Building signatures correlating thermal comfort and low-energy cooling: In-use performance

A detailed analysis of thermal comfort in summer is presented for eleven low-energy, mixed-mode, non-residential buildings and one residential building in Germany, applying the comfort standards EN 15251:2007-08 and EN ISO 7730:2005. The thermal comfort ratings are related to the cooling energy use and the efficiency of generating the cooling energy. The buildings employ environmental heat sinks (for example, the ground, ground water, rainwater, and the ambient air) together with thermo-active building systems. This reduces the primary energy use of buildings without compromising thermal comfort. For comparison, an office building cooled in summer by night ventilation only is also studied. Comprehensive monitoring with fine time resolution occurred, accompanied by evaluation of the building performance based on measurements of the energy use for cooling and auxiliary equipment, the performance of the environmental heat sink, thermal comfort, and local meteorological conditions. The investigated buildings demonstrate that low-energy cooling with appropriately designed environmental heat sinks can be an energy-efficient concept for non-residential buildings without an adverse effect on occupant thermal comfort.