English

The aim of this paper is to propose a methodology using simulation to help optimising the design of passive buildings through a comfort approach. The study will concentrate on the design of solar shading that plays an extensive role in tropical climates and that has a direct impact on the thermal and the visual comfort of the building users.

The aim of this study is to evaluate a simplified parameter to characterize green roofs summer dynamic thermal performance through a mathematical approach. The inside face surface conduction in a green roof component is calculated through the Fast all-season soil strength (FASST) model. A parametric analysis is carried out to evaluate which roof design options have the greatest effect on the green roof thermal behavior during the summer period.

Most building energy consumption dashboards provide a snapshot of building performance; others provide detailed historical data for comparison to current usage. This paper discusses the Building Agent platform, which was developed and deployed in a campus setting at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as part of an effort to maintain the aggressive energy performance achieved in newly constructed office buildings and laboratories.

The purpose of this study was to develop an integrated graph able to communicate to the designer -which is not specialist in lighting- a rating of the different indicators having significance when evaluating the daylighting conditions within a space, specifically, within classrooms. This graph integrates six daylighting performance indicators through a dashboard, allowing comparing a base situation with new architectural solutions.

In the future building design must progress to a format where CO2 neutral societies are optimized as a whole and innovative technologies integrated. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the problems using a simplified design tool to simulate a complicated building and how this may not give sufficiently good results in terms of actual performance of the real building. This is illustrated by example of Viborg Town Hall using a simplified Danish tool Be10 and a dynamic Building Simulation Programme IES-VE. The model is evaluated based on actual weather data.

This paper presents a method to analyse the impact of current refurbishment settings. Performance indicators are computed through multiple physical simulations. In the study case, the thermal comfort conditions and needs are analysed to infer relationships between them and the inputs. To reach this goal, the frequency analysis method RBD-FAST is used. For each output, a total influence ranking is produced and discussed. This study aims to help building designers take advantage of current computing power.

This paper describes a prototype of a web-based 3D design and energy modeling platform called “Atmospheres”. A WebGL based 3D geometry modeling and data visualization interface that runs in any modern web-browser is coupled with an event-driven, asynchronous server that runs transient, 3D energy simulations.

Recent developments in material science offer the potential for energy harvesting electrochromic (EH-ECW) windows. This technology offers a glazing system that will enable switching of visible light transmission (Tvis) and solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC) to admit heat and light relative to interior comfort requirements as well as allowing for the conversion of unwanted solar radiation through windows into electric current while in a darkened state.