Comfort and HVAC Performance for a Now Construction Test House in Roseville, California.

摘要

K. Hovnanian Homes constructed a 2,253-ft(sub 2) single-story slab-on-grade ranch house for an occupied test house (new construction) in Roseville, California. IBACOS conducted one year of monitoring and analysis that focused on the effectiveness of the space conditioning system at maintaining acceptable temperature and relative humidity levels in several rooms of this home, as well as room-to-room differences and the actual measured energy consumption by the space conditioning system. More specifically, the purpose of the monitoring was to evaluate and demonstrate the energy and indoor environmental quality benefits for a centrally located heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system integrated with the bulkhead attic configuration. The IBACOS research team began the long-term monitoring and analysis after the home was occupied in February 2012 and continued through January 2013. This home is representative of most of the housing types this builder constructs in its Northern California division and has the air handler unit and ducts relocated to inside the thermal boundary. The unit was relocated from the attic to a mechanical closet, and the ductwork was located inside an insulated and air-sealed bulkhead in the attic. To describe the performance and comfort in the home, the research team selected representative design days and extreme days from the annual data for analysis. To ensure that temperature differences were within reasonable occupant expectations, the team followed guidance from Air Conditioning Contractors of America Manual RS by Rutkowski (1997). At the end of the monitoring period, the occupant of the home reported there were no comfort complaints in the home. The variance between the modeled heating and cooling energy and the actual amounts used can be attributed to the variance in temperatures at the thermostat from the modeled inputs.