Development of a reduced order model of solar heat gains prediction

Abstract

The aim of this study was to elaborate and validate a reduced order model able to forecast solar heat gains as a function of the architectural parameters that determine the solar heat gains. The study focused on office buildings in Catalonia and Spain and their physical values were taken from the Spanish Building Technical Code and European Union Directive 2018/844. A reduced order model with three direct variables (solar heat gain coefficient, shade factor, window to wall ratio) and one indirect design variable (building orientation) was obtained and validated in respect to the International Performance Measurement and Verification Protocol. Building envelope properties were fixed and the values were taken from the national standards of Spain. This work validates solar heat gain coefficient as a primary variable in determining the annual solar heat gains in a building. Further work of developed model could result in building energy need quick evaluation tool in terms of solar heat gains for architects in building early stage as it has an advantage over detailed building simulation programs in terms of instant calculation and the limited need for predefined input data.

This research was supported by H2020 Geofit project Grant Agreement No. 792210 and the Estonian Centre of Excellence in Zero Energy and Resource Efficient Smart Buildings and Districts, ZEBE (grant No. 2014-2020.4.01.15-0016) and the programme Mobilitas Pluss (Grant No. 2014-2020.4.01.16-0024, MOBTP88) funded by the European Regional Development Fund, by the Estonian Research Council (grant No. PSG409) and by the European Commission through the H2020 project Finest Twins (grant No. 856602)

Peer Reviewed

Postprint (published version)