[Bldg-sim] calibrated comfort modelling

[Haberl, Jeff]

Hello Chris:

Actually, you touch on a rather complicated topic, for several reasons.

First, many "calibrated building energy simulations" often use small periods of time (1 to 2 weeks) when they try to match the actual interior temperatures and the whole-building energy use. For example, the following studies tried to match indoor temps for selected periods and then looked at how the simulated whole-building energy use matched the actual energy use: (there's more available at https://esl.tamu.edu/)

Norford, L., Socolow, R., Hsieh, E. Spadaro, J. "Two-to-one discrepancy between measured and predicted performance of a 'low-energy'office building: insights from a reconciliation based on the DOE-2 model", Energy and buildings, 1994 - Elsevier

Kim, C., Haberl, J. 2023. “Impact of Thermal Zone Modeling on a Small Office Building With All-electric HVAC Systems in Hot-humid and Cold-humid climates, Science and Technology for the Built Environment (December).

Oh, S., Baltazar, J.C., Haberl, J. 2020. “Analysis of zone-by-zone indoor environmental conditions and electricity savings from the use of a smart thermostat: A residential case study”, Science and Technology for the Built Environment, Vol. 26, No. 3, ESL-PA-20-03-02  (March).

Zhao, X. 2025 “Development of Simplified Building Energy Simulation Models for Atrium Buildings to be Used for Urban-Scale Building Energy Models (UBEM)”, PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture, Texas A&M University, December.

Jung, S. 2020 “Analysis of Residential Building Energy Code Compliance for New and Existing Buildings Based on Building Energy Simulation”,  PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture, Texas A&M University, December.

Kootin-Sanwu, V. 2004 “Development of Energy Efficient Housing for Low-Income Families,” PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture,
Texas A&M University, May.

Problem is that doing this for a whole year can be overwhelmingly problematic since there are often occupants in the building who are unpredictable. Also, often getting multizone temps to match, does not always help matching the whole building energy use, and vice-versa.

In addition, in residential, single family, the concrete slab under the building plays a big role in the heating/cooling, showing up more like seasonality. In many cases, slab temperature is not measured, or even simulated very well.

In several studies indoor temps were regressed against outside temps to create a statistical relationship. Then the equation was used to predict the indoor temps for the whole year. A lot of work.

Finally, in all cases you need to have nearby or on-site hourly weather measurements, including temp, humidity, solar, wind speed which is very time consuming if you don't have a nearby feed to tap into. Also, calibration of these sensors is non-trivial.

At best we've used the term "two way" calibration, to indicate some effort to match indoor temps and whole-building energy use. This quickly becomes 3,4,5-way calibrations when you try to match other indoor conditions, like humidity, HVAC cycling (which you can see using high frequency data), slab temps, natural ventilation, etc.

So, to sum it up...its complicated...and an endless source of thesis material.

Jeff


Jeff S. Haberl, Ph.D., P.E.inactive, FASHRAE, FIBPSA               We are like fluttering leaves on the branches of trees

Liz & Nelson Mitchell Professor in Residential Design           in the forest of the landscape that surrounds us.

Department of Architecture                                                       If we could, for just a moment, flutter together,

Texas A&M University                                                                  we could lift the earth up to be a better place.  JSH 2022

College Station, TX 77845-3581

Office: 979-845-6507, Lab: 979-845-6065

Fax 979-862-2457

jhaberl at tamu.edu,www.esl.tamu.edu<mailto:jhaberl at tamu.edu,www.esl.tamu.edu>

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From: Bldg-sim <bldg-sim-bounces at lists.onebuilding.org> on behalf of Chris Yates via Bldg-sim <bldg-sim at lists.onebuilding.org>
Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2025 7:42 AM
To: bldg-sim at onebuilding.org <bldg-sim at onebuilding.org>
Subject: [Bldg-sim] calibrated comfort modelling

Hello bldg-sim’rs! Calibrated *energy* modelling is (relatively) well understood. However, can anybody point to any work in calibrated *comfort* simulation – academic or otherwise. The only work I’m aware of is based on overheating
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Hello bldg-sim’rs!



Calibrated *energy* modelling is (relatively) well understood. However, can anybody point to any work in calibrated *comfort* simulation – academic or otherwise.



The only work I’m aware of is based on overheating in residential dwellings in the UK by Dr Ben Roberts of Loughborough University https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143624419847349<https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0143624419847349__;!!KwNVnqRv!EO5sd_mm8OpR9qOHCZ_4LnmcMUN7KRXRCovgsm-U8LxFIsUmGohkuFxiCKHYDoFGcxS2O1ME9Y5tvtuqLWNYQCGXowY$>



Is anybody aware of any other work done out there?



Cheers

Chris
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