Commercial Building Thermal Mass Precooling for Conditioning Reduction Under the Operative Temperature Metric

Building thermal mass precooling is highly variable due to the uncertainty of the convective heat transfer coefficient, and current research neglects the radiative cooling effects of reduced interior surface temperatures. The research presented aims to address the shortcomings of current research by modelling night ventilation through concrete slab hollow cores, increasing confidence in the heat transfer coefficient estimate; and modelling the operative temperature experienced by an occupant in an open office with simplified geometry. The cooling load of a baseline non-ventilated slab was determined through a custom numerical model and the operative temperature of the baseline was assigned to the same model with hollow core slab ventilation to determine the ambient air setpoint temperature associated cooling load. The ventilated model was found to achieve 35% cooling energy savings compared to the baseline, with compromised occupant comfort in the early morning, and improved occupant comfort for the rest of the day.