Model-based Building Retrofit: Experiences at Sharif University of Technology

Abstract

This paper presents a model-based technique for building retrofit planning. The approach is based on the building energy model. An algorithm has been developed to calibrate building energy model based on hourly data. The calibrated model is used to select candidate retrofit actions and assess the energy saving potential associated with each candidate action. The proposed technique has been applied for retrofit planning in Department of Energy Engineering (DOEE) at the Sharif University of Technology in 2015. An smart reading system has been also developed to capture the hourly gas consumption for DOEE. Building energy model for DOEE has been developed in EnergyPlus and calibrated using the proposed algorithm. A set of retrofit action has been selected and implemented in DOEE based on the proposed technique. The results showed that the average cooling energy use in summers was reduced by 20% compared to the 6-year average summer energy use before retrofit. The results showed that only HVAC control has more than 8% impact on cooling energy use.

Keywords

• building
• energy
• retrofit
• model
• calibration