Thesis
Influence of design and climate change on the annual energy consumption of a passive solar house
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
2011
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/103836
Abstract
This thesis describes a method that has been used to assess the annual energy consumption of an energy-efficient house based on the operating energy requirements over a one-year period. As heating and cooling consume the most energy, it was decided that the study would mainly focus on the heating and cooling of the house. The object of this study is a virtual 2019 ft2 home (referred to throughout this report as the Seahouse) originally modeled for Seattle, Washington. The Seahouse is a four bedroom single family house with a passive solar design and a heating, ventilating and air conditioning system composed of geothermal heat-pumps. The home was sized based on the average dimension of new homes built in the US at the end of year 2009 [3]. The first objective of this study was to assess the influence of design on annual energy consumption. In this regard, the passive solar design was compared to a typical current American house. Subsequently, this paper evaluated the influence of climate change on annual energy consumption. Climate change weather files were generated with the CCWorldWeatherGen tool, implemented in DesignBuilder and simulations were conducted for 2010 and 2050. Finally, CO2 emissions of the Seahouse were assessed with state emission factors found in the eGRID 2006. Results from the different simulations indicated the efficiency of the Seahouse, as it saved from 84% to 93% more energy than the standard design. This design was also found to consume 8% to 40% more energy during 2050 than it did during 2010. In addition, an increase of carbon dioxide emissions 8% to 40% depending on location was noticed for the Seahouse. This design, however, allowed savings in carbon dioxide emissions ranging from 76% to 97% during over the typical design. It was concluded that the savings in energy made by the passive solar house were mostly due to its shape and HVAC system. Conversely, the impact of climate change was an increase energy consumption mostly generated by the variations of dry bulb temperature, solar radiation and relative humidity while wind speed seemed to have no influence.
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Details
- Title
- Influence of design and climate change on the annual energy consumption of a passive solar house
- Creators
- Christophe Parroco
- Contributors
- Michael P. Wolcott (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900525277401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis