Off-campus UMass Amherst users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your UMass Amherst user name and password.
Non-UMass Amherst users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
Dissertations that have an embargo placed on them will not be available to anyone until the embargo expires.
Author ORCID Identifier
AccessType
Open Access Dissertation
Document Type
dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Degree Program
Environmental Conservation
Year Degree Awarded
2019
Month Degree Awarded
May
First Advisor
Ajla Aksamija
Second Advisor
Benjamin Weil
Third Advisor
Jon McGowan
Subject Categories
Architectural Technology
Abstract
Climate change, along with corresponding weather extremes, are creating new and pressing problems for the built environment. Buildings are the largest contributor to climate change. The main hypothesis for this research work is that an automated dynamic façade can provide whole year thermal comfort in a passively heated and cooled building by using predictive modeling of short-term future weather conditions. The dynamic facade should be adaptable to different climates, weather extremes and climate change. Predictive simulation requires using a weather forecast to predict the performance of a building and then modify the shading and ventilation rate to optimize the building thermal comfort for a single day. The goal of the dissertation was to develop a method for designing dynamic predictive façades to maximize thermal comfort in most climates and weather conditions. The research for the dissertation was conducted through computer simulations in the 15 different climate zones of the United States (considering both historic climate data, as well as predicted climate change data for the years 2050 and 2080), and an experimental study. The computer simulations, using EnergyPlus and custom scripts, were used to optimize the façade for a scaled physical model of the façade and the individual building elements. EnergyPlus simulations were also used for the predictive modeling in the experimental study. A test cell with one of the designed façade systems and controls was studied during the winter, spring and summer and compared to simulation results. The results of both the simulation study and the test cell were similar so modifications to the predicted model and predicted control procedure can be studied further with simulation only. The simulations and the physical experiment results show that it is possible to achieve thermal comfort in a passively heated and cooled building in at least 10 of the 15 different climate zones in the United States.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/14195941
Recommended Citation
Peters, Troy, "PREDICTIVE MODELING OF AUTOMATED BUILDING FACADE ELEMENTS TO ATTAIN THERMAL COMFORT IN PASSIVELY CONDITIONED BUILDINGS IN DIFFERENT CLIMATES" (2019). Doctoral Dissertations. 1614.
https://doi.org/10.7275/14195941
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations_2/1614
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.