Architects and designers could readily use a quick and easy tool to determine the solar heat gain... more Architects and designers could readily use a quick and easy tool to determine the solar heat gains of their selected glazing systems for particular orientations, tilts and climate data. Speedy results under variable solar angles and degree of irradiance would be welcomed by most. Furthermore, a newly proposed program should utilise the outputs of existing glazing tools and their standard information, such as the use of U-values and Solar Heat Gain Coefficients (SHGC's) as generated for numerous glazing configurations by the well-known program WINDOW 6.0 (LBNL, 2001). The results of this tool provide interior glass surface temperature and transmitted solar radiation which link into comfort analysis inputs required by the ASHRAE Thermal Comfort Tool-V2 (ASHRAE, 2011). This tool is a simple-to-use calculator providing the total solar heat gain of a glazing system exposed to various angles of solar incidence. Given basic climate (solar) data, as well as the orientation of the glazing under consideration the solar heat gain can be calculated. The calculation incorporates the Solar Heat Gain Coefficient function produced for the glazing system under various angles of solar incidence WINDOW 6.0 (LBNL, 2001). The significance of this work rests in providing an orientation-based heat transfer calculator through an easy-to-use tool (using Microsoft EXCEL) for user inputs of climate and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (WINDOW-6) data. We address the factors to be considered such as solar position and the incident angles to the horizontal and the window surface, and the fact that the solar heat gain coefficient is a function of the angle of incidence. We also discuss the effect of the diffuse components of radiation from the sky and those from ground surface reflection, which require refinement of the calculation methods.
As energy storage systems are typically not installed with residential solar photovoltaic (PV) sy... more As energy storage systems are typically not installed with residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, any "excess" solar energy exceeding the house load remains unharvested or is exported to the grid. This paper introduces an approach towards a system design for improved PV self-consumption and self-sufficiency. As a result, a polyvalent heat pump, offering heating, cooling and domestic hot water, is considered alongside water storage tanks and batteries. Our method of system analysis begins with annual hourly thermal loads for heating and cooling a typical Australian house in Geelong, Victoria. These hourly heating and cooling loads are determined using Transient System Simulation (TRNSYS) software. The house's annual hourly electricity consumption is analysed using smart meter data downloaded from the power supplier and PV generation data measured with a PV system controller. The results reveal that the proposed system could increase PV self-consumption and self-sufficiency to 41.96% and 86.34%, respectively, resulting in the annual imported energy being reduced by about 74%. The paper also provides sensitivity analyses for the hot and cold storage tank sizes, the coefficient of performance of the heat pump, solar PV and battery sizes. After establishing the limits of thermal storage size, a significant impact on self-efficiency can be realised through battery storage. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using a polyvalent heat pump together with water storage tanks and, ultimately, batteries to increase PV self-consumption and self-sufficiency. Future work will concentrate on determining a best-fit approach to system sizing embedded within the TRNSYS simulation tool.
Software being developed to aid the designer of delay insensitive asynchronous logic circuits is ... more Software being developed to aid the designer of delay insensitive asynchronous logic circuits is described. It is intended to support the activity of the designer in conceiving his design, and to provide means for managing complex concurrent behaviour, implementing complex design procedures and coping correctly with delays and hazards. The user can enter specifications of events graphically and manipulate them by combining them in various ways, and by editing them. Means of combining concurrent behaviours allows the user to specify partial behaviour independently of the remainder of the design, and proceed in the knowledge that the specification remains true. The software tool monitors the design as it proceeds to ensure that the specification satisfies requirements for delay insensitivity, so that circuit behaviour remains independent of delays on input and output wires. The tool generates output suitable for input to logic minimisation software or for defining PLAs. Examples of de...
The architects, construction and consulting companies promised to deliver an environmentally soun... more The architects, construction and consulting companies promised to deliver an environmentally sound library renovation for a secondary school in Melbourne. Specifically, the open spaces were to be conditioned uniformly with minimal background noise. The installation of a newly designed packaged unit, consisting of variable speed drive fans, two differently sized compressors and a special pressurized balance control system aimed to deliver a uniform temperature distribution throughout the space. Construction measures of air leakage sealing, double glazed windows and additional insulation reduced the equipment load substantially. Yet, the evidence of measurement shows that this system could have been half the size. The measurements also show that the uniformity of the air temperature and its IEQ in a relatively new fit-out is achieved. This study serves as an example of post-measurement, theparameters that were assessed, a review of what was promised, and what might be learned in the r...
As the number of photovoltaic systems grows and costs decrease dramatically along with their conn... more As the number of photovoltaic systems grows and costs decrease dramatically along with their connect-to-grid tariffs, we ask whether our investments all make sense. This is a real case study, comparing energy use before and after going solar, by installing PV, reducing electrical energy use by retrofitting lighting, and storing electricity in a hybrid vehicle. The case study covers more than energy savings and explores the results of these actions. We present and develop data to calculate and illustrate the findings of energy generation, its use and sale back to the grid. We explore the reasons for, and benefits of, each of the investments and justify why ‘Going Solar’ makes plain good sense for thefuture.
Heat Pumps are becoming one of the most considered mechanical conditioning equipment in our build... more Heat Pumps are becoming one of the most considered mechanical conditioning equipment in our buildings. While they are popular, there appears to be quite a vast range of system types and applications in building conditioning. This paper primarily reviews the literature on heat pumps, the various types, and the consideration of design end uses. The fact that there are different energy sources for heat pumps is considered, as well as the different sinks in which energy is stored or dissipated. It is evident that advanced heat pump systems cater well to the use of renewable energy resources. Therefore, in the move towards net-zero energy building operation, the correct selection of a heat pump can help to increase self-consumption of solar PV generation and even make use of direct solar energy heating. This paper reviews the technologies for heat pump selection, application, and design for residential buildings.
An investigation of building performance through a comfort and operational quality standpoint is ... more An investigation of building performance through a comfort and operational quality standpoint is not too often discussed for Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB). It would seem important that predications and claims for reducing energy-use in buildings and the move towards NZEB does not compromise comfort in buildings. A high school in Essendon, Victoria (near Melbourne) Australia undertook a retrofitting process to improve its existing library from a functional as well as an environmental standpoint. In the process, several pre-and post
Information Technology (IT) changes very quickly and influences business, industry and the public... more Information Technology (IT) changes very quickly and influences business, industry and the public in an enormous manner. Outsourcing of IT jobs to cheaper overseas labor and globalization of IT companies become a common practice. Graduates of IT university courses must be well prepared to address the needs and expectations of business, industry and every day life. Many factors in an Information Technology curriculum influence graduates' professional preparation and image. The most important of them is to reflect technology change, the current state of knowledge of computing, business and industry demands and students' expectations. The aim of our project was to develop a new Bachelor of IT curriculum that satisfies these requirements. In this report we concentrate our attention on two critical aspects of IT curriculum content, the modern technologies to be used to illustrate basic concepts and principles of computing, and the generic skills that each graduate is expected to acquire to get a job in Australia.
Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items inclu... more Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in Deakin Research Online. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact
In this report is a survey of tools required for the implementation and maintenance of software. ... more In this report is a survey of tools required for the implementation and maintenance of software. The need to develop code of high quality means that the programmer must have a range of development and maintenance tools for the generation of code and its static and dynamic analysis. Individual tools as well as integrated environments supplying a range of coordinated tools are covered. A Survey of Tools for the Development and Maintenance of Programs. 1 Introduction This report provides an overview of the nature of various tools that are available to the programmer to implement and maintain programs. Such tools are classified into a taxonomy and examples of each type of tool are given. Due to the number of tools available examples are restricted to the UNIX/C environment, except where a tool for another language contains facets that are not found in UNIX/C tools. This discussion is preceded by a short introduction to the software development process. 2 The Software Development Process...
DUCAT: A tool for the interactive visualization of program structure Tim Jones Peter Horan tsj@cs... more DUCAT: A tool for the interactive visualization of program structure Tim Jones Peter Horan [email protected][email protected] Software Verification Research Centre School of Computing and Mathematics Department of Computer Science Deakin University University of Queensland Geelong Queensland, Australia 4072 Victoria, Australia, 3217 TR C94/31 7 th December, 1994 Code development for projects that are not trivial is time consuming and difficult. A well structured approach is essential to produce satisfactory results. One major problem facing the programmer is the need to conceptualize the structure of the program that is being written or maintained in order to completely understand the program while browsing it's source listing. This problem may be overcome by providing a tool that allows code to be browsed within the confines of a visual representation of the program's structure. This paper reviews the requirements for a tool to provide such a mechanism and describes the ...
This research aims to investigate whether real spaces can support legitimate measurements on glaz... more This research aims to investigate whether real spaces can support legitimate measurements on glazing energy and thermal comfort analysis. This paper presents the development of a research facility for doing this. It will test simple to complex glazing and shading systems in a real (occupied) interior office environment. The purpose of this research project is to compare measured results with those being simulated with existing software and to discover discrepancies between simulation and real measured results. What parameters characterize a glazing system, whether simple or complex? Can these parameters be used to predict the energy transfer and comfort in the space? One must begin with simple glazing systems and verify measured with readily known simulated results. It is, at present, very difficult to use geometric based software with thermal based software to predict the performance of complex glazing systems. However, if we can characterize glazing systems with a set of reliable ...
It is a reported fact that a high CO2 concentration is a problem in school classrooms. However, t... more It is a reported fact that a high CO2 concentration is a problem in school classrooms. However, the mere reporting of such results stops short of investigating causes; understanding is often missing. Steady-state results are often used in situations where changes occur frequently, such as varying student numbers, opening and closing classroom doors and windows and changing weather conditions. We revisit the mass balance model commonly used to predict or track CO2 concentrations in enclosed spaces as these factors change over time under varying conditions. This has prompted the study in several classrooms of actual air exchange rates, student exhalation rates, room volumes and ventilation design. In these cases, student numbers, room ventilation conditions (open and closed doors), room volume and the CO2 concentration have been recorded throughout the day. By fitting the model equation to the data, unknown parameters such as actual air change rates and CO2 exhalation rates per studen...
This investigation is about applying the ISO-7730 Fanger (static) Comfort model to two fully air-... more This investigation is about applying the ISO-7730 Fanger (static) Comfort model to two fully air-conditioned, yet, differently performing buildings, based on research into on-site comfort performance measurements using comfort carts. The results challenge the common perception that the ISO-7730 model is concerned with a narrow temperature band. Regardless of the environmental variations encountered temporally and spatially throughout real office environments, occupants appear to achieve comfort with reasonable success. The paper explores this flexibility within the ‘static’ model, more than perhaps is commonly realised. We consider the possibilities that many of Australian office buildings can operate under much greater temperature variation than expected and that there are mechanisms for occupants to adapt to varying conditions.
Investigating on-site building performance in architectural science is increasing. However, the s... more Investigating on-site building performance in architectural science is increasing. However, the simplest forms of measurement often lack any analytical support other than presentation on a time-series plot. Here, we present instrumentation and analytical tools to assist in reporting building performance. The intention is to explore formats for observing performance of buildings based on collected data. Sometimes data are presented directly, but more often, information is revealed by calculation. We introduce examples of tools pertaining to interior-exterior climatic comparisons, occupant comfort and thermal performance, such as weather data plotted against a neutral temperature so that adaptive model comfort tolerances can be illustrated. We plot the interior and exterior air condition on the ASHRAE psychrometric chart to understand conditioning requirements. Other tools calculate the ISO 7730 (Fanger) comfort model, and an adaptive model of comfort is provided for the interior meas...
Architects and designers could readily use a quick and easy tool to determine the solar heat gain... more Architects and designers could readily use a quick and easy tool to determine the solar heat gains of their selected glazing systems for particular orientations, tilts and climate data. Speedy results under variable solar angles and degree of irradiance would be welcomed by most. Furthermore, a newly proposed program should utilise the outputs of existing glazing tools and their standard information, such as the use of U-values and Solar Heat Gain Coefficients (SHGC's) as generated for numerous glazing configurations by the well-known program WINDOW 6.0 (LBNL, 2001). The results of this tool provide interior glass surface temperature and transmitted solar radiation which link into comfort analysis inputs required by the ASHRAE Thermal Comfort Tool-V2 (ASHRAE, 2011). This tool is a simple-to-use calculator providing the total solar heat gain of a glazing system exposed to various angles of solar incidence. Given basic climate (solar) data, as well as the orientation of the glazing under consideration the solar heat gain can be calculated. The calculation incorporates the Solar Heat Gain Coefficient function produced for the glazing system under various angles of solar incidence WINDOW 6.0 (LBNL, 2001). The significance of this work rests in providing an orientation-based heat transfer calculator through an easy-to-use tool (using Microsoft EXCEL) for user inputs of climate and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (WINDOW-6) data. We address the factors to be considered such as solar position and the incident angles to the horizontal and the window surface, and the fact that the solar heat gain coefficient is a function of the angle of incidence. We also discuss the effect of the diffuse components of radiation from the sky and those from ground surface reflection, which require refinement of the calculation methods.
As energy storage systems are typically not installed with residential solar photovoltaic (PV) sy... more As energy storage systems are typically not installed with residential solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, any "excess" solar energy exceeding the house load remains unharvested or is exported to the grid. This paper introduces an approach towards a system design for improved PV self-consumption and self-sufficiency. As a result, a polyvalent heat pump, offering heating, cooling and domestic hot water, is considered alongside water storage tanks and batteries. Our method of system analysis begins with annual hourly thermal loads for heating and cooling a typical Australian house in Geelong, Victoria. These hourly heating and cooling loads are determined using Transient System Simulation (TRNSYS) software. The house's annual hourly electricity consumption is analysed using smart meter data downloaded from the power supplier and PV generation data measured with a PV system controller. The results reveal that the proposed system could increase PV self-consumption and self-sufficiency to 41.96% and 86.34%, respectively, resulting in the annual imported energy being reduced by about 74%. The paper also provides sensitivity analyses for the hot and cold storage tank sizes, the coefficient of performance of the heat pump, solar PV and battery sizes. After establishing the limits of thermal storage size, a significant impact on self-efficiency can be realised through battery storage. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using a polyvalent heat pump together with water storage tanks and, ultimately, batteries to increase PV self-consumption and self-sufficiency. Future work will concentrate on determining a best-fit approach to system sizing embedded within the TRNSYS simulation tool.
Software being developed to aid the designer of delay insensitive asynchronous logic circuits is ... more Software being developed to aid the designer of delay insensitive asynchronous logic circuits is described. It is intended to support the activity of the designer in conceiving his design, and to provide means for managing complex concurrent behaviour, implementing complex design procedures and coping correctly with delays and hazards. The user can enter specifications of events graphically and manipulate them by combining them in various ways, and by editing them. Means of combining concurrent behaviours allows the user to specify partial behaviour independently of the remainder of the design, and proceed in the knowledge that the specification remains true. The software tool monitors the design as it proceeds to ensure that the specification satisfies requirements for delay insensitivity, so that circuit behaviour remains independent of delays on input and output wires. The tool generates output suitable for input to logic minimisation software or for defining PLAs. Examples of de...
The architects, construction and consulting companies promised to deliver an environmentally soun... more The architects, construction and consulting companies promised to deliver an environmentally sound library renovation for a secondary school in Melbourne. Specifically, the open spaces were to be conditioned uniformly with minimal background noise. The installation of a newly designed packaged unit, consisting of variable speed drive fans, two differently sized compressors and a special pressurized balance control system aimed to deliver a uniform temperature distribution throughout the space. Construction measures of air leakage sealing, double glazed windows and additional insulation reduced the equipment load substantially. Yet, the evidence of measurement shows that this system could have been half the size. The measurements also show that the uniformity of the air temperature and its IEQ in a relatively new fit-out is achieved. This study serves as an example of post-measurement, theparameters that were assessed, a review of what was promised, and what might be learned in the r...
As the number of photovoltaic systems grows and costs decrease dramatically along with their conn... more As the number of photovoltaic systems grows and costs decrease dramatically along with their connect-to-grid tariffs, we ask whether our investments all make sense. This is a real case study, comparing energy use before and after going solar, by installing PV, reducing electrical energy use by retrofitting lighting, and storing electricity in a hybrid vehicle. The case study covers more than energy savings and explores the results of these actions. We present and develop data to calculate and illustrate the findings of energy generation, its use and sale back to the grid. We explore the reasons for, and benefits of, each of the investments and justify why ‘Going Solar’ makes plain good sense for thefuture.
Heat Pumps are becoming one of the most considered mechanical conditioning equipment in our build... more Heat Pumps are becoming one of the most considered mechanical conditioning equipment in our buildings. While they are popular, there appears to be quite a vast range of system types and applications in building conditioning. This paper primarily reviews the literature on heat pumps, the various types, and the consideration of design end uses. The fact that there are different energy sources for heat pumps is considered, as well as the different sinks in which energy is stored or dissipated. It is evident that advanced heat pump systems cater well to the use of renewable energy resources. Therefore, in the move towards net-zero energy building operation, the correct selection of a heat pump can help to increase self-consumption of solar PV generation and even make use of direct solar energy heating. This paper reviews the technologies for heat pump selection, application, and design for residential buildings.
An investigation of building performance through a comfort and operational quality standpoint is ... more An investigation of building performance through a comfort and operational quality standpoint is not too often discussed for Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB). It would seem important that predications and claims for reducing energy-use in buildings and the move towards NZEB does not compromise comfort in buildings. A high school in Essendon, Victoria (near Melbourne) Australia undertook a retrofitting process to improve its existing library from a functional as well as an environmental standpoint. In the process, several pre-and post
Information Technology (IT) changes very quickly and influences business, industry and the public... more Information Technology (IT) changes very quickly and influences business, industry and the public in an enormous manner. Outsourcing of IT jobs to cheaper overseas labor and globalization of IT companies become a common practice. Graduates of IT university courses must be well prepared to address the needs and expectations of business, industry and every day life. Many factors in an Information Technology curriculum influence graduates' professional preparation and image. The most important of them is to reflect technology change, the current state of knowledge of computing, business and industry demands and students' expectations. The aim of our project was to develop a new Bachelor of IT curriculum that satisfies these requirements. In this report we concentrate our attention on two critical aspects of IT curriculum content, the modern technologies to be used to illustrate basic concepts and principles of computing, and the generic skills that each graduate is expected to acquire to get a job in Australia.
Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items inclu... more Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that permission has been obtained for items included in Deakin Research Online. If you believe that your rights have been infringed by this repository, please contact
In this report is a survey of tools required for the implementation and maintenance of software. ... more In this report is a survey of tools required for the implementation and maintenance of software. The need to develop code of high quality means that the programmer must have a range of development and maintenance tools for the generation of code and its static and dynamic analysis. Individual tools as well as integrated environments supplying a range of coordinated tools are covered. A Survey of Tools for the Development and Maintenance of Programs. 1 Introduction This report provides an overview of the nature of various tools that are available to the programmer to implement and maintain programs. Such tools are classified into a taxonomy and examples of each type of tool are given. Due to the number of tools available examples are restricted to the UNIX/C environment, except where a tool for another language contains facets that are not found in UNIX/C tools. This discussion is preceded by a short introduction to the software development process. 2 The Software Development Process...
DUCAT: A tool for the interactive visualization of program structure Tim Jones Peter Horan tsj@cs... more DUCAT: A tool for the interactive visualization of program structure Tim Jones Peter Horan [email protected][email protected] Software Verification Research Centre School of Computing and Mathematics Department of Computer Science Deakin University University of Queensland Geelong Queensland, Australia 4072 Victoria, Australia, 3217 TR C94/31 7 th December, 1994 Code development for projects that are not trivial is time consuming and difficult. A well structured approach is essential to produce satisfactory results. One major problem facing the programmer is the need to conceptualize the structure of the program that is being written or maintained in order to completely understand the program while browsing it's source listing. This problem may be overcome by providing a tool that allows code to be browsed within the confines of a visual representation of the program's structure. This paper reviews the requirements for a tool to provide such a mechanism and describes the ...
This research aims to investigate whether real spaces can support legitimate measurements on glaz... more This research aims to investigate whether real spaces can support legitimate measurements on glazing energy and thermal comfort analysis. This paper presents the development of a research facility for doing this. It will test simple to complex glazing and shading systems in a real (occupied) interior office environment. The purpose of this research project is to compare measured results with those being simulated with existing software and to discover discrepancies between simulation and real measured results. What parameters characterize a glazing system, whether simple or complex? Can these parameters be used to predict the energy transfer and comfort in the space? One must begin with simple glazing systems and verify measured with readily known simulated results. It is, at present, very difficult to use geometric based software with thermal based software to predict the performance of complex glazing systems. However, if we can characterize glazing systems with a set of reliable ...
It is a reported fact that a high CO2 concentration is a problem in school classrooms. However, t... more It is a reported fact that a high CO2 concentration is a problem in school classrooms. However, the mere reporting of such results stops short of investigating causes; understanding is often missing. Steady-state results are often used in situations where changes occur frequently, such as varying student numbers, opening and closing classroom doors and windows and changing weather conditions. We revisit the mass balance model commonly used to predict or track CO2 concentrations in enclosed spaces as these factors change over time under varying conditions. This has prompted the study in several classrooms of actual air exchange rates, student exhalation rates, room volumes and ventilation design. In these cases, student numbers, room ventilation conditions (open and closed doors), room volume and the CO2 concentration have been recorded throughout the day. By fitting the model equation to the data, unknown parameters such as actual air change rates and CO2 exhalation rates per studen...
This investigation is about applying the ISO-7730 Fanger (static) Comfort model to two fully air-... more This investigation is about applying the ISO-7730 Fanger (static) Comfort model to two fully air-conditioned, yet, differently performing buildings, based on research into on-site comfort performance measurements using comfort carts. The results challenge the common perception that the ISO-7730 model is concerned with a narrow temperature band. Regardless of the environmental variations encountered temporally and spatially throughout real office environments, occupants appear to achieve comfort with reasonable success. The paper explores this flexibility within the ‘static’ model, more than perhaps is commonly realised. We consider the possibilities that many of Australian office buildings can operate under much greater temperature variation than expected and that there are mechanisms for occupants to adapt to varying conditions.
Investigating on-site building performance in architectural science is increasing. However, the s... more Investigating on-site building performance in architectural science is increasing. However, the simplest forms of measurement often lack any analytical support other than presentation on a time-series plot. Here, we present instrumentation and analytical tools to assist in reporting building performance. The intention is to explore formats for observing performance of buildings based on collected data. Sometimes data are presented directly, but more often, information is revealed by calculation. We introduce examples of tools pertaining to interior-exterior climatic comparisons, occupant comfort and thermal performance, such as weather data plotted against a neutral temperature so that adaptive model comfort tolerances can be illustrated. We plot the interior and exterior air condition on the ASHRAE psychrometric chart to understand conditioning requirements. Other tools calculate the ISO 7730 (Fanger) comfort model, and an adaptive model of comfort is provided for the interior meas...
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