Impact of the occupancy scenario on the hygrothermal performance of a room

• Published in: Building and environment 2019-08, Vol.160, p.106178, Article 106178
• Main Authors: Bui, Rudy, Labat, Matthieu, Lorente, Sylvie
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Buildings; Civil Engineering; Durability; Eco-conception; Engineering Sciences; Heat and mass transfer; Humidity; Hygrothermal performance; Mathematical models; Mechanics; Numerical modelling; Numerical models; Occupancy; Occupants' presence modelling; Office buildings; Stochasticity; Thermics
• ISSN: 0360-1323; 1873-684X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.106178

Nowadays, humidity in buildings has become a major concern because it affects their energy performance, the occupants' comfort and health, and the durability of materials simultaneously. To understand the behavior of buildings towards humidity, numerical models are needed. However, the sensitivity of these models to the indoor sources, especially the ones related to the occupants’ presence and activities, has not been thoroughly assessed in the literature. This article proposes to introduce a methodology to investigate the impact of the occupancy profiles of presence on the hygrothermal performance of a room. A hygrothermal model at room scale is developed and coupled with a platform called No-MASS, which provides stochastic occupancy scenarios for office buildings. Four occupancy scenarios representative of the scenarios commonly found in the literature are studied: a stochastic scenario, an average scenario derived from multiple stochastic ones, a constant scenario, and the French regulatory scenario. Comparing the results obtained with the different occupancy scenarios underlined a non-negligible impact of the scenario on indoor heat and moisture balance, mainly due to the consideration of a seasonal effect for the stochastic one. •The impact of the occupancy scenario on the hygrothermal performance of a room was numerically investigated .•A hygrothermal model at room scale was developed and coupled with a stochastic occupancy model.•A stochastic, average, constant and deterministic occupancy scenarios were compared.•Results showed a significant impact of the occupancy scenario on the energy demand and the hygric comfort of a room.