English

CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation is the main research method for assessing the wind environment around building complexes. Recent research showed the importance of turbulence models used in simulation and different turbulence models were developed to improve the precision of CFD simulation results. In this paper, a comparison of different turbulence models in simulating wind environment around building complexes is conducted to discuss their precision of simulation in three key elements of engineering application.

To maintain good indoor air quality, this investigation proposes a prototype of an active breathing wall system, which is composed of a solar radiation absorption board, air heating cavity, porous filtration unit and fan device. The thermo-flow performance of a physical model is measured and compared against the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling. Then an office environment with a breathing wall is simulated by CFD. This study finds different ventilation modes are formed within the room in different seasons.

Because of the complexity and diversification of today’s HVAC systems, Fault Detection and Diagnosis (FDD) systems have become necessary to reduce maintenance cost and to provide building energy efficiency, but with a minimum of engineering cost. Based on a generic method of generating Fault Detection (FD) systems from Building Information Models (BIM), we now propose an  extension of the underlying Heat Flow Model (HFM) to implement a diagnosis engine and thus create the complete software system called HFM-FDD.

This paper presents a Simulation Domain Model (SimModel) - a new interoperable XML-based data model for the building simulation domain. SimModel provides a consistent data model across all aspects of the building simulation process, thus preventing information loss. The model accounts for new simulation tool architectures, existing and future systems, components and features. In addition, it is a multi-representation model that enables integrated geometric and MEP simulation configuration data.

The indoor moisture production is of great interest when simulating the indoor air humidity. Surface materials in an apartment will buffer some of the moisture produced depending on the features of the materials. Monte Carlo simulation of stochastically chosen moisture production rates in dwellings coupled to the moisture buffering capacity of surface materials, the ventilation rates and the outdoor climate define the moisture supply in a dwelling. The resulting distribution and variation of the indoor moisture supply are critical when designing moisture safe and durable buildings. 

Standard office building control systems operate the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning on a fixed schedule, based upon anticipated occupancy and use of the building. This study introduces and illustrates a method for integrated building heating, cooling and ventilation control to reduce energy consumption and maintain indoor temperature set points, based on the prediction of occupant behaviour patterns and local weather conditions. The experiment test-bed is setup in the Solar Decathlon House (2005), with over 100 sensor points.

A set of in-depth diagnostic test cases for multi-zone heat transfer was developed. These are designed to test the ability of building energy analysis tools to model multi-zone conduction, multi-zone shading, including automated building self-shading and modeling of internal windows between zones. A methodological advancement for this work, which enhances the diagnostic capability of the tests, is that the multi-zone shading and internal window test cases were specified using building zones designed to be modeled as precise calorimeters.

Buildings do not perform as modelled. There are many reasons for this, for example change of scope, functions, assumptions, weather, user behaviour and so forth. This paper investigates the latter. It turns the use of Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) around and asks: what is the impact of people on building performance?  Based on IES modelling, the researchers identified those areas of performance that were sensitive to user behaviour and used the process of post occupancy evaluation to observe this as well as the standard elements related to user satisfaction.

The canopy wall in the greenhouse is modelled as windows in the builidng simulation software, so as to avoid using the concept of overall heat transfer coefficient between inside greenhouse air and outside atmosphere air in the traditional greenhouse modelling.  In this greenhouse modelling software based on building simulation software, phase changing materials are considered as internal walls in the greenhouse, and the ground is modelled by 20 layers of soil.

BIM can examine the placement of ductwork and machinery. It significantly increases the efficiency of a mechanical design. In addition, BIM functions as a database to simplify the use of simulation technology. It is important to know the expectations of mechanical engineers who will become frequent users of BIM in the future. A survey was conducted among Japanese mechanical engineers to analyze the expectations of mechanical design using BIM.