Large building cooling load and energy use estimation

Abstract

We present a methodology for developing a set of cooling load and energy estimating equations for large commercial buildings. The methodology is developed from parametric simulations on the DOE-2 computer code for any given generic building type and annual weather data file of the location. The equations estimate the annual cooling energy use of a building, its peak cooling load and the sensible cooling load. Correlations are obtained using the concept of the overall thermal transfer value of building envelopes and the number of cooling degree-days in a year. Other key variables include space internal loads, design outdoor-indoor temperature difference, and the global efficiency of chiller plants. The set of simple equations are validated using results obtained from DOE-2 simulations of audited actual buildings. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.