Thermal decay in underfloor air distribution (UFAD) systems: Fundamentals and influence on system performance

Graphical abstract: Surface heat transfer breakdown for an underfloor air distribution (UFAD) system supply plenum. Highlights: ► Thermal decay of a UFAD system is considerable (annual median = 3.7 K). ► Thermal decay is driven by heat transfer through both the concrete slab and the raised floor. ► Thermal decay may lead to higher airflow rates and increased fan and chiller energy consumption. -- Abstract: Underfloor air distribution (UFAD) is a mechanical ventilation strategy in which the conditioned air is primarily delivered to the zone from a pressurized plenum through floor mounted diffusers. Compared to conventional overhead (OH) mixing systems, UFAD has several potential advantages, such as improved thermal comfort and indoor air quality (IAQ), layout flexibility, reduced life cycle costs and improved energy efficiency in suitable climates. In ducted OH systems designers have reasonably accurate control of the diffuser supply temperature, while in UFAD this temperature is difficult to predict due to the heat gain of the conditioned air in the supply plenum. The increase in temperature between the air entering the plenum and air leaving through a diffuser is known as thermal decay. In this study, the detailed whole-building energy simulation program, EnergyPlus, was used to explain the fundamentals of thermal decay, to investigate its influence on energy consumption and to study the parameters that affect thermal decay. It turns out that the temperature rise is considerable (annual median = 3.7 K, with 50% of the values between 2.4 and 4.7 K based on annual simulations). Compared to an idealized simulated UFAD case with no thermal decay, elevated diffuser air temperatures can lead to higher supply airflow rate and increased fan and chiller energy consumption. The thermal decay in summer is higher than in winter and it also depends on the climate. The ground floor with a slab on grade has less temperature rise compared to middle and top floors. An increase of the supply air temperature causes a decrease in thermal decay. The temperature rise is not significantly affected by the perimeter zone orientation, the internal heat gain and the window-to-wall ratio.