Airflow and indoor air quality models of DOE prototype commercial buildings

Abstract

A previous report, NIST Technical Note 1734, Airflow and Indoor Air Quality Models of DOE Reference Commercial Buildings [1], detailed the CONTAM models of the 16 U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) reference commercial building models [2]. DOE developed the EnergyPlus building models for use in assessing new technologies and supporting the development of energy codes in pursuing building energy efficiency improvements. The DOE commercial reference buildings were developed to represent buildings that were constructed before 1980, constructed between 1980-2003, and constructed in 2004. Further details on the DOE reference building models can be found in Deru, et al. (2). Since the release of the DOE reference building models, updates have been made by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) so that the modeled buildings comply with newer versions of ASHRAE Standard 90.1 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings [3] and the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) [4]. These building models are referred to as the "prototype" buildings, rather than the "reference" buildings. Thus, NIST Technical Note 1734 is updated in this report to reflect the changes to the CONTAM models to match the prototype buildings that comply with ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2013. Updates to the NIST Technical Note 1734 are denoted by red text in this document.In general, the building geometry and layout of the prototype buildings are the same as the reference buildings, with minor changes to the layout of the Large Office only. In addition, both the reference and prototype building models contain 16 building types. However, the reference buildings include a Supermarket while the prototype buildings include a Highrise Apartment. DOE did not provide reasoning for excluding a Supermarket from the prototype set [5]. All CONTAM models of the prototype buildings required updates to the building envelope airtightness, ventilation airflow rates, ventilation system operation, occupancy, and thermostat setpoint schedules.

Predicting Concentrations of Ultrafine Particles and Volatile Organic Compounds Resulting from Desktop 3D Printer Operation and the Impact of Potential Control Strategies

“…We used a multizone airflow and contaminant transport analysis modeling software, CONTAM 3.2 (NIST 2016), to predict concentrations resulting from gas and particle emissions from several combinations of desktop FFF 3D printers and filaments, assuming each printer is operated inside a one-story office building with a floor area of 511 square meters (m 2 ). The office building geometry and floor plan was taken from the Department of Energy Commercial Reference Building data set (Ng et al 2012). However, we modified some of the building characteristics in the CONTAM model to represent more realistic scenarios.…”

“…However, we modified some of the building characteristics in the CONTAM model to represent more realistic scenarios. Figure 1 shows the building floor plan divided into multiple zones and the maximum occupancy in each zone (Ng et al 2012).…”

Partitioning of Intelligent Buildings for Distributed Contaminant Detection and Isolation

“…2) Real buildings: The model of a health-care facility [39] is simulated, which consists of 126 zones (mainly examination, waiting and storage rooms) and 420 leakage paths consisting of doors and windows. Natural ventilation is assumed with the air flowing from 240 • relative to the north with a speed of 10 m/s.…”

“…Therefore, the combination of both can ensure predictable execution time as well as maintain the enforced constraints of the MILP. Under the on-line partitioning perspective, a hospital building [39] with 97 rooms comprised of 6 floors and 530 airflow leakages is analyzed. The building model includes 4 different air handling units systems that span all the building.…”

“…Example partitioning of a health-care facility[39] for 3 resulting subsystems with balanced number of zones.…”