A calculation model for the energy performance assessment of fattening pig houses

Climate control in animal houses is a relevant issue. In fact, it provides appropriate breeding conditions, but it requires a considerable amount of energy with respect to the overall process consumption. For this reason, studies aimed at its management and optimization are needed. In this work, the main features and the potentialities of a model for the computation of the energy use for climate control and indoor environmental condition of pig houses is presented. In particular, the case of fattening pig houses equipped with mechanical ventilation system is considered. The calculation model is based on a customization of the simple hourly method of ISO 13790 Standard and it determines thermal and electrical energy uses for heating and ventilation purposes, respectively. The hourly indoor environmental conditions provided by the model can be also used to evaluate the quality of the indoor environment of the pig house. This work is part of the EPAnHaus project, which aims at defining an energy performance certification of livestock houses through measurements and development of numerical simulation models.