Recently, thermal mass activation (TMA) has attracted attention due to the potential benefits it ... more Recently, thermal mass activation (TMA) has attracted attention due to the potential benefits it can offer in terms of energy efficiency, particularly for shaving and/ shifting the load, emergency heating/cooling load, and for its economics and environmental impact. Shifting from peak periods to off peak periods can be done by electrically activating the concrete slab; i.e.: placing electrical resistance in the concrete slab. Integration of this technology in North American residential buildings for the purpose of shaving or shifting thermal load is a challenging issue, as these buildings are lightweight constructions and the main floors are made up of plywood and have no thermal mass. However, almost all residential buildings have a basement, and the basement is furnished with a concrete floor. The challenge is to use the concrete heated floor as TMA. This paper addresses the behaviour of proposed electrically activated slab assemblies on risks of overheating the cables. The TMA sy...
Heat waves are reported to be more frequent in recent years. The urban heat island (UHI) is sever... more Heat waves are reported to be more frequent in recent years. The urban heat island (UHI) is severely exacerbated during the UHI, leading to an increase in mean/peak energy demand and an escalation in the heat-related mortality and disease. Beside the taken long-term actions by cities to mitigate UHI such as urban greening plans, the implementation of short-term mitigation strategies can reduce the immediate heat-related risks of the UHI. Predictive tools can help urban planners and decision makers in minimizing the mentioned risks. However, these tools are mainly developed based on stationary parameters of a city such as the average surface temperature, which cannot present the variation of land-use/land-cover (LULC) in various urban neighborhoods. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) is developed to predict the indoor air temperature of buildings in different LULCs. A four-month measurement campaign of more than 50 buildings located on the island of Montreal was conduc...
A thermal storage system for residential buildings in a Northern climate is developed for electri... more A thermal storage system for residential buildings in a Northern climate is developed for electrical peak shifting and shaving. To facilitate implementation, only commercially available products are used for the system in conjunction with common construction methods. A thermal model is created with the TRNSYS simulation software and validated using data from a two-year monitoring campaign. The thermal model is used to identify key system parameters and propose system design guidelines. It is determined that, for residential buildings with a footprint varying between 80 m2 to 200 m2, the basement floor slab can be used for thermal storage with electrical heating cables and that the entire basement heating load can, during the peaks, be shifted to off peak periods. The optimal assembly for the basement floor is composed of 102 mm of extruded polystyrene insulation followed by 152 mm of concrete. The electric heating cables are positioned at the bottom of the concrete layer. This assem...
Recently, thermal mass activation (TMA) has attracted attention due to the potential benefits it ... more Recently, thermal mass activation (TMA) has attracted attention due to the potential benefits it can offer in terms of energy efficiency, particularly for shaving and/ shifting the load, emergency heating/cooling load, and for its economics and environmental impact. Shifting from peak periods to off peak periods can be done by electrically activating the concrete slab; i.e.: placing electrical resistance in the concrete slab. Integration of this technology in North American residential buildings for the purpose of shaving or shifting thermal load is a challenging issue, as these buildings are lightweight constructions and the main floors are made up of plywood and have no thermal mass. However, almost all residential buildings have a basement, and the basement is furnished with a concrete floor. The challenge is to use the concrete heated floor as TMA. This paper addresses the behaviour of proposed electrically activated slab assemblies on risks of overheating the cables. The TMA sy...
Heat waves are reported to be more frequent in recent years. The urban heat island (UHI) is sever... more Heat waves are reported to be more frequent in recent years. The urban heat island (UHI) is severely exacerbated during the UHI, leading to an increase in mean/peak energy demand and an escalation in the heat-related mortality and disease. Beside the taken long-term actions by cities to mitigate UHI such as urban greening plans, the implementation of short-term mitigation strategies can reduce the immediate heat-related risks of the UHI. Predictive tools can help urban planners and decision makers in minimizing the mentioned risks. However, these tools are mainly developed based on stationary parameters of a city such as the average surface temperature, which cannot present the variation of land-use/land-cover (LULC) in various urban neighborhoods. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) is developed to predict the indoor air temperature of buildings in different LULCs. A four-month measurement campaign of more than 50 buildings located on the island of Montreal was conduc...
A thermal storage system for residential buildings in a Northern climate is developed for electri... more A thermal storage system for residential buildings in a Northern climate is developed for electrical peak shifting and shaving. To facilitate implementation, only commercially available products are used for the system in conjunction with common construction methods. A thermal model is created with the TRNSYS simulation software and validated using data from a two-year monitoring campaign. The thermal model is used to identify key system parameters and propose system design guidelines. It is determined that, for residential buildings with a footprint varying between 80 m2 to 200 m2, the basement floor slab can be used for thermal storage with electrical heating cables and that the entire basement heating load can, during the peaks, be shifted to off peak periods. The optimal assembly for the basement floor is composed of 102 mm of extruded polystyrene insulation followed by 152 mm of concrete. The electric heating cables are positioned at the bottom of the concrete layer. This assem...
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Papers by dave olsthoorn