Short-Term Energy Monitoring (STEM): Application of the PSTAR method to a residence in Fredericksburg, Virginia

This report describes a project to assess the thermal quality of a residential building based on short-term tests during which a small number of data channels are measured. The project is called Short- Term Energy Monitoring (STEM). Analysis of the data provides extrapolation to long-term performance. The test protocol and analysis are based on a unified method for building simulations and short-term testing called Primary and Secondary Terms Analysis and Renormalization (PSTAR). In the PSTAR method, renormalized parameters are introduced for the primary terms such that the renormalized energy balance is best satisfied in the least squares sense; hence, the name PSTAR. The mathematical formulation of PSTAR is detailed in earlier reports. This report describes the short-term tests and data analysis performed using the PSTAR method on a residential building in Fredricksburg, Virginia. The results demonstrate the ability of the PSTAR method to provide a realistically complex thermal model of a building, and determine from short-term tests the statics as well as the dynamics of a building, including solar dynamics. 10 refs., 12 figs., 2 tabs.