Experimental Studies and Energy Modeling for Evaluating Performance of Various Deep Wall Retrofits

Harshil Nagda, Jian Zhang, Tyler Pilet, Chrissi Antonopoulos, Cheryn Metzger, Patricia Gunderson, Travis Ashley, Sumitrra Ganguli, Andre Desjarlais, Anthony Aldykiewicz, Patrick Huelman, Garrett Mosiman

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Minnesota conducted a three-year, multipart study on residential retrofit wall assemblies. The project, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technology Office, aimed to compare a range of residential wall retrofit systems that prioritized affordability, durability, and energy savings potential. The research team identified, constructed, tested, simulated, and analyzed the feasibility and economics of 16 wall retrofit assemblies (14 test configurations and two baseline configurations) that can be applied to the exterior side of existing walls (either with or without the existing cladding). The 16 wall assemblies were installed in an in-situ laboratory environment, to evaluate the ease of construction and study the thermal and hygrothermal performance of the walls. This paper presents the methodology used to evaluate the thermal performance of the walls and discusses the energy modeling results of the study. The results from the experiments were used to calibrate a THERM model of each wall assembly, which was then applied to a whole building using the EnergyPlus 8.6 simulation engine. A residential prototype building was used to extrapolate whole-building energy savings in each U.S. climate zone. To capture the conditions of the largest number of homes in the United States, the most frequent building characteristics (e.g., attic insulation level, window specifications, foundation insulation, etc.) were extracted from ResStock data and applied to the prototype model. Results from the energy modeling showed that the climate zones with the highest potential for retrofit savings are those which are heating-dominated (i.e., Cold and Very Cold climate designations). In these climate zones, heating and cooling energy savings due to the wall retrofits alone ranged from 21.5% to 38.2%.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThermal Performance of the Exterior Envelopes of Whole Buildings XV International Conference
PublisherAmerican Society of Heating Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers
Pages528-536
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9781955516280
StatePublished - 2022
Event15th International Conference on Thermal Performance of the Exterior Envelopes of Whole Buildings 2022 - Clearwater Beach, United States
Duration: Dec 5 2022Dec 8 2022

Publication series

NameThermal Performance of the Exterior Envelopes of Whole Buildings
ISSN (Electronic)2166-8469

Conference

Conference15th International Conference on Thermal Performance of the Exterior Envelopes of Whole Buildings 2022
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityClearwater Beach
Period12/5/2212/8/22

Funding

The Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and the University of Minnesota conducted a three-year, multipart study on residential retrofit wall assemblies. The project, which was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technology Office, aimed to compare a range of residential wall retrofit systems that prioritized affordability, durability, and energy savings potential. The research team identified, constructed, tested, simulated, and analyzed the feasibility and economics of 16 wall retrofit assemblies (14 test configurations and two baseline configurations) that can be applied to the exterior side of existing walls (either with or without the existing cladding). The 16 wall assemblies were installed in an in-situ laboratory environment, to evaluate the ease of construction and study the thermal and hygrothermal performance of the walls. This paper presents the methodology used to evaluate the thermal performance of the walls and discusses the energy modeling results of the study. The results from the experiments were used to calibrate a THERM model of each wall assembly, which was then applied to a whole building using the EnergyPlus 8.6 simulation engine. A residential prototype building was used to extrapolate whole-building energy savings in each U.S. climate zone. To capture the conditions of the largest number of homes in the United States, the most frequent building characteristics (e.g., attic insulation level, window specifications, foundation insulation, etc.) were extracted from ResStock data and applied to the prototype model. Results from the energy modeling showed that the climate zones with the highest potential for retrofit savings are those which are heating-dominated (i.e., Cold and Very Cold climate designations). In these climate zones, heating and cooling energy savings due to the wall retrofits alone ranged from 21.5% to 38.2%.

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