What is the impact of building exposure, envelope insulation and temperature increases on heating and cooling loads of residential buildings in Houston?

Project Location:

Simulation Scale:

Application:

Audience:

What is this graphic showing? Describe the different parts of the graphic and how it communicates the data.

Building exposure (computed as Exposed Area over Conditioned Volume) is plotted against heating and cooling loads for 140 simulated simple box residential building cases. The cases are distinguished by 5 envelope compositions based on the effective code during the year they were built, and by 2 climate files, one being the historical TMY3 file and the other being the 2080 CCWorldWeatherGen projected climate file. Under the building typologies images, heating and cooling loads are plotted separately for the median frequency of envelope composition (Y1=1958-1985) for the historical TMY3 file (C0) and the 2080 CCWorldWeatherGen projected climate file (C1).

What type of graphic is this?

Design Variables

Is this part of the ASHRAE-209 cycle?

What tools were used for the simulation analysis?

What tools did you use to create the graphic?

What was successful and/or unique about the graphic in how it communicates information?

The challenge of communicating the results of 140 simulations in one representation, was overcome by using colors, symbols and thumbnail typology images in compelling ways. The graph highlights the regression line resulted from the exposure analysis as well as the span of loads within each typology. It is used to identify the most vulnerable to temperature increases residential typologies.

Is there anything else you would like to mention?

Additional credits and other contributors: