Integration of moisture effects into urban building energy modeling

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Xiaoyu Wang - , Tongji University, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (MOE) (Author)
  • Pengyu Jie - , Tongji University, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (MOE) (Author)
  • Ke Zhu - , Tongji University, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (MOE) (Author)
  • John Grunewald - , Chair of Building Physics (Author)
  • Xiaoping Xie - , Institute of Building Climatology (Author)
  • Xing Jin - , Southeast University, Nanjing (Author)
  • Xin Zhou - , Southeast University, Nanjing (Author)
  • Xing Shi - , Tongji University, Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China (MOE) (Author)

Abstract

To address the limitations of current urban building energy modeling (UBEM), which often neglects moisture effects, we developed a comprehensive roadmap for modeling urban heat and moisture flows. This effort included developing an urban-scale whole-building heat and moisture transfer (HAMT) model that considers wind-driven rain, integrated with a microclimate model known as Urban Weather Generator (UWG). The proposed model was validated through analytical and comparative cases of whole-building hygrothermal performance analyses from the Annex 41 Project. The integrated whole-building and microclimate HAMT models were applied to a real urban building to assess the impact of moisture on annual energy predictions in a hot-humid region of Shanghai. The results show that incorporating moisture effects into the UBEM increases the annual cooling energy demand by 22.11% (5.92% owing to latent heat loads) and the annual heating loads by 6.06%, resulting in a 19.73% increase in the total annual energy loads. Additionally, the outer wall surface temperature decreases during and after rainfall events, with maximum decreases of 3.23 °C in winter and 8.80 °C in summer. Therefore, integrating moisture effects into UBEM is crucial, particularly in humid regions.

Details

Original languageEnglish
JournalBuilding simulation
Publication statusPublished - 25 Jan 2025
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-9524-3560/work/176862566
unpaywall 10.1007/s12273-025-1226-x