Secondary Author(s)
Cummings, James
Report Number
FSEC-CR-199-88
URL
http://publications.energyresearch.ucf.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/FSEC-CR-199-88.pdf
Keywords
Moisture; Buildings, Whole-building moisture experiments; Moisture storage capacity; Room air humidity; Cooling techniques; Moisture capacitance; Building furnishings; Humidity prediction models; DESRAD
Abstract
For four months (August -November) in 1987 whole -building moisture capacitance experiments were done on a townhouse in Cocoa, Florida. The experiments were designed to: 1. Observe the response of a building to imposed moisture flux 2. Determine the moisture storage capacity of the building and furnishings 3. Evaluate simple models designed to predict the response of room air humidity ration to pulses of moisture 4. Assess two innovative approaches to cooling (off-peak cooling and DESRAD) The results of the tests indicated that moisture storage in the furnishings is much greater than moisture storage in the air. The bare building has a total moisture storage capacity (over the range of 50 to 75 percent relative humidity ) of eight times as much as could be stored by the air mass alone. When 345 kg of grade 59 silica gel was added to the building, the storage capacity increased to 20 times that of the building air mass. A simple model predicting room humidity ratio response is proposed. It is called the effective air mass moisture capacity (Em) model. This model has too forms, the 1-room or 2-room model. Comparisons with measured data show that the 1-room model underestimates the amplitude and phase lag of the room humidity. The 2-room Em model provides a much improved match of the amplitude and time lag of the room humidity. For five days of the bare building sinusoidal experiments the average prediction error is 3.5 percent for the 2-room model and 8.0 percent for the 1-room model.
Date Published
6-1-1988
Identifiers
921
Subjects
Buildings--Moisture; Humidity--Control; Variable air volume systems (Air conditioning); Mathematical models; Experimental design--Statistical methods; Data mining
Local Subjects
Buildings - Moisture
Collection
FSEC Energy Research Center® Collection
STARS Citation
Florida Solar Energy Center and Kamel, Adel A., "Whole-Building Moisture Experiments and Data Analysis. Draft Task 1 Final Report, Milestone #219. February 5, 1988. 91 P." (1988). FSEC Energy Research Center®. 921.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/fsec/921
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