English

Traditional night cooling control strategies relies on the knowledge of the current situation – indoor and outdoor. The building is ventilated – passive or as free cooling via a mechanical ventilation system - with cool night air, hoping that the building  will warm up the  following day due to excess of free gains. In cool or moderate climates this often results in a thermal discomfort the next morning due to un- der-cooled constructions. As a consequence the sys- tem is often turned off.

This paper describes how a multi-zone air flow simulation program has been used for the evaluation of the performance of a hybrid ventilation system in a Swedish school. The idea was also to determine whether it is feasible for an HVAC consultant to apply a multi-zone air flow simulation program in a straight forward way. Before the analysis the tool was used to simulate the present state i.e.

This paper presents the application of multi-objective genetic algorithms for green building design to minimize two conflicting criteria: the life-cycle cost and the life-cycle environmental impact. Environmental impact categories considered in this study include energy and non-energy natural resources, global warming, and acidification. Variables focus on building envelope-related parameters. The application of multi-objective genetic algorithms is divided into two phases.

The aim of the presented work is to compare two solution methods of specific and latent heat transfer in building components e.g. walls, ceilings or floors. The effect of latent heat storage results from one or more layer made from composites with heighten heat accumulation. This additional heat accumulation follows that the selected layer is modified by incorporating Phase Change Materials (PCM) into its porous structure. The thermal behavior of phase change storage composites has been studied using numerical techniques.

This paper presents two DOE-2 functions to expand the modeling capability of DOE-2.1E, a popular calculation engine for building energy simulations. The first function models sensible and total heat recovery between outside air and exhaust air, with optional evaporative precooling of exhaust air before the heat recovery. The existing heat recovery of DOE-2 only allows preheating outside air when exhaust air is more than 10°F warmer than outside air.

Building simulation tools (energy, lighting, plant simulation, CFD, etc) have long been the preserve of a few specialist consultancies rather than being used where they can have the greatest impact - by construction design practices. This has resulted in additional costs for designers (time and financial) in terms of buying in specialist services.

We present a framework for the specification of building performance simulation output results. Toward this end, we describe a simulation output space, whose primary dimensions include scalar and vector attributes, spatial destination, temporal destination, and aggregation method. We then test the corresponding matrix empirically, by considering a number of performance simulation applications for thermal, lighting, and acoustic analysis. We demonstrate how the simulation results generated by these applications could be conveniently accommodated in the proposed performance output space.

Sustainable housing standards are reviewed including the UK 2005 building regulations, the UK Advanced Standard and EU Passive-house Standard. Conflicts between the standards are highlighted. The significance of insulation, orientation, ventilation, thermal mass, occupancy, gains, shading and climate on predicted energy performance is illustrated. An ESP-r model is then used to investigate these factors across a range of climates and occupancy / gains scenarios. The investigation covers both heating and cooling energy requirements.

This paper describes the use of simulations to support the renovation process of a monastery, that is listed as an historic building and is being re-used as an office building. No simulations were used in the creative phase of the process, partly because no suitable simulation tools are available. In the other phases of the design, several software tools were used to answer different kinds of questions. The paper describes the ways in which these tools were used and makes recommendations for consultants and software developers. 

This paper presents an overview of the use of building simulation in a private consultancy in New Zealand. The current state of the industry is outlined before the specific practice is introduced. The software and some office protocols are described. Several case studies are then examined to demonstrate how simulation has fit in with the design process. Issues currently facing the industry, and their likely effect in the future, are then discussed.