3581 -- Commercial Building Temperature Recovery - Part 2: Experiments to Verify the Step Response Model (RP-491) PDF

Concerns the experimental verification of a design method, based on generalised step response curves, that is described in a companion paper. Thermal response of three commercial buildings were monitored during recovery from night setback under a variety of conditions. The thermal characteristics of the subject buildings and the instrumentation and test procedures are described. One-day plots of indoor, outdoor, and supply air temperature give an overview of how each zone responds during occupied, unoccupied, and recovery periods. Plots of normalised measured recovery temperatures show that room temperature recovery trajectories for a given zone are similar in shape regardless of plant capacity and indoor-outdoor temperature difference. The thermal properties of different zones that cause the shapes of their trajectories to differ are discussed. The monitored responses of one building are used to verify the general theoretical model by comparison with response simulated by the transfer function model of Part I. The results of Research Project 491-RP pertain to heating and cooling load calculation, which is mentioned in Chapters 25 and 26 of the ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals.

KEYWORDS: buildings, commercial, temperature, room temperature, experiment, thermal comfort, monitoring, night setback, heavy, lightweight, outdoor temperature, supply air, comparing, heat load, cooling load, heating, cooling