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The continuing development of the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard by the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI) creates new possibilities for achieving interoperability for design software through the use of a common object model of the building and its open data transfer standard. Several architectural CAD tools are already IFC compliant. However, in-depth knowledge of the highly complex IFC object model is required to develop IFC-compliant software.

Horizontal and vertical brises soleil are dominant elements in the modernist tropical architecture. It was the obvious answer to the question on how to adapt the modernist architecture, developed in moderate climates, to the tropical climate with its particularly high solar radiation. Buildings for example like, the buildings of the Central University of Venezuela in Caracas (Carlos R. Villanueva, 1945 – 1953) or the ministry of education and culture MEC (Lúcio Costa, Le Corbusier et al.

This paper will describe a simulation experiment designed to benchmark the use of separate electric driven chiller plants for a nominal 100,000 sq. meter medical facility comprising two (2) twelve (12) story medical office towers and an adjacent six (6) story hospital incorporating gas and steam turbine driven chillers and separate gas turbine driven synchronous generator against each building with conventionally designed, separate plants using head to head computer simulation scenarios.

In object based models, conversion becomes necessary when there is a mismatch among the representations of same physical quantity at the ports of different objects that need to be connected. The simplest example of this is with regard to physical units of measure, such as temperature. A more complex situation, but with the same character, is with regard to fluid flow, where the state can be represented in terms of any pair of independent properties, and the flow rate can be expressed volumetrically or in terms of mass.

This paper investigates the possibility of encoding architectural design intentions into a generative design system, using as a test bed the School of Architecture at Oporto [Portugal], designed by Álvaro Siza. Based on language constraints derived from Siza’s original design, the generative system [GS], consisting of a genetic algorithm and the DOE-2.1E building simulation program, created facade solutions resulting in lower annual energy consumption, while acting simultaneously as a diagnosis mechanism for problems occurring in the existing building.

Despite the potential benefits of improved energy efficiency and enhanced comfort for eventual occupants, most architects and engineers resist using computer simulation methods in the design of new buildings. Issues of program complexity as well as the time required to produce a simulation have kept many otherwise progressive architecture and engineering firms from embracing this powerful analysis tool. This paper describes how powerful lighting and energy simulation tools in conjunction with simplified strategies can improve building performance right from the start.

There  are  two  kind  of  supply  fan  rotation  speed control methods, one is the static pressure control method, the other is the float pressure control method. Simulation shows that they have different working point along the whole year. The supply air fan controlled with float pressure control  method need low rotation speed and works on high efficiency, so the float pressure control method need only 30% fan operation energy of the static pressure control  method.  The  layout  of  the  air  duct  may influence the fan control method.

This  paper  referrer  to  the  existence  of  the variety modes and the 'chaos' in building ventilation system, and provides some instances of such varieties and the chaos in forced ceiling chamber smoke exhaust system in building fire. The numerical  calculations are executed by the Newton-Raphson method for the ventilation network models. The ventilation variety up to five modes and the chaos characteristics are obtained  as  the natural result of the non-linear system and illustrated in figures and maps.

Up to now, within the framework of validation of the global building energy simulation software programme CLIM2000, we have not focused on analytical verification. Indeed, the scientific literature is not verbose on this subject due to the fact that only few thermal problems have analytical solutions. In the framework of International Energy Agency (IEA) Solar Heating And Cooling (SHAC) Task 22 (Building Energy Analysis Tools), a working document was established identifying and summarising analytical tests as verification and debugging tests for building energy analysis simulations.

This paper presents the Umidus program which has been developed to model coupled heat and moisture transfer within porous media, in order to analyze higrothemal performance of building  elements when subjected to any kind of climate conditions. Both diffusion and capillary regimes are taken into account, that is the transfer of water in the vapor and liquid phases through the material can be analyzed. The model predicts moisture and temperature profiles within multi-layer walls and low-slope roofs for any time step and calculates heat and mass transfer.