English

The premise underlying this work is that introducing uncertainty considerations into simulation will facilitate risk assessment and that this, in turn, will help to improve designer confidence in simulation. Sources of uncertainty abound in building simulation and must be factored into the solution process. These sources have been identified and useful techniques for quantifying the effects of uncertainties are presented. Two approaches are described: the use of traditional statistical methods, and the use of alternative arithmetical methods.

Typical Meteorological Years obtained from observed meteorological records have become the de facto data source when evaluating thermal performance of buildings. However, this data source has various drawbacks, and alternative TMY assembling methods based on statistical and stochastic models seem to have been perfected to a point where they become sound alternatives. Numerical simulations of test cells were performed for a mid-latitude temperate climate, Lisbon.

This paper describes use of building energy performance modelling and simulation in design process at the early conceptual level of architectural design. Based on the architect’s initial ideas, four alternatives of building facade solution and airconditioning system operation were developed and simulated in real climate conditions, represented by typical winter and typical summer week. Results in terms of heating and cooling energy consumption and flux and air temperature in the double facade cavity course are discussed, and a recommendation for further design process is made.

New thermodynamic energy “water potential” based on the chemical potential of a component of mixture gases is defined as the driving force of gaseous phase water flux. Adhesive power, which is a kind of stress called “capillary attraction” and a part of the water potential, is proved as the driving force of liquid phase water flux. Then numerical model of coupled heat and water transfer using the water potential is introduced and influences of stress such as gravity and stationary pressure on water flux are indicated from the viewpoint of thermodynamics.

Coupled heat and moisture transfer equations which describe temperature and moisture fields in the building walls, the earth ground and so on are nonlinear. Due to the nonlinearity, the complicated analysis has to be performed in each time under the different boundary values. If linearization of the system with adequate accuracy can be achieved, a solution can be obtained simply by applying the superposition principle.

Object-oriented or modular simulation methods represent a concrete alternative to present monolithic building simulation technology. Modular methods have previously been used primarily for component based systems modeling, while envelope models have remained monolithic. In this paper, the advantages of the new technology are reviewed and an equation-based models library for systems as well as envelope modelling is introduced. The new library has been developed within IEA SHC Task 22 and is available as NMF source code. Airflow network models are combined with thermal.

The UC Berkeley Multinode Comfort Model is based on the Stolwijk model of human thermal regulation but includes several significant improvements. Our new model uses sixteen body segments (compared to six in the Stolwijk model) corresponding to the UC Berkeley segmented thermal manikin. Each segment is modeled as four body layers (core, muscle, fat, and skin tissues) and a clothing layer. Physiological mechanisms such as vasodilation, vasoconstriction, sweating, and metabolic heat production are explicitly considered.

A study was performed on a method to evaluate performance of window system necessary to satisfactorily maintain the window side radiation environment in a glass building. On general type window using high-performance glass, air flow window and push-pull window, U-factors and SCs in various specifications were obtained from numerical calculation. Also, a simulation model for indoor radiation environment is proposed using the newly defined window thermal property values.

This paper presents a new, accelerated method based on GD\OLJKWFRHIILFLHQWV according to Tregenza [1] to calculate cumulative annual indoor illuminance distributions. Simulation results are compared with five RADIANCE based daylight simulation methods including the daylight factor method [2], ADELINE 2.0 [3] and ESP-r version 9 series [4]. An explicit calculation of the indoor illuminances under all annual hourly mean sky luminance distributions serves as a reference case against which the other methods are tested.

This paper presents a feasibility study of a fresh air load reduction system by using an underground double floor space. The system was introduced into a real building (Aichi Children’s Center in Japan) and was examined by the field measurement.