TY - JOUR
T1 - Numerical modeling of thermal behaviors of active multi-layer living wall
AU - El Mankibi, Mohamed
AU - Zhai, Zhiqiang
AU - Al-Saadi, Saleh Nasser
AU - Zoubir, Amine
N1 - Funding Information:
This study is part of an ongoing research at University of Colorado Boulder funded by US National Science Foundation (EFRI-1038305). This work is also funded by La Région Rhône Alpes Explora Pro Grant .
Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
PY - 2015/11/1
Y1 - 2015/11/1
N2 - The paper numerically models the thermal behaviors of multi-layer living wall. The aim of this study is to identify the most efficient wall configuration according to indoor and outdoor climate conditions by using a new simulation tool developed using Matlab and Simulink. The simulation tool is created to evaluate both conventional façade systems and those integrated with phase change materials (PCMs). The model is validated using experimental results from the literature for the multi-layer PCM-enhanced wall. The ventilated cavity wall model is also verified using TRNSYS "TYPE36", a well validated and respected model for simulating thermal storage wall. The location within the wall assembly, the orientation and the optimal thermal properties of PCM's are then analyzed using the tool. The validated multi-layer wall system is further integrated with a full-scale building model with a genetic algorithm optimization method. The results show that an optimized active multi-layer living wall system can allow 27-38% of reduced heating energy consumption while avoiding thermal discomfort.
AB - The paper numerically models the thermal behaviors of multi-layer living wall. The aim of this study is to identify the most efficient wall configuration according to indoor and outdoor climate conditions by using a new simulation tool developed using Matlab and Simulink. The simulation tool is created to evaluate both conventional façade systems and those integrated with phase change materials (PCMs). The model is validated using experimental results from the literature for the multi-layer PCM-enhanced wall. The ventilated cavity wall model is also verified using TRNSYS "TYPE36", a well validated and respected model for simulating thermal storage wall. The location within the wall assembly, the orientation and the optimal thermal properties of PCM's are then analyzed using the tool. The validated multi-layer wall system is further integrated with a full-scale building model with a genetic algorithm optimization method. The results show that an optimized active multi-layer living wall system can allow 27-38% of reduced heating energy consumption while avoiding thermal discomfort.
KW - Air cavity
KW - GA-based optimization
KW - Multi-layer wall
KW - Phase change material
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U2 - 10.1016/j.enbuild.2015.06.084
DO - 10.1016/j.enbuild.2015.06.084
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84943353223
SN - 0378-7788
VL - 106
SP - 96
EP - 110
JO - Energy and Buildings
JF - Energy and Buildings
ER -