English

This paper provides an overview of how building simulation is used to support a Canadian Govern- ment energy-efficient incentive programme. It describes the two software tools (detailed simulation software and a simplified web-based method) that were developed to support the programme. The classroom and computer-based initiatives used to train users are also described, this being key to support programmes of this nature.

The    application    of    model-based    performance assessment at the whole building level is explored. The information requirements for a simulation to predict the actual performance of a particular real building, as opposed to estimating the impact of design options, are addressed with particular attention to common sources of input error and important deficiencies in most simulation  models. The role of calibrated simulations is discussed.

The  paper  describes  case  study  of  application  of computer simulation in the field of operational energy costs distribution in the building  with variable operation and no possibility of direct energy consumption measuring. The simulation is used to predict energy needs related to the climatic loads and to make a synergy with the internal loads. Presented results are in terms of average energy consumption related to floor area and operational case, divided into the heating, cooling and electric energy .

This work deals with the use of the thermal simulation COMFIE tool, in the research project developed at Londrina State University / PR. In this research, 3 different building systems, represented by inhabited houses, are thermal-simulated and monitored. The obtained results are compared. The results allow us to verify the applicability and improve evaluation methods of thermal behavior of low-cost housing. 

Two  prototype  office  buildings  with  low  internal gains were simulated using DOE2 software  to evaluate its energy consumption in different urban microclimates. Weather data from two weather stations were used: in Rio de Janeiro – Santos Dumont local airport and Antônio Carlos Jobim International Airport – and in Florianópolis  – Hercílio Luz  International  Airport  and  LABSOLAR at Federal University of Santa Catarina. One prototype was designed to be more sensitive to the external environment and the other, less sensitive.

In civil engineering there is an increasing demand for calculation methods to assess the moisture behaviour of building components. Current tasks, such as preserving historical buildings or restoring and insulating existing buildings are closely related to the moisture conditions in a building structure. In this context, questions regarding moisture behaviour and the related transport processes occurring under natural climatic conditions as well as the risks thus involved always occur. These questions can either be answered with the help of experiments or by numerical simulations.

This    paper    summarizes    the    recently concluded PhD study by the first author. The study addressed uncertainties in building performance evaluations and their potential impact on design decisions. Design evolution involves a chain of design decisions. Each decision is supported by input supplied by the various domain experts to the design team at large. The research has focused on the domain expertise of the building physics expert, responsible for those inputs that sustain rational decisions with respect to energy use, thermal comfort, HVAC  system sizing  etc.

Just in time for the 25th anniversary a new version of the international well-known simulation tool TRNSYS is released: TRNSYS 15. New developments of both user-friendly interfaces and mathematical models have been implemented responding to a growing commercial application of TRNSYS. For example, the graphical input interface IISiBat has been completely rewritten in C++ and offers now all the comfortable features of modern window programs.

Computer models used to predict building heating and cooling energy and occupant thermal comfort at present rely on climate data collected at a remote meteorological station. No account is taken of the changes in meteorological conditions caused by the urban developments, yet it is known the differences can be important.

In a larger research program on ‘cost versus value evaluations in the early design stages of technical buildings’, a study and software implementation has been made to simulate HVAC expertise using an Integrated Early Design Environment. Basically the idea is to create a virtual early design software environment where the development of the requirements, concept designs and evaluations on costs and values is supported.