Effect of interior heat transfer coefficients on thermal dynamics and energy consumption

A thermal analysis program of buildings, called TASE, has been verified in cooperation with the International Energy Agency (IEA) and used to study the effects of interior heat transfer coefficient models on the thermal dynamics of a test cell and on the energy consumption and peak loads of an office building module. Measured and calculated interior air and surface temperatures and values of the wall heat flux have been compared. The correlation equations of ASHRAE, Alamdari and Hammond and Khalifa and Marshall have been used in the calculations. Both constant heat transfer coefficients, i.e., average values for the whole calculation period, and variable heat transfer coefficients, i.e., those calculated for each time point iteratively using the air-surface temperature differences, have been used in the calculations. The principles for modelling a radiator heating system have also been presented.