Abstract
Thermally-Active Building Systems (TABS) have proven to be an energy-efficient
and economical cooling and heating solution for commercial buildings. However,
acoustic comfort is often jeopardized in such buildings, due to the thermal
requirements of the system. More knowledge is required to understand to which
extent a layer of hanging sound absorbers will impede the heating and cooling
performance of the system, and how this translates on the thermal comfort for the
occupants.
In order to address these issues, this study focuses on validation of a new TRNSYS
component (Type Ecophon Acoustic Elements) developed to simulate partially
covered suspended ceilings such as hanging sound absorbers. The tool is validated by numerically modelling a set of similar experiments carried out in full-scale by a previous study. For this, a total of 12 scenarios from two case studies have been modelled, with varying suspended ceiling coverage ratios, type of suspended ceilings, internal heat gains and TABS water supply temperatures.
The results obtained from the simulations are very close to the experimental results. The first set of measurements analyzed the effect of the above-mentioned parameters in the heat flow from TABS; the difference between the numerical results and measurements is in the range of -6.9% to +5.2%. The second evaluates the impact on TABS cooling capacity coefficient and room temperatures. The simulated cases led to absolute differences +4.3% higher in average for the cooling capacity coefficient. The operative temperature in the room is particularly well estimated, with a maximum relative difference of +0.3°C in total of five scenarios.
and economical cooling and heating solution for commercial buildings. However,
acoustic comfort is often jeopardized in such buildings, due to the thermal
requirements of the system. More knowledge is required to understand to which
extent a layer of hanging sound absorbers will impede the heating and cooling
performance of the system, and how this translates on the thermal comfort for the
occupants.
In order to address these issues, this study focuses on validation of a new TRNSYS
component (Type Ecophon Acoustic Elements) developed to simulate partially
covered suspended ceilings such as hanging sound absorbers. The tool is validated by numerically modelling a set of similar experiments carried out in full-scale by a previous study. For this, a total of 12 scenarios from two case studies have been modelled, with varying suspended ceiling coverage ratios, type of suspended ceilings, internal heat gains and TABS water supply temperatures.
The results obtained from the simulations are very close to the experimental results. The first set of measurements analyzed the effect of the above-mentioned parameters in the heat flow from TABS; the difference between the numerical results and measurements is in the range of -6.9% to +5.2%. The second evaluates the impact on TABS cooling capacity coefficient and room temperatures. The simulated cases led to absolute differences +4.3% higher in average for the cooling capacity coefficient. The operative temperature in the room is particularly well estimated, with a maximum relative difference of +0.3°C in total of five scenarios.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | CLIMA 2016 - Proceedings of the 12th REHVA World Congress |
| Editors | Per Kvols Heiselberg |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Publication date | 2016 |
| ISBN (Print) | 87-91606-36-5 |
| Publication status | Published - 2016 |
| Event | 12th REHVA World Congress - Aalborg, Denmark Duration: 22 May 2016 → 25 May 2016 http://www.clima2016.org/welcome.aspx |
Conference
| Conference | 12th REHVA World Congress |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | Denmark |
| City | Aalborg |
| Period | 22/05/2016 → 25/05/2016 |
| Internet address |
Keywords
- Thermally-active building systems
- Concrete core cooling
- Thermal comfort
- Acoustic comfort
- Cooling capacity coefficient
- Sound absorbers
- Freehanging acoustic elements
- TRNSYS Type