IBPSA1993

New object oriented simulation environments offer dramatically improved possibilities for simulation of coupled systems. In contrast to traditional building simulation, where separate, stand-alone tools are used for each simulation task; the new environments will offer a unifiedf ramework for all simulation problems. For design tool users this leads to two major advantages. (1) model coupling and comparison of results between different simulation applications will be practical, and (2) usage and input data will be standardised across applications.

The conceptual theory and qualitative structure of a model for the evaluation of life safety in building fires is presented The model is based on a hierarchical framework, which is then overlain with an interactive network to represent the inter?relationships between the factors directly or indirectly determining life safety Representation of time in fire events is made using five discrete notional am stages corresponding to the characteristic Phases of escape. The model is a systemic approach to life safety in fires.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has recently released two new programs, LightCAD and LightPAD, to enhance the design and application of lighting in commercial buildings. LightCAD is a companion program to AutoCAD and is used by lighting designers and drafts persons to design more energy-efficient lighting systems in new buildings. LightCAD 2.0 is an advanced lighting layout too I in the CAD environment aimed at improving basic lighting in standard commercial environment-it is not a highly sophisticated analysis tool for detailed or specialized lighting analysis.

In this paper the availability of weather data in Australasia in terms of both hourly data for energy simulations and synthesized design day data for cooling and heating load estimation is discussed. Problems in establishing suitable data as identified in recent and current work carried out by ACADS and others, together with some possible solutions are discussed. A method of extrapolating energy consumption estimates to locations where hourly climatic data is not available is presented.

As a result of the progression of computing power and the increasing demandsfor detailed thermal performance assessment users are shifting from simplified design tools to comprehensive, dynamic thermal appraisal tools which are able to handle the complexity of design. From the standpoint of researchers and developers the days of a single person or even a small group maintaining and advancing such appraisal tools is problematic.

Thermal simulation programs for buildings have been available for many years. They vary from simple methods that can be performed at the sketch design stage using a spreadsheet through to sophisticated dynamic thermal simulations requiring mainframe computers. However, these methods are not widely used by building designers during the early stages of design when the most important decisions are made. Explanations for this are that the preparation of the data can be time consuming and few building designers are confident in interpreting the results of the simulations.

Field measurements of the thermal performance of five low cost houses in Malaysia were carried out. Thermal simulation tests were performed on two of the houses, a traditional Malay village house, and a modem urban Cluster-Link house. "Me measured and the modelled results were found to agree, indicating a significantly higher overnight internal temperature in the modem house compared to the traditional house. The model was then used to predict the thermal performance of a new design low cost house, which was shown to perform similarly to the traditional house type.

A new energy efficiency code for nonresidential buildings is being developed in Canada. This code will have three compliance paths for building envelope requirements-simple prescriptive tables, a trade off procedure, and whole-building energy performance modelling. A simple means of estimating the relationship between building envelope characteristics and energy consumption was needed both for economic analyses to select prescriptive envelope values, and as the basic energy model for tradeoff compliance software.

Building designers are increasing their use of computer software to more effectively take advantage of analytical tools that are useful to the design process. The area of energy analysis, though developing for twenty years or more, is still not effectively integrated into the conceptual design process. Too often, energy Performance is evaluated as an after thought or it is done only for compliance to local energy codes.

A new service has been developed to assist new home?builders to examine the design options with a view to improving the energy efficiency and comfort of their new home. The service combines the skills of a trained advisor with versatility of a new computer package that enables thermal evaluation of the options within a one hour consultation. The developments that make this possible are described.