The impact of window operation assumptions on the thermal simulation results of an office building

Buildings' actual energy performance frequently does not meet the expectations at the design phase. One of the potential reasons for the discrepancy between expected and actual energy performance may be the uncertainties associated with building occupants' presence and behavior (e.g., operation of windows, blinds, luminaires). In this paper, we investigate the implications of different occupancy-related assumptions (pertaining to presence and window operation) on the predicted heating and cooling loads of a sample office building in Turin, Italy. Specifically, we deploy a dynamic numeric simulation application to compare standard occupancy models with probabilistic models in view of the computationally predicted heating and cooling demand of the building.