Passive-Solar Design Studies. Residential Conservation Demonstration Program

摘要

This report presents the results of a residential demonstration project relating to passive solar retrofits. The project, which was funded by the Florida Public Service Commission, was conducted in Gainesville, Florida, utilizing two research residences located at the University of Florida's Energy Research and Education Park (EREP) and two residences located in a suburban neighborhood of Gainesville. These latter homes were used as a control group. The two EREP homes were subsequently retrofitted with passive solar energy conservation measures. Data were collected over a period of time to investigate the effects of these retrofits on air conditioning energy use. The study also involved a computer analysis of several retrofits including those adapted to the research residences. Several cost analysis techniques were used to evaluate the cost effectiveness of the retrofits. Experimental study results illustrate the effects of the various passive solar cooling retrofits on the EREP homes' energy use. Exterior window shading and the whole-house fan yielded standard savings in energy. The earth berm used on one of the homes appeared to delay the electric peak associated with cooling. Problems resulted with the use of some of these retrofits, e.g., high humidities were noted with the whole-house fan, and these were documented. The computer energy use model (UF/SAM) proved to be a very effective tool for evaluating the impact of several passive solar cooling retrofits on residential energy use. Several combinations of retrofits were analyzed and their cost effectiveness was compared. (ERA citation 09:004547)