Comfort and Weather Analysis Tool

Transcription

1 User Guide Prepared by CARBSE, CEPT University 17 June 2013 Centre for Advanced Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University Kasturbhai Lalbhai Campus, University Road, Ahmedabad , Gujarat, India Phone: Ext: 179 Website:

2 Contents 1 Introduction Background to the tool How to get access to the tool How to access the Homepage How to Register How to Login How to use the Help index How to manage your user account How to use the... 9 Step 1: Select the State and City... 9 Step 2: Select the Type of Analysis and Graph... 9 Step 3: View results Step 4: Understanding the results Acknowledgements Additional information Contact Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 2of 15

3 1 Introduction The online Comfort and Weather Analysis and the Multi-city Comfort and Weather Comparison tool has been designed to help the user generate thermal comfort and outdoor weather analysis for Indian cities. The tool efficiently produces the following information: Comfort charts showing the temperature of the city for the whole year on the AHSRAE 55 thermal comfort bands. ASHRAE 55 comfort zone distribution on 24 x 7 basis for a year and also daytime basis for the city selected by the user. The user can hence determine the number of operating hours that belong to comfort zone for a particular month. This tool also develops the weather chart which shows the temperature distribution for 24 x 7 basis and also daytime basis for the city selected by the user. The humidity distribution in for 24 x 7 spaces and daytime spaces for the user selected city will also be shown. The Centre for Advanced Research in Building Science and Energy (CARBSE) at CEPT University has developed this tool. The project was jointly supported by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, New Delhi. This document provides a simple guide to the tool and its functions. Just simply click onto begin your calculation. Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 3of 15

4 2 Background to the tool Climate has an influence on the thermal sensation and preferences of people and on the design of the buildings they inhabit. There has been a growing interest among architects and building contractors to make buildings that are responsive to climate and the thermal comfort requirements of the building users. It is therefore necessary to understand comfort and weather characteristics of a place before designing a building. India is divided into five climatic zones: 1. Hot-Dry 2. Warm-Humid 3. Composite 4. Temperate 5. Cold Hence, there cannot be a single weather analysis data which can be used for different cities in India. The weather data of any city is very important for different purposes. Detailed climate data on parameters like temperature, solar radiation, humidity and wind conditions are vital for developing an energy efficient and climate responsive building design. Such data and its analysis would be useful in the following ways: Simulation software used for studies of energy efficiency and thermal comfort in buildings require weather files For gaining a better understanding of the type of materials that can be used to build an energy efficient building, the weather data of that local area is required. Most thermal comfort models are based on survey data of large numbers of people under many different conditions. The main aim of comfort models is to provide a single index that encompasses all the relevant conditions - such that two situations with different conditions, but with the same index, would result in a very similar comfort sensation. The prediction of comfort inside the building requires extensive study of one or more climatic factors. An energy efficient building will need to take into account the different climatic parameters and their collaborative studies. For the purposes of building design, comfort is defined negatively as the absence of any form of thermal stress. True comfort conditions will therefore require only minimal activation of any of the regulatory systems described above. It has been shown that bodily heat loss/gain is interdependently related to the following four environmental factors: Dry Bulb Temperature (DBT), Mean Radiant Temperature (MRT), Relative Humidity (RH) and Air Movement (Vel) Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 4of 15

5 3 How to get access to the tool 3.1 How to access the Homepage Click on the following web link or type it into the URL bar of the internet browser and press Enter. The Homepage will be displayed as following and has links to Login, Register and Help menu which are explained as below. Figure 1. Screenshot of the Homepage 3.2 How to Register First time users are required to setup a new account by clicking on the link Register. A registration dialog box appears where user are required to insert information in all boxes along with desired password. Please note that it is mandatory to complete all. After completing all boxes, click Submit to create the user account. Figure 2. Screenshot of the Registration page Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 5of 15

6 A link to activate the user account would be sent to the id provided during registration. Click on the link or paste it into the URL bar of the browser and press Enter. Please note that access to the tool will not be granted without activating the account through the link. Please ensure you enter a valid id. Figure 3. Screenshot of notification of successful registration. 3.3 How to Login After successfully registration, you can start using the tool. Click on Login or Go to Tool button and a new window will appear on the screen. Enter a validated id and password and click Login. Note: If you want the computer/browser/server to remember your id and password, you may tick the Remember Me option for future login. This is optional. Forgot Password? If you forget your password, click on Forgot Password. Enter the registered id and click on Send Password. Your existing password would be sent to your id. 3.4 How to use the Help index A help file will open up providing necessary information about navigating and using all tool on the webpage. To look at the help file of individual tool, login the tool and click on help icon therein. Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 6of 15

7 3.5 How to manage your user account The User Account area, as shown in the image below, has links to Profile, Log out, Forget Me and Help on the top right corner of the webpage Profile Click on Profile to access and update profile information. Use this screen to change the password. After typing the desired password, click on Submit button Logout: Click on Logout to end the session and log out of the tool. The page would be redirected to Homepage of the tool Forget me: Click on Forget me to remove the account and login details from the tool. Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 7of 15

8 3.5.4 Help: A help file will open up providing necessary information about navigating and using the tool. Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 8of 15

9 4 How to use the With few simple steps, user can login, and generate information and charts on comfort and external weather of Indian cities. Step 1: Select the State and City After successful login, the state and the city can be selected using the dropdown list. Once the state and city is selected, the map of India will automatically change and will highlight the selected city and the climatic zone to which it belongs. Click on Next to continue. Step 2: Select the Type of Analysis and Graph After click on Next, the user will be presented with a table showing the monthly Dry bulb temperature of the selected city. Select the type of analysis and type of graph that is required by using the dropdown menu located underneath the table. Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 9of 15

10 When Comfort is selected for type of analysis, the following types of graphs can be selected and generated: 1. Adaptive Comfort Zone-Annual 2. Adaptive Comfort Zone for 24 hour spaces- Monthly 3. Adaptive Comfort Zone for daytime spaces- Monthly When Weather is selected for type of analysis, the following types of graphs can be selected and generated: 1. Temperature distribution for 24 hour spaces 2. Temperature distribution for daytime spaces 3. Humidity distribution for 24 hour spaces 4. Humidity distribution for daytime spaces 5. Estimated operation modes for 24 hour spaces- annual 6. Estimated operation modes for daytime spaces-annual 7. Estimated operation modes for 24 hour spaces- monthly 8. Estimated operation modes for daytime spaces- monthly Step 3: View results After selecting the type of analysis and the type of graph, click on See Graph to view results. Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 10of 15

11 Step 4: Understanding the results Below are examples of graphs that can be generated by the User Adaptive Comfort Zone- Annual This graph will show the typical annual ASHRAE 55 operative temperature comfort bands for naturally ventilated spaces in the chosen city. The graph shows colour bands which indicate how people would feel if indoor operative temperature was within that band during a particular month in naturally ventilated spaces. The mean monthly outdoor temperature is also depicted through a black dotted line Adaptive Comfort Zone for 24 hour spaces and for daytime spaces- Monthly This graph will show on a monthly basis, the percentage of operating hours with respect to the comfort zones in 24 hour naturally ventilated spaces. A similar graph can be generated for daytime spaces. Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 11of 15

12 4.1.3 Temperature distribution for 24 hour spaces and daytime spaces This graph shows the annual distribution of temperatures for 24 hour naturally ventilated spaces. It will indicate how many number of operating hours in a year would have a given temperature. For example, as shown in the graph below, during a total of 268 hours in a year, the temperature would be 22 C. The graph will also show the Adaptive Comfort Zone hours. A similar graph can be generated for daytime spaces also Humidity distribution for 24 hour spaces and daytime spaces This graph shows the annual distribution of relative humidity (%) for 24 hour naturally ventilated spaces. It will indicate how many number of hours in a year would have a given relative humidity. For example, as shown in the graph below, Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 12of 15

13 during a total of 159 hours in a year, the relative humidity would be 52%. A similar graph can be generated for daytime spaces. A similar graph can be generated for daytime spaces Estimated operation modes for 24 hour spaces and daytime spaces- annual This pie chart will indicate an annual estimation of the operation modes for 24 hour spaces. It will indicate the percentage of time natural ventilation, heating, dehumidification, mild cooling, cooling and cooling and dehumidification will be required within the space. A similar chart can be generated for daytime spaces for annual as well as monthly basis. Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 13of 15

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15 5 Acknowledgements This activity of CARBSE at CEPT University, was jointly supported by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India and Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation, New Delhi. 6 Additional information Computer requirements to use the tool The toll will run on a standard web browser and no additional software installation is required. The tool has been tested to run on: 1. Microsoft Internet Explorer version 8.0 or above. (Does not work on IE 7.0 currently) 2. Google Chrome version 23.0 or above. 7 Contact For further information, contact: Centre for Advanced Research in Building Science and Energy CEPT University Kasturbhai Lalbhai Campus, University Road, Ahmedabad , Gujarat, India Phone: Ext: 179 Website: For further information ashajoshi@cept.ac.in Centre for Advance Research in Building Science and Energy, CEPT University. 15of 15