Medium office energy consumption optimization using EnergyPlus

Abstract

This research paper studies the impacts of HVAC system scheduling and building envelope material properties on the building energy efficiency in the downtown New York City, metropolitan area, that is highly associated with Urban Heat Island. By utilizing EnergyPlus for whole energy building simulation, the research compares two HVAC operational cases: a baseline case with constant temperature setpoints, and an occupancy-based temperature setpoint schedule. The study also investigated the influence of thermal conductivity variations in stucco exterior wall materials, with three cases, the default baseline thermal conductivity and a 15% variance, respectively. Results indicate that occupancy-driven scheduling significantly reduces energy consumption by approximately 16% annually compared to baseline. Conversely, the influence of thermal conductivity on energy consumption is minimal, with only a 0.35% deviation noted in response to a 15% variation in thermal conductivity. This suggests that both optimizing HVAC scheduling and the thermal conductivity of building envelope materials can save building energy consumption while optimizing HVAC scheduling has a relatively stronger impact than optimizing the thermal conductivity with a 15% variance in downtown New York City.