Relationship of Fanger's predictive mean vote to various monitored parameters on Blouin case study of thermal performance

Brookhaven National Laboratory, as part of its Small Building Field Validation Program for the Department of Energy, gathered hourly data from the Blouin Superinsulated House in South Royalton, Vermont. The thermal performance of this house is evaluated to provide an in-depth analysis of why it works so well from the energy conservation standpoint. It is distinguished by a combination of energy conservation features, including extensive thermal insulation, air infiltration control, and south orientation for solar heating benefit. The experiment results demonstrate that the energy needed for space heating, about 1 Btu per square foot per degree day, is smaller than that of any house yet examined by this program. It is concluded that the building thermal envelope performs nearly as calculated and that the features employed are economically competitive with many low-risk investments. Thermal comfort is evaluated through the use of a model based on the analytical and experimental work of P.O. Fanger, actual monitored data is analyzed and compared to the Predicted Mean Vote. 10 refs., 5 figs.