Department of Heating, Ventilation and Dust Removal Technology Faculty of Energy and Environmental Engineering

Project submitted by Assoc. Prof. Joanna Ferdyn-Grygierek, PhD, and Dr. Agnieszka Psikuta, PhD, Empa, received funding under the OPUS 24 + LAP call of the National Science Center. The project titled "Digital human-building avatar for energy-efficient building design and operation with advanced thermal occupant model” will be conducted for 3 years in collaboration between scientists from the Silesian University of Technology and the Empa team in St. Gallen (Switzerland). The project will start on January 2, 2024.

The occupant's thermal comfort is the most influential aspect to be considered in building design since it impacts the building's energy consumption and occupants’ well-being. Building performance simulations (BPS) are used to optimize building parameters. Nonetheless, the projected energy consumption differs significantly from its real-life values due to inadequate consideration of human factors.

The main project aims to develop and to validate through measurements a human-building avatar for precise prediction of human comfort and energy demand in building under conditions of variable internal and external loads during the year. Such an avatar shall consist of an advanced thermal model coupled with the physical representation of the building structure and associated heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems developed in EnergyPlus. In addition, a data-driven model of individual rooms or spatial zones will be derived to translate single-value node data provided by EnergyPlus to local physical parameter distribution (e.g., temperature, solar radiation, and air speed) essential for evaluating spatial and temporal comfort distribution. Secondly, an advanced occupant model will provide a realistic estimation of the thermal load in the building due to the occupants' presence and activity.

The research carried out in the project includes experimental work and computer modeling. Project expected impact includes increased simulation accuracy of the thermal state of the occupants and their heat load contribution to the energy balance of the building, and hence, improved accuracy of the calculation of the building energy consumption.

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