Impact of heat transfer through floor slab on energy performance of buildings with UFAD systems

There are few studies on the impact of thermal storage and heat transfer on the floor slab on energy performance of buildings with Under-floor Air Distribution (UFAD) systems. Tins investigation used Energy Plus to conduct energy simulations and analyze energy use of an office building with an UFAD system in Philadelphia. The computed results indicated that the building with the UFAD system would consume more energy than the well-mixed system if the heat transfer through the floor slab was considered. However, in the shoulder seasons, the UFAD system would use less energy than the well- mixed system because the UFAD system can make use of more free cooling. Therefore, the energy performance of the building with the UFAD system could be better or worse than the well-mixed system depending on the climate zones.