Volume 63

Thermal Performance Assessment of Envelope Retrofit Strategies for Office Spaces in Composite Climates Rahul K. Sharma, Pranaynil Saikia, Lloyd Corcoran, Dibakar Rakshit, Carlos E. Ugalde-Loo

Abstract

Building envelope retrofit strategies enable reducing cooling loads in warm climates and optimising energy use. However, these strategies may be tailored to specific building types and their effectiveness depends on the climatic conditions they operate under. This paper presents an open-source model to assess the effects of envelope retrofits under the climatic conditions of India. Using OpenModelica, an office building located at Delhi was modelled using real construction and occupancy data. The indoor heat gain through the building envelope was quantified for different retrofitting scenarios. Results show thermal insulation is more effective than phase change material in mitigating heat gain and can reduce the heat gain by up to 400 W in summer. The findings offer insights for sustainable cooling, whereas the developed model offers an open-source tool to quantify cooling demand in office buildings.

Keywords Building envelope, phase change material, thermal insulation, indoor heat gain