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This paper analyses annual energy performance of atrium type hotel building in Belgrade. The objective is to examine the impact of the atrium on the hotel building’s energy demands for space heating and cooling. Integrated approach through numerical simulations that include Belgrade climate data and thermal comfort parameters, indicates an optimal model of hotel building with atrium for this area. Building energy simulation is carried out using EnergyPlus simulation engine, as a basic tool in the process of building energy optimization. The methodological approach includes the creation of a hypothetical model of an atrium type hotel building, numerical simulation of energy performances of several design alternatives of the hotel building with atrium, and comparative analysis of the obtained results. The main task of analysis is to change certain parameters in the particular model (for example, building structure, orientation, etc.) and to observe how the changes influence energy performance of the building. The goal of this research is to show that the atrium contributes to the heating and cooling energy savings in the rest of the building, but also that the atrium itself demands a lot of energy for its air-conditioning. The most sustainable solution should be to cover energy demands for atrium by using the renewable energy sources. In this case, the atrium can contribute to the energy efficiency of the hotel building in Belgrade climatic conditions, thus reducing its negative impact on the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper the performance of various turbulence models potentially suitable for the prediction of indoor air flow and temperature distributions in an atrium space was evaluated in a systematic way. The investigation tested these models for various thermal conditions in atria of different geometrical configuration in two existing buildings using the Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) modeling approach. The RANS turbulence models that were tested include the one-equation model (the Spallart–Allamaras) and two-equation models (the standard k-ɛ, RNG k-ɛ, realizable k-ɛ, standard k-ω and SST k-ω models). The radiation exchange between the surfaces of the atrium space was considered using the Discrete Transfer Radiation Model (DTRM). The resultant steady state governing equations were solved using a commercial CFD solver FLUENT. The numerical results obtained for a particular time of the day were compared with the experimental data available. Relatively good agreement between the experimental and CFD predictions was obtained for each model. However, from the results obtained, it was found that the performance of two-equation turbulence models is better than one-equation model and among the two-equation models, the SST k-ω model showed relatively better prediction capability of the indoor environment in an atrium space than k-ɛ-models. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this paper, the energy performance of a central atrium is investigated and compared with the energy performance of a courtyard with the same geometric proportions. The atrium and the courtyard design used for the analysis are square in plan and surrounded by the building on all four sides. The glazing type and percentage for the courtyard walls and atrium skylight are varied in the analysis. Weather data from four cities representative of climatic conditions of cold, temperate, hot-humid and hot-dry were used. The results show that, in general, the open courtyard building exhibits a better energy performance for the shorter buildings. As the building height increases, however, at some point the enclosed atrium exhibits a better energy performance. This “break even” point for the number of stories depends on different factors like glazing and climate parameters discussed above. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents the field-measured energy performance of two common types of daylight-linked lighting control systems, continuous dimming and automatic on/off installed in two existing large atrium spaces located in Canada. The daylighting performance was evaluated based on the daylight contribution to the indoor illuminance and the amount of electrical lighting displaced by daylighting via the daylight-linked lighting control systems. Measured daylighting contribution to the space indicates that significant lighting energy savings can be achieved in atrium spaces if the daylight-linked lighting control system is appropriately selected, installed and commissioned throughout its existence. Results extrapolated from measurements collected during summer and winter indicate that as installed, the continuous dimming lighting control system provides 46% annual savings in electrical lighting consumption, while the automatic on/off saves between 11and 17% in lighting energy. These savings account for 68% of the lighting energy consumed during main occupancy for the continuous dimming system, and 31.5% for the automatic on/off. Operation irregularities such as a reduced dimming linearity and an incorrect adjustment of the phases of the dimming control system, as well as the inadequate location of the photocell controlling the automatic on/off lighting system, the improper maintenance of the skylight during winter and the oversizing of the lighting system reduced the energy efficiency of the lighting control systems by 30–65%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]