(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2016-05-31)
Jia, Yiyuan
The severe haze pollution in China has arisen concerns among the public and government officials, due to its impacts on pubic health, visibility, climate and agriculture. To augment these findings of the negative impacts of haze pollution, this study investigates the “solar shift” effect due to haze pollutions and the potential (unreported) impacts on buildings’ energy performance in China.
This study takes the aerosol optical depth (AOD) as a measure of the solar blocking effect of haze pollutions. By plugging in the measured and projected AOD data in solar models, three weather files for Beijing are developed that represent different haze pollution for the following scenarios: the 2014 situation, the optimistic projection of 2050 (2050A) and the pessimistic projection of 2050 (2050B). Together with the TMY, these weather files serve as the boundary conditions in building energy modeling practices. The results indicate the district heating energy consumption under the 2014 aerosol emission levels would increase 5 % compared to the current practice using TMY weather file. In the pessimistic scenario where we assume to keep the current pace of aerosol emissions, the district heating energy would increase 10 %. The current ASHRAE design day sizing method would assure the heating load being met under all possible scenarios investigated in this study.