Generating reduced modal models of buildings

The Research and Development Division at Gaz de France assesses; and improves building heating and cooling equipment by both experimental and modelling/simulation approaches. In this context, the R&D Division uses two tools to model the thermal dynamic behaviour of buildings: the ALLANTM. Simulation modeller connected to the NEPTUNIX solver, and the CSTBat software.  
In 1993, GDF chose the CSTBat building description file format for both tools. The Groupe Informatique et Systèmes Energétiques (GISE), which is working on modal techniques applied to the thermai dynamic modelling of buildings, developed with GDF a package to generate building models automatically in the ALLANTM.Simulation environment from the CSTBat description and provide modal reduction techniques. 
 We will show here how this has been done using some advantages offered by the SYMBOL project and gathered in the m2m package to generate the reduced modal model. GISE wrote the m2m2alian tool to put it in a form suitable for ALLANTM. Simulation. 
GISE and Gaz de France validated the process jointly in three steps : they carried out operational validation fim then qualitative validation and last experimental validation. 
In this paper, we will focus on the tasks performed in order to link the tools, and on the translator. Some background information on the modal technique and its; reduction capabilities will be: supplied. The fúnction and advantages of the m2m package are stressed. Examples will be given to demonstrate the performance of the m2rn package in the ALLANTM. Simulation environment through its experimental validation, and the improvement obtained in terms of variable and equation numbers by modal reduction. We will then show how the package is currently being used in the Research and Development Division in several studies dealing