigation 96 4.6 Infiltration Mitigation Energy Efficient Simulation / Results 88 4.7 Brief Remarks on Infiltration 93 Chapter 5 Advanced Insulation 94 5.1 Insulation Basic Concepts and Terminology 94 5.2 Insulation Simulation Procedure 104 5.3 Baseline Simulation of Insulation System 112 5.4 Energy Efficient Insulation Upgrades 115 5.5 Energy Efficient Insulation Simulation Results 121 5.6 Brief Remarks on Insulation 123 Chapter 6 Advanced Windows 125 6.1 Windows Basic Concepts and Terminology 125 6.2 Advanced Windows 128 6.3 Importance of Southern Window Over-Hangs 130 6.4 Window Baseline Energy Simulation 137 6.5 Window Energy Efficient Upgrades 140 6.6 Energy Efficient Window Upgrade Energy Simulation 142 6.7 Brief Remarks on Windows 147 v Chapter 7 Plug Loads – Appliances and Electronics 150 7.1 Plug Load Basic Concepts and Terminology 150 7.2 EnergyStar® Products 152 7.3 Test House Plug Loads and Appliance Loads 159 7.4 Major Appliances 165 7.5 Brief Remarks on Plug Loads 175 Chapter 8 Total Building Energy Simulation 178 8.1 Baseline Total Building Energy Simulation 181 8.2 Total Building Energy Efficient Upgrades 183 8.3 Brief Remarks on Total Building Energy Simulation 194 Chapter 9 Solar Power Generation 197 9.1 Solar Power Generation Simulation 205 Chapter 10 Conclusions and Recommendations 209 References 214 Appendix A Cooling Load Factors (CLF) for Lighting 219 Appendix B Zone Types and Zone Parameters for CLF Values 221 Appendix C Energy Efficient Lighting Conditions for Simulation Sets 222 Appendix D Component Effective Leakage Areas 226 vi Appendix E Effective Leakage Area Calculations for Whole Test House 230 Appendix F Air Changes per Hour Computer Code: ACHcalc.m 235 Appendix G Solar Calculator Computer Code: Test_Solar_new.m 236 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: Cooling Performance Characteristics of Payne 15 PH12 036-G Split-System Heat Pump Table 2.2: Heating Performance Characteristics of Payne 16 PH12 036-G Split-System Heat Pump Table 2.3: Test Home Utility Information 22 Table 3.1: Incandescent Light Bulbs Commercially Available 29 Table 3.2: Fluorescent Light Bulbs Commercially Available 30 Table 3.3: LED Lights Commercially Available 31 Table 3.4: Base-Line Energy Simulation Data 39 Table 3.5: Important CFL Simulation Results 42 Table 3.6: Important LED Simulation Results 43 Table 3.7: Important Combination LED & CFL Simulation Results 45 Table 3.8: Important Simulation Results 54 Table 4.1: Percentage of Air Leakage Area by Building Components 64 Table 4.2: Sample of Component Effective Air Leakage Area 65 Table 4.3: Stack Coefficient Cs 71 Table 4.4: Local Shielding Classes 71 Table 4.5: Wind Coefficient Cw 72 Table 4.6: Sample Calculated Leakage Area for the Living Room of the Test Home 76 Table 4.7: Energy Audit and CEC Recommended Upgrades 87 Table 4.8: Simulation Results and Savings from Infiltration Mitigation Upgrades 93 Table 5.1: Local Commercially Available Insulation Options 100 viii Table 5.2: ORNL Insulation Recommendations 102 Table 5.3: Exterior Wall U-Factor Calculations 107 Table 5.4: Floor U-Factor Calculations 108 Table 5.5: Main Room Ceiling U-Factor Calculations 109 Table 5.6: Bedroom Roof R-Value Calculations 109 Table 5.7: Bedroom Ceiling R-Value Calculations 110 Table 5.8: TABLER Solid Envelope Inputs for Insulation Energy Simulations 111 Table 5.9: Major Construction Project Cost Breakdown 120 Table 5.10: Review of Test Home Insulation Upgrades 120 Table 5.11: Insulation Upgrade Simulation Results 121 Table 5.12: Review of Insulation Simulations and Savings 124 Table 6.1: Full Frame R-values and U-factors for Typical Windows 127 Table 6.2: Sample of Various SeriousWindowsTM Advanced Windows 129 Table 6.3: 3M Window Sun Coating Performance Characteristics 129 Table 6.4: Sustainable Design‟s Over-hang Annual Analysis Online Tool Results for Typical Pitched Southern Over-hang. Percentage of Direct Sun Incident on these Windows 133 Table 6.5: Over-hang Design Recommendations for Chattanooga 136 Table 6.6: Actual Test Home Window Information 137 Table 6.7: SeriousWindowsTM Energy Efficient Test Home Window Upgrades Test 1 141 Table 6.8: 3M CM40 Window Coatings Upgrade Test 2 141 Table 6.9: Review of Advanced Window Simulation Results 147 ix Table 7.1: Energy Star Requirements for Clothes Washing Machines 153 Table 7.2: EnergyStar® Specifications for Dishwashers 154 Table 7.3: EnergyStar® Specifications for Refrigerators and Freezers 156 Table 7.4: EnergyStar® Requirements for Televisions Based on Viewable Screen Area 157 Table 7.5: EnergyStar Computer Specifications 158 Table 7.6: EnergyStar Monitor Specifications 158 Table 7.7: Power Measurements of Test House Electronics and Appliances 160 Table 7.8: Total Annual Power Consumption and Expenditure Estimation 162 Table 7.9: Annual Vampire Electronic Loads Broken Down into Standby and OFF Modes 164 Table 7.10: Cooking Methods and Power Consumption / Cost 173 Table 7.11: Electric vs. Gas Cooking Appliances 174 Table 7.12: Review of Plug Loads -Electronics and Appliance Important Information 177 Table 8.1: TABLER Inputs for Baseline, Whole Building Energy Simulation 180 Table 8.2: Baseline Total Building Energy Simulation Results 181 Table 8.2: TABLER Inputs for Best Case Energy Efficient Whole Building Simulation 185 Table 8.3: Best Case Energy Efficient Total Building Simulation Results 186 Table 8.3: TABLER Inputs for Cost Effective Energy Efficient Upgrades Simulation 190 Table 8.4: Cost Effective Energy Efficient Whole Building Simulation Results 191 Table 8.5: Whole Building Energy Efficient Upgrade Simulation Results 194 Table 9.1: SHARP 175W PV Performance Characteristics 205 x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: Carbon Dioxide Emissions by Energy Source from Annual Energy Review 2009 2 Figure 1.2: Department of Energy U.S. Primary Energy

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