Tools

The role of ESP-r

The ESP-r system was used to determine the demand side of Visitor Centre.

ESP-r is a modelling tool for building performance simulation. Developed by Energy Systems Research Unit (ESRU) of the University of Strathclyde, this open-sourced building performance energy modeling software is primarily used in research, consultancy or in teaching applications.

The reason ESP-r was selected for the needs of this project included availability (the software was free and compatible with the team’s operating systems), experience (all team members were familiar with this tool due to previous extensive use for the course needs) and, more importantly, suitability (it could provide us with all the necessary outcomes for the project). ESP-r is equipped to model heat, air flow, moisture, light and electrical consumption of the modelled building. Although specialist features often require knowledge of the particular subject to complete complex tasks, ESP-r is unquestionably a powerful and flexible tool that can provide a user with a virtual demand profile and a wide range of valuable and detailed outputs regarding the overall performance of the building, including indoor air quality metrics.

Last but not least, ESP-r was selected due to the project’s need for dynamic simulation. Dynamic simulation was necessary in order to investigate and understand the effect of the time varying behavior of several parameters that have a critical impact on the energy and environmental performance of Visitor Centre. These parameters include, inter alia, weather patterns, occupancy regimes, fabric and materials, indoor temperatures and contaminant levels, casual gains from occupants and equipment, and heating and ventilation controls.

More information on ESP-r and its capabilities can be found here.

The role of MERIT

To successfully integrate Renewable Energy systems within Visitor Centre, appropriate technology types and capacities had to be identified and integrated. For this purpose, we used MERIT software package from the Energy Systems Research Unit (ESRU) of the University of Strathclyde.

The MERIT system is a quantitative computer simulation tool that allows the user to determine the match between supply and demand in order to make informed decisions about the suitability of certain supply mixes for particular applications.

Algorithms that model renewable energy sources and low carbon energy systems (namely photovoltaic panels and wind turbines in our case) are established to simulate power production based on manufacturers’ specifications, locational parameters and weather data.

At first, a suitable time scale and climate file (representing Glasgow’s climate) were chosen according to the project. Then, the renewable options that would be employed were selected and were matched with the building’s electrical and heat demands – which, in our case, were obtained from ESP-r tool. Due to the intermittent nature and the dependence on weather conditions of solar and wind power technologies, the annual half-hourly demand and supply profiles should be used.

Finally, the output data is presented graphically with supporting statistics to aid quick analysis. The reported statistics that we considered to assess the performance of the chosen systems include:

  1. The energy demand over the investigated period
  2. The energy supply over the investigated period
  3. The excess of energy over the investigated period
  4. The deficit of energy over the investigated period

The best options for all the chosen supply mixes can be determined, however the final solution would also consider other factors, such as availability and cost of equipment, and operational requirements.

More information on MERIT and its capabilities can be found here