Evaluation of existing infiltration models used in building energy simulation

초록

Infiltration modeling is one of the major sources of uncertainty in building energy simulation. Although many infiltration models exist, their structures and assumptions vary, and many of them are inaccurate for commercial buildings. The use of these models are rarely updated or revised due to the high cost for tests that are used to determine infiltration rates. In this study, tracer gas decay and whole-building pressurization tests were performed in a full-scale, two story, unoccupied commercial building. Three different infiltration models within EnergyPlus were used to simulate infiltration rates. The pressurization test result was converted to the design infiltration rate used in each infiltration model. The simulation results were compared with the infiltration rate estimated from the field measurements. The results showed that the predicted infiltration rate and the estimated heating energy consumption can be significantly affected by the infiltration model selection.