University of San Carlos-Technological Center

Nasipit, Talamban, Cebu City

Mechanical Engineering Department

IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE SUBJECT

ME 511ML – AIR CONDITIONING AND VENTILATION SYSTEMS LABORATORY

Cooling Load Analysis of the Room LB 343 in Bunzel Building using Energy Plus

Presented by:

Agustin, Clint james A.

Briones, Alec John H.

Instructor:

Engr. Jonathan S. Colina

 Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1..............................................................................................................3
THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE.........................................................................3
1.1 Introduction......................................................................................................3
1.2 Statement of the Problem.................................................................................4
1.3 Objectives.........................................................................................................4
1.4 Significance of Study.......................................................................................4
1.5 Scope and Limitation.......................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2..............................................................................................................5
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND..........................................................................5
2.1 Components of Cooling Load..........................................................................5
2.1.1 Space Heat Gain and Space Cooling Load....................................................6
2.1.2 Cooling Load Temperature Difference and Cooling Load Facto..................6
2.1.3 Space Cooling Loads.....................................................................................7
2.1.4 External Cooling Loads.................................................................................7
[Link] Solar Heat Gain through Fenestration Areas..............................................7
[Link] Conduction Heat Gain through Fenestration Areas...................................8
[Link] Conduction Heat Gain through Roofs and External Walls........................8
[Link] Conduction Heat Gain through Floors.......................................................8
2.1.5 Internal Cooling Loads..................................................................................8
2.1.6 Loads from Infiltration and Ventilation........................................................8
2.2 EnergyPlus, Sketch Up and Open Studio.........................................................9
2.2.1 EnergyPlus....................................................................................................9
2.2.2 SketchUp.....................................................................................................10
2.2.3 OpenStudio..................................................................................................11
CHAPTER 3............................................................................................................13
METHODOLOGY..................................................................................................13

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 3.1 Process Flow Chart.........................................................................................13
3.2 Building Model..............................................................................................14
3.3 Table Building Components...........................................................................15
CHAPTER 4............................................................................................................17
RESULTS................................................................................................................17
CHAPTER 5............................................................................................................18
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................18

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 CHAPTER 1

THE PROBLEM AND ITS SCOPE

1.1 Introduction
Energy efficiency is of utmost concern these days since resources are limited while

demands are exponentially getting higher each year. [1] The use of air-conditioning is widely

used here in the Philippines because of its hot and humid climate. This means that the use of air-

conditioners entail a lot of energy. In the Philippines, energy consumption is high for air-

conditioning systems because of the lack of energy analysis and cooling loads for a certain room.

Air-conditioning systems are designed to cool an enclosed space, and afterwards cycle the cool

air. Most of the time, the air-conditioning system is not cycled because of the many heat gains a

room is exposed to. Also, the use of the appropriate materials for insulation and equipment to

make the air-conditioning system efficient are not utilized. This paper would present the cooling

load analysis of room LB 343 at the Bunzel Building, University of San Carlos, Talamban, Cebu

City. This paper would entail the analysis of the various factors for the air-conditioning

requirements and the appropriate measures to make the room as energy efficient as possible. The

use of energy plus software is used as a tool to perform the cooling load analysis in this paper.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

The room LB 343 at the University of San Carlos, Talamban, Cebu City, Philippines is

not analyzed for its cooling load.

1.3 Objectives
 Measure the room dimensions, appliances, room usage of room LB 343

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  Calculate the cooling load requirement for room LB 343 using SketchUp, EnergyPlus

and OpenStudio

1.4 Significance of Study

This study will help the University of San Carlos reduce the cost of cooling room LB 343

and therefore would help reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions.

This study will also help other students who is planning to study cooling load analysis

research.

1.5 Scope and Limitation

The main focus of this study is to calculate the cooling load of the room LB 343 using the

computer software EnergyPlus.

This study is limited to the following:

 The whole cooling load analysis is specific to the room LB 343.

 Holes, window cracks, door openings are not part of the cooling load analysis

 Only 2 occupants of the LB 343 are made basis for this paper.

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 CHAPTER 2

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

2.1 Components of Cooling Load

The total building  cooling load consists of heat transferred through the building envelope

(walls, roof, floor, windows, doors etc.) and heat generated by occupants, equipment, and lights.

The load due to heat transfer through the envelope is called as external load, while all other loads

are called as internal loads. The percentage of external versus internal load varies with building

type, site climate, and building design. The total cooling load in HVAC on any building consists

of both sensible as well as latent load components. The sensible load affects the dry bulb

temperature, while the latent load affects the moisture content of the conditioned space.

2.1.1 Space Heat Gain and Space Cooling Load

Space heat gain is the rate at which heat enters a space, or heat generated within a space during a

time interval. Space cooling load is the rate at which heat is removed from the conditioned space

to maintain a constant space air temperature. Figure 2.1.1 (below) shows the difference between

the space heat gain and the space cooling load. The difference between the space heat gain and

the space cooling load is due to the storage of a portion of radiant heat in the structure. The

convective component is converted to space cooling load instantaneously.

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 Figure 2.1.1: Difference between Space heat gain and Space Cooling Load

2.1.2 Cooling Load Temperature Difference and Cooling Load Factor

Cooling load temperature difference and cooling load factor are used to convert the space

sensible heat gain to space sensible cooling load.

2.1.3 Space Cooling Loads

The area or place that will be taken into account in cooling. Space cooling loads are

classified into 3 categories: external cooling load, internal cooling load and load from infiltration

and ventilation.

Figure 2.1.3: Example of source heat gains

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2.1.4 External Cooling Loads

These are the cooling loads depending on the structure of the building such as walls,

windows and doors.

[Link] Solar Heat Gain through Fenestration Areas

The radiation heat gain from the sun, based on the arrangement of the windows and doors

of the building. These can be either exterior or interior. Shading or partial sunlit area can also

affect the cooling load necessary to cool an entire room or building.

[Link] Conduction Heat Gain through Fenestration Areas

The conductive heat gain from the ambient heat, based on the arrangement of the

windows and doors of the building. This can be either outdoor or adiabatic. Thickness and the

type of material in windows and doors can greatly affect the overall heat transfer rate

[Link] Conduction Heat Gain through Roofs and External Walls

The conductive heat gain from the surrounding heat based from the roof or walls. This

can be either adiabatic or outdoor.

[Link] Conduction Heat Gain through Floors

The conductive heat gain from the surrounding heat based from the material of the floor.

This is usually only adiabatic since the floor don’t necessarily interact with the outdoor

environment.

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2.1.5 Internal Cooling Loads

These are the cooling loads based form the interior lighting, people and other electrical

equipment.

2.1.6 Loads from Infiltration and Ventilation

Infiltration load is a space cooling load due to the infiltrated air flowing through cracks

and openings and entering into a conditioned room under a pressure difference across the

building envelope. The introduction of outdoor ventilation air must be considered in combination

with the infiltrated air.

2.2 EnergyPlus, Sketch Up and Open Studio

These computer software applications can be used to calculate the cooling loads of the

building and room structures based from the pre-existing standards and prerecorded schedules.

2.2.1 EnergyPlus

EnergyPlus is a whole building energy simulation program that engineers, architects, and

researchers use to model both energy consumption—for heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting

and plug and process loads—and water use in buildings. Some of the notable features and

capabilities of EnergyPlus include:

 Integrated, simultaneous solution of thermal zone conditions and HVAC system response

that does not assume that the HVAC system can meet zone loads and can simulate un-

conditioned and under-conditioned spaces.

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  Heat balance-based solution of radiant and convective effects that produce surface

temperatures thermal comfort and condensation calculations.

 Sub-hourly, user-definable time steps for interaction between thermal zones and the

environment; with automatically varied time steps for interactions between thermal zones

and HVAC systems. These allow EnergyPlus to model systems with fast dynamics while

also trading off simulation speed for precision.

 Combined heat and mass transfer model that accounts for air movement between zones.

 Advanced fenestration models including controllable window blinds, electrochromic

glazings, and layer-by-layer heat balances that calculate solar energy absorbed by

window panes.

 Illuminance and glare calculations for reporting visual comfort and driving lighting

controls.

 Component-based HVAC that supports both standard and novel system configurations.

 A large number of built-in HVAC and lighting control strategies and an extensible

runtime scripting system for user-defined control.

 Functional Mockup Interface import and export for co-simulation with other engines.

 Standard summary and detailed output reports as well as user definable reports with

selectable time-resolution from annual to sub-hourly, all with energy source multipliers.

2.2.2 SketchUp

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 SketchUp is a program used for a wide range of 3D modeling projects like architectural,

interior design, landscape architecture, and video game design, to name a few of its uses. One of

its features is it allows one to model a building or room that can be formatted using the other

scheduling software called OpenStudio and the model from SketchUp is easily integrated to the

said software. The SketchUP has a Openstudio toolbar where parameters can be easily set for

calculating cooling load.

Figure 2.2.2: A building modeled using SketchUp

2.2.3 OpenStudio

OpenStudio is a cross-platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux) collection of software tools

to support whole building energy modeling using EnergyPlus and advanced daylight analysis

using Radiance. OpenStudio is an open source (LGPL) project to facilitate community

development, extension, and private sector adoption. OpenStudio includes graphical interfaces

along with a Software Development Kit (SDK).

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 The graphical applications include the OpenStudio SketchUp Plug-in, OpenStudio

Application, ResultsViewer and the Parametric Analysis Tool. The OpenStudio SketchUp Plug-

in is an extension to Trimble’s popular SketchUp 3D modeling tool that allows users to quickly

create geometry needed for EnergyPlus. Additionally, OpenStudio supports import of gbXML

and IFC for geometry creation. The OpenStudio Application is a fully featured graphical

interface to OpenStudio models including envelope, loads, schedules, and HVAC. ResultsViewer

enables browsing, plotting, and comparing simulation output data, especially time series. The

Parametric Analysis Tool enables studying the impact of applying multiple combinations of

OpenStudio Measures to a base model as well as export of the analysis results for EDAPT

submission.

Figure 2.2.3: The OpenStudio interface

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 CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

3.1 Process Flow Chart

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 In this chapter, the room measurements and the calculation of the room LB 343 are done

according to the flow chart below.

Measurment of the dimensions of the room LB

1 343

Checking the rated power of the installed aircon

2 in the room

Modeling the room using SketchUp

3

Calculating cooling load using data from

4 EnergyPlus and OpenStudio

The first part of this report is measuring the dimensions of the room LB 343 and then

check the rated power of the already installed aircons in the room. The whole building and room

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is modeled using SketchUp and the cooling load analysis is performed using the date from the

EnergyPlus and Openstudio.

3.2 Building Model

Figure 3.2.1 shows the exterior model of the building from the outside view. It also

shows the actual location and story of the room. The whole set up is modeled using the modeling

software SketchUp.

Figure 3.2.1: The exterior view of the location of LB 343 modeled using SketchUp

Figure 3.2.2 shows the see-through interior view of the building. It is worth noting that

this is a space model so the interior parts are viewed in this way. The slight greenish shows the

interior walls and the bluish walls are the exterior walls.

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 Figure 3.2.2: The see-through view of the modeled building in SketchUp

3.3 Table Building Components

The specifications of the aircon and the actual image of the aircon is shown below. There

are 2 aircons in the room and each has a rated capacity of 25,500 kJ/hr.

Figure 3.3.1: The specification and the actual image of the aircon in LB 343

Accounting for the people is really an important role as one of the goals in this

comparison is to achieve ideal comfort conditions for the occupants in the room with maximum

efficiency. A person gives off about 97.2 Watts of power which is near to a 100 W light. We

accounted for the 8 pieces of 40 W lights, 1 projector with 234 W and the 1-2 people who are in

the room most of the time.

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 Figure 3.3.2: The table of components inside the building

Table 3.3.1: The schedule of the room LB 343

This is the weekly schedule of the operation of room LB 343 plotted using Excel. The

aircon is operated under the shaded time periods of the week. The scheduling is also taken into

account to get more accurate results from the simulation.

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 CHAPTER 4

RESULTS

Table 1: The values obtained from the simulation

It can be seen in our results from Table 1 that our design load is around 1908.26 W to

2194.50 W which is around 114.49 kJ/hr to 131.67 kJ/hr and multiplied by two because the room

LB 343 have two AC units which is around 228.99 kJ/hr. The specifications of the already

installed aircons in LB 343 is 25,500 kJ/hr. This means that the installed aircons in the said room

is relatively oversized.

The chart below shows the monthly overview of the energy consumption based from the

schedule set of the room LB 343. It shows that the peak consumption rate is on May with around

2.8 kWh.

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 Figure 1: The monthly consumption chart

CHAPTER 5

CONCLUSION

The measuring of the room dimensions, appliances and the room usage have been taken

into account. The model of the building has been successfully executed using the SketchUp app.

By the results of the simulations from EnergyPlus and Openstudio, it has been concluded that the

aircons on the room LB 343 is too oversized. It is also worth noting that there are a limited to 2

people, so which means there is a lot of uneeded cooling load output from the aircon, which

could result an unnecessary increase of the electric bill in future

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