The usage of setpoint temperatures based on a local adaptive comfort model for Brazil: analysis on energy savings

Resumo

Utilizing adaptive setpoint temperatures, which are setpoint temperatures dependent on adaptivethermal comfort models, has been recently considered and ended up being an energy conservation measure(ECM) with a significant energy saving potential. However, the only method to perform building energysimulations with adaptive setpoint temperatures was manually, and it was very time-consuming and errorprone.To address these inefficiencies, a computational approach, called Adaptive-Comfort-ControllmplementationScript (ACCIS) was developed and nested in an easy-of-use Python package called 'accim', whichallows to automate most of the process. Up to now, only international adaptive comfort models have beenincluded in ACCIS and accim, namely ASHRAE Standard 55 and EN 16798-1. However, local adaptive comfortmodels seem to be more accurate than international models. Therefore, this research presents the applicationof setpoint temperatures based on a local Japanese adaptive comfort model, and compares the energyconsumption resulting from the application of static setpoints and the local Japanese model. The results showsignificant energy savings ranging between 25 and 52% for cooling, between 30 and 62% for heating, andbetween 30 and 52% for total energy demand, depending on the climate zone, although the higher energysavings take place at the extreme climates.