IBPSA1991

Design Reference Years are used as climatic input data for computer calculations-simulations - mainly of solar energy systems, and of building energy consumption, energy conservation, indoor climate and comfort. They can be seen as a new generation of such data collections already known as Test Reference Years in Europe or Typical Meteorological Year or WYEC in US.

The Energy Simulation Research Unit of the University of Strathclyde has recently undertaken a major effort to support the application of building performance assessment tools within architectural and engineering practices, universities and research groups around the UK. This has taken the form of a support service, funded by ETSU of the Department of Energy, to assist members of their Passive Solar Programme who are using the ESP suite of thermal simulation tools.

The TEF (Transfer Evolution Formalism) and the ZOOM software (Zone Organized Optimal Modelling) have been developped in order to give a flexible framework for physics oriented modelling. Their construction is based on a clear statement of the necessary partition ning/interfacing process, which leads to the definitions of the two classes of simulation objects : cells (elementary physical systems) and transfers (interfacing cells). This structure is the basis for system nesting and coupling analysis implementation.

The study is focussed on the sensibility of optimal start/stop control of hydronic heating systems on boiler and radiator sizing, supply temperature lift, and the building occupancy pattern. For the prediction of optimal start/stop times the recursive least squares method and the gradient method are evaluated. Computer simulation is applied on the example of an office building equipped with an hydronic heating system.

Zonal models are a promising way to predict air movement in a room with respect to comfort conditions and gradient of temperature because they require extremely low computer time and may be therefore rather easily included in multizone air movement models. The main objective of this paper is to study the arbility of the zonal models to predict the thermal behaviour of air in case of natural convection coupled with a radiator. First, we present two zonal models available in the literature.

Evacuation is a vitally important component of emergency management. Effective evacuation planning and evacuation management can be the difference between safety and tragedy in an emergency situation. However, in an emergency evacuation of any large complex building, there is a tendency for serious congestion of evacuees to occur in some areas even while other nearby exit areas are experiencing relatively light usage. The consequences are very serious, involving a direct threat to public safety, and adding to the likelihood of the onset of panic amongst evacuees.

This paper explores the implications of object oriented representation of buildings in the simulation of dynamic processes in architectural environments. Two main groups of objects are represented in such simulations: architectural objects, and active agents that drive the events in a simulation. To accommodate the data needs of a wide range of simulations and expert systems, architectural objects must be represented as a single data model. on the other hand, active agents are usually application specific, i.e. they are only used in a specific simulation.

This paper summarizes the approach, method, and some results of an ongoing systematic study in simulation and evaluation of daylight factor distribution in rooms. The study aims to develop the basis for both critical investigation of simplified daylighting design guidelines and flexible fast response computational modules, which would enhance the CAAD systems towards preliminary design supporting lighting performance simulation.

SETIS is aiming at building a computer support for building thermal design. It deals both with the envelop of building and with its HVAC system. This project is managed by OCGR, a french civil engineering office, and a laboratory of Institut National des Sciences Appliques de LYON. This collaboration is very important because SETIS is defined as a tool that integrates both algorithmic programs and knowledge based parts. Calculating tools and knowledge bases triggered by the inference engine of Nexpert Object, have been built.

Over the past seven years, Ross & Baruzzini, Inc., (R&B) has been working on a project to determine the relationship of the air conditioning load caused by building lighting with time. This effort has been funded by the Electric Power Research Institute. An initial literature search determined that the basis of existing calculation methods was data generated by Mitalas in the 1970's for a very limited set of experiments.