BUILDING ENERGY MODEL CALIBRATION: A CASE STUDY USING COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS WITH AIR LEAKAGE TESTING AND ON-SITE WEATHER DATA

Whole building energy models of existing buildings are infrequently validated because of model complexity and the availability of reliable data. In this paper, the authors consider two important building energy simulation components - measured whole-building air leakage rates and on-site weather data - and study their effects on creating an accurate energy model of an existing office building in Massachusetts, USA using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. This case study shows that on-site weather data is critical in calibrating building energy models and that CFD analysis has a greater influence during a heating season compared to a cooling season in a cold climate.