The simulation of adaptable components in the external envelope of a building.

This paper considers the building's envelope in the design phase. Energy related decisions during the design phase have great influence on the life cycle cost of the building. Since sunlight and climate are changing factors, the envelope is equipped with mobile and adaptable components (shading devices, movable insulation, opening window schedules ...) which can react to climatic conditions. Architects use computer aided design tools to describe a building and its envelope. A lot of objects and parameters for the heating, cooli11g, lighting, ventilation and acoustic simulations during the design process are already specified in the architect's computer model of the building. With a few test cases the data exchange between the architect's software tool (e.g. AutoCAD, Speedikon) and the building physics software for the different application fields (Trnsys, ESP-r, Radiance, Raynoise ... ) is analysed. The main goal is to obtain a good performance for each of the mentioned disciplines. Several simulations are performed to evaluate the effect and the sensitivity of the adaptable components (changes from season to season, or from day to night) on the efficiency of the building. Based on these studies a conceptual data model can be presented to support integrated studies in the preliminary design stage.