Volume 58

A Rapid Calibration Method for Energy Models of Rural Guesthouses: A Case Study from Zhejiang, China Yuanyuan Wei, Luyao Zhou, Yuechen Duan, Bart Julien Dewancker

Abstract

Rural-residence-converted guesthouses often suffer from high energy consumption and a lack of effective energy-saving measures, indicating a significant potential for efficiency improvements. This study proposes a practical and rapid calibration method for energy simulation models tailored to such buildings, where guestroom occupancy status is treated as an optimization variable. By minimizing the monthly deviation between simulated and actual energy consumption, efficient initial calibration is achieved. Using a typical guesthouse in Zhejiang Province as a case study, the optimization results show monthly energy deviations ranging from 0.05 to 23.75 kWh, with corresponding occupancy rates between 20% and 80%. The calibrated model achieved a Normalized Mean Bias Error (NMBE) of 0.067% and a Coefficient of Variation of the Root Mean Square Error (CV(RMSE)) of 0.947%, both satisfying the accuracy criteria of ASHRAE Guideline 14. The proposed method provides an efficient and practical approach for calibrating energy models in guesthouse buildings, serving as a foundation for subsequent energy retrofit planning.

Keywords Guesthouses, Building energy simulation, Energy model calibration, Occupancy-based, optimization