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Multi-framework-based approach for optimizing dwelling conditions and energy efficiency in subtropical climatic conditions

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Abstract

Buildings sector being responsible for more than one-third of the overall energy consumption is growing rapidly. One of the top priorities of building designers is to minimize energy consumption. This communication presents a multi-framework-based approach to optimize dwelling conditions and energy efficiency in subtropical climatic conditions. In the present work, the thermal behavior of indoor air is assessed by using Ansys Workbench while the Grasshopper plugin of Rhinoceros 3D is used to evaluate the daylighting under different scenarios. The study also involves a survey with a sample size of 289 people to substantiate the various optimization strategies. Further, the work encompasses the validation of respective approaches by comparing the results with measured values. Based on the results, it has been observed that using a ceiling fan and air conditioner alongside during the summer season in subtropical climatic conditions provides better dwelling conditions and reduces cooling load by 20–30% in comparison with an air conditioner alone. While consciously utilizing daylight by ensuring minimal illuminance of 500 lx is having the ability to decrease the lighting load by approximately 27%. Further, the results obtained from the present investigation can serve as a basis for providing better dwelling conditions with optimized energy utilization.

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Abbreviations

3-D:

Three dimensional

AC:

Air conditioner

ASHRAE:

American society of heating, refrigerating and air-conditioning engineers

CBE:

Centre of Built environment

CFAC:

Ceiling fan & air conditioner

CFD:

Computational fluid dynamics

CV-RMSE:

Coefficient variation of root mean square error

DG:

Daylighting

ECBC:

Energy conservation building code

IAQ:

Indoor air quality

IEA:

International energy agency

J&K:

Jammu and Kashmir

MBE:

Mean bias error

PMV:

Predicted mean vote

PPD:

Percentage of people dissatisfaction

RH:

Relative Humidity

SST:

Shear stress transport

C p :

Specific heat of fluid

ɛ :

Dissipation rate

F x :

Internal force.

K :

Turbulence kinetic energy

Nu:

Nusselt number

P :

Pressure of the fluid

Pr:

Prandtl number

Re:

Reynold’s number

S :

Invariant measure of strain rate

T :

Temperature of the fluid

U :

Mean velocity in tensor notation

u, v, and w :

Velocity components in x, y & z directions

α, β & σ :

Constants

λ :

Thermal conductivity

μ :

Viscosity of the fluid

ρ :

Density of fluid

ϕ :

Absorbed energy source

ω :

Specific dissipation rate

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy Management, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, India

    Shubham Kumar Verma & S. Anand

  2. School of Mechanical Engineering, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, India

    Y. Anand

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  1. Shubham Kumar Verma
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Verma, S.K., Anand, Y. & Anand, S. Multi-framework-based approach for optimizing dwelling conditions and energy efficiency in subtropical climatic conditions. J Therm Anal Calorim 148, 3535–3554 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11932-1

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