Thesis. 1979. M.Arch.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Architecture. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: p. 101-102. / M.Arch.

Current regulatory and other policy trends in housing refurbishment relating to low-carbon performance standards tend to involve complex technologies and systems as well as innovative solutions to achieve 80% emissions reduction in line with the UK national target for 2050. Indicators of domestic energy performance tend to assume ideal performance of materials, complex systems and services, and that they are installed to high standards and under specific conditions, as well as rational occupant behaviour and interactions. Previous studies exploring the influence of socio-technical factors on the UK's domestic energy use highlight that one of the main reasons for under-performance of individual projects is the lack of understanding of how people interact with domestic technology. Considering this, and given that there is still little evidence on deep refurbishments that implement low-carbon 'whole house' approaches in the UK, this research explored occupants' interaction with heating and ventilation measures as these were designed, installed and operated. The main concern was to identify the type of interactions that occur between occupants (social housing tenants) and building systems (mainly low-carbon heating and ventilation systems), and how that influences actual energy use. Using a sample of 26 social housing properties involved in the Retrofit for the Future competition in the UK, the study employed an socio-technical mixed methods approach, in which qualitative and quantitative empirical data were explored together, cross-checking occupants' 'doings' and 'sayings'. A combination of theories was used to analyse the complex interrelated factors involved in users' interaction with building systems. The analysis identifies key factors that affect significantly occupants' everyday practices and their interactions with the new measures: thermal comfort and pastexperiences with measures and controls; knowledge and skills (of both occupants and those involved in the project); design of the technical interventions (systems/measures) and quality of their installation. The findings from this research showed that active measures (such as intelligent and conventional heating controls, MVHR boosters, etc.) fostered direct interaction with active users when there were no design or installation faults. On the contrary, low-carbon measures that are designed and installed to be passive (such as MVHR systems operation) tend, in practice, to involve indirect interactions with active users. The research findings provide an insight into the 'in-use' factors, demonstrating to policy makers and implementers of mass refurbishment programmes the need for a framework where critical combinations of different measures and design solutions are targeted on specific house types, locations and households, in order to achieve maximum savings. Higher standards in installation of the new measures and improved quality control are also found to be a key part of refurbishment policies.

This study describes a simulation-based approach for informing the incorporation of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) in buildings designed to the "Passive House" standard. PCMs provide a minimally invasive method of adding thermal mass to a building, thus mitigating overheating events. Phase change transition temperature, quantity, and location of PCM were all considered while incrementally adding PCM to Passive House simulation models in multiple climate zones across the United States. Whole building energy simulations were performed using EnergyPlus from the US Department of Energy. A prototypical Passive House with a 1500 Watt electric heater and no mechanical cooling was modeled. The effectiveness of the PCM was determined by comparing the zone-hours and zone-degree-hours outside the ASHRAE defined comfort zone for all PCM cases against a control simulation without PCM. Results show that adding PCM to Passive Houses can significantly increase thermal comfort so long as the house is in a dry or marine climate. The addition of PCM in moist climates will not significantly increase occupant comfort because the majority of discomfort in these climates arises due to latent load. For dry or marine climates, PCM has the most significant impact in climates with lower cooling degree-days, reducing by 93% the number of zone-hours outside of thermal comfort and by 98% the number of zone-degree-hours uncomfortable in Portland, Oregon. However, the application of PCM is not as well suited for very hot climates because the PCM becomes overcharged. Only single digit reductions in discomfort were realized when modeling PCM in a Passive House in Phoenix, Arizona. It was found that regardless of the climate PCM should be placed in the top floor, focusing on zones with large southern glazing areas. Also, selecting PCM with a melt temperature of 25°C resulted in the most significant increases in thermal comfort for the majority of climates studied.

Orientador: Luiz Antonio Rossi / DissertaCAo (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Agricola / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-05T22:18:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Sarubbi_Juliana_M.pdf: 972594 bytes, checksum: 6ec7cadc10c91ba20ca67df226c71482 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2005 / Resumo: Um grande desafio na suinocultura é a definição de um modelo de edificação capaz de proporcionar melhor conforto térmico para os animais. As maiores perdas na produção ocorrem em virtude dos dias muito quentes e das grandes variações térmicas, que são características do clima tropical. Uma alternativa para minimizar estas perdas é a utilização de sistemas diversos de climatização. No entanto, estes equipamentos apresentam custos de implantação, funcionamento e manutenção variáveis que podem interferir na lucratividade do empreendimento. A utilização de um sistema de controle, por exemplo, pode reduzir os custos de funcionamento dos equipamentos. Este trabalho objetivou avaliar a eficiência de diferentes instalações suinícolas, considerando os aspectos do desempenho dos animais, do conforto térmico e da utilização de energia elétrica. Foram comparadas quatro salas de criação de suínos nas fases de crescimento e terminação em uma granja comercial. As salas estudadas são diferentes sob os pontos de vista de construção e climatização (idade dos equipamentos, número de ventiladores, forma de controle da climatização). Os parâmetros utilizados para a comparação entre as edificações foram o desempenho dos animais, condição sanitária do plantel, variáveis climáticas (temperatura e umidade), entalpia e índice de conforto térmico (ITU), variáveis elétricas (consumo, demanda e fator de potência) e índices de eficiência energética dos tratamentos. A utilização de dois ventiladores novos e sistema de nebulização, ambos com acionamento automático, foi capaz de proporcionar melhor conforto térmico aos animais, embora este resultado não tenha sido suficiente para agregar maior produção. Os ventiladores mais novos consumiram menor quantidade de energia elétrica que os antigos e apresentaram melhor fator de potência O tratamento que contou com sistema de nebulização e um ventilador, acionados manualmente, que forneceu a pior condição em termos de conforto térmico, porém apresentou as melhores condições de consumo específico (kg produzido/ kWh consumido). De acordo com a análise dos índices de eficiência energética (fator de carga), os ventiladores com acionamento automático foram melhores utilizados ao longo do tempo. Assim, concluiu-se que a utilização de controle automático de equipamentos de climatização foi capaz de melhorar as condições ambientais e da utilização de energia elétrica / Abstract: A great challenge in the swine production is the definition of a construction model capable of bringing a better thermal comfort to the animals. The greatest losses on production occur due very hot days and great thermal variation, which are the chief characteristics of the tropical weather. An alternative to minimize these losses is the use of diverse climate systems. Nevertheless, these equipment present variable implementation, functioning and maintenance costs that may interfere in the business lucrativity. The use of a control system, for instance, may reduce the equipment functioning costs. This work's main goal is the evaluation on performance of two different swine buildings, considering the animal performance, thermal comfort and electric energy consumption. Four rooms placed on two different swine structures were compared. It all happened on growing and finishing phases, in a commercial pigsty. These rooms are different under building and acclimatization systems (equipment¿s age, numbers of fans and climate control). The parameters used for the comparison between the buildings were the animal performance, group sanitary condition, climate variables (temperature and humidity), enthalpy, thermal comfort index (THI), electric energy variables (electric energy consumption, power factor, demand) and energetic efficiency. The use of two new fans and evaporative cooling system, both with automatic startup, was able to bring a better thermal comfort to the animals, however this result was not enough for bringing higher production. The newer fans consume less electric energy than the older fans and showed the best power factor. The use of an evaporative cooling and only one fan, without automatic control, was able to bring the worst thermal comfort, the worst utilization electrical energy index and showed the best specific consumption. Therefore, we may conclude that the use of an automatic control system to the climate equipment is capable of improving the environmental conditions and the use of electric energy / Mestrado / Construções Rurais e Ambiencia / Mestre em Engenharia Agrícola