EVIDENCE-BASED ANALYSIS REPORT: CLIMATE 6A Hardi Shah, Student University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Abstract This paper covers the workflows, decision-making, and final results of a simulation study performed on a shoebox model of an apartment with a bedroom and office program in Augusta, Maine. After analyzing the climate and site to identify environmental properties affecting the model, the baseline case was simulated and analyzed for daylight and thermal comfort conditions. Points of improvement were then identified. Based on those points, variables were chosen to iterate and determine the result with the best-balanced conditions. From there, multiple steps of the iterative process were conducted by way of the same process: identifying concerns followed by iterating impactful, relevant variables and then selecting the ideal option with balanced resultant daylighting and thermal comfort conditions. The concluded version of the shoebox model shows overall daylighting and thermal improvement from the baseline and a benchmarking analysis is performed to depict it. The overall study was conducted using the following programs: Rhinoceros, Grasshopper, Ladybug, Honeybee, and Design Explorer.
The Site - Augusta, Maine
throughout the year. The wind was not considered too heavily due to the fickle nature of wind being so highly dependent on immediate surroundings which are very different from any data that would be collected on an airport site. Upon investigation, it was found that 64% of hours are outside the comfortable relative humidity range between 40 and 70 percent. A large portion of those hours is over 70% humidity as identified on a generated psychrometric chart. The dew point temperature was assumed to be a more accurate representation of the seasonal temperatures due to the presence of high humidity year-round. The assumed comfortable temperature was assumed to be anything above 18oC taking into account the likelihood that individuals in this area would have a higher tolerance to cooler temperatures than the typically assumed comfortable temperature range of 22oC-26oC). The summers have a few hours above 18oC and the temperature peaks at around 28oC. It is acceptable to assume that the majority of the year has lower than comfortable temperatures and therefore has a high heating load. Based on the climate analysis, 94% of hours are below 18oC dew point temperature.
Augusta is the capital city of Maine in the northeast United States. According to ASHRAE, the city is located in climate zone 6A, a cold, moist climate. The Department of Energy’s TMY3 file was chosen for the study with data collected near the Augusta airport. It is important to note that the location of recorded data is not the same as the location of the site for the study which would result in some differences in microclimate making the results not directly applicable. The simulation should be addressed subjectively taking those nuances in microclimate into account and adjusted per a project site near Augusta.
The Climate - Zone 6A The macroclimate analysis for this climate focused on the overall temperature ranges in the area throughout the year, the relative humidity levels, and the solar angles
Image 2.2: Psychrometric Chart with Established Comfort Hours Identified 1