IBPSA2011

The indoor moisture production is of great interest when simulating the indoor air humidity. Surface materials in an apartment will buffer some of the moisture produced depending on the features of the materials. Monte Carlo simulation of stochastically chosen moisture production rates in dwellings coupled to the moisture buffering capacity of surface materials, the ventilation rates and the outdoor climate define the moisture supply in a dwelling. The resulting distribution and variation of the indoor moisture supply are critical when designing moisture safe and durable buildings. 

Standard office building control systems operate the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning on a fixed schedule, based upon anticipated occupancy and use of the building. This study introduces and illustrates a method for integrated building heating, cooling and ventilation control to reduce energy consumption and maintain indoor temperature set points, based on the prediction of occupant behaviour patterns and local weather conditions. The experiment test-bed is setup in the Solar Decathlon House (2005), with over 100 sensor points.

A set of in-depth diagnostic test cases for multi-zone heat transfer was developed. These are designed to test the ability of building energy analysis tools to model multi-zone conduction, multi-zone shading, including automated building self-shading and modeling of internal windows between zones. A methodological advancement for this work, which enhances the diagnostic capability of the tests, is that the multi-zone shading and internal window test cases were specified using building zones designed to be modeled as precise calorimeters.

Buildings do not perform as modelled. There are many reasons for this, for example change of scope, functions, assumptions, weather, user behaviour and so forth. This paper investigates the latter. It turns the use of Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) around and asks: what is the impact of people on building performance?  Based on IES modelling, the researchers identified those areas of performance that were sensitive to user behaviour and used the process of post occupancy evaluation to observe this as well as the standard elements related to user satisfaction.

The canopy wall in the greenhouse is modelled as windows in the builidng simulation software, so as to avoid using the concept of overall heat transfer coefficient between inside greenhouse air and outside atmosphere air in the traditional greenhouse modelling.  In this greenhouse modelling software based on building simulation software, phase changing materials are considered as internal walls in the greenhouse, and the ground is modelled by 20 layers of soil.

BIM can examine the placement of ductwork and machinery. It significantly increases the efficiency of a mechanical design. In addition, BIM functions as a database to simplify the use of simulation technology. It is important to know the expectations of mechanical engineers who will become frequent users of BIM in the future. A survey was conducted among Japanese mechanical engineers to analyze the expectations of mechanical design using BIM.

This paper deals with two examples of sources for uncertainties in the simulation of high efficiency buildings. The two sources deal with solar shading and the value of simulation parameters like albedo and initial state.

The design of retrofitting strategies for historical buildings involves various challenges. The aim is often not only to save energy while providing acceptable indoor conditions for its users, but also to preserve the building and potential cultural artifacts, making it a multi-criteria issue, with multiple demands on the simulation tools and methods. This paper describes one way to fulfill on these demands through a serial, stepwise simulation process and a special tool, designed for that process. A case study, performed with the use of the method and tool, is presented.

This paper outlines a methodology for the calibration of detailed building energy simulation (BES) models using an analytical optimisation approach. The approach combines evidence-based model development with statistical Monte-Carlo based optimisation techniques. The first stages of the proposed calibration methodology are applied to a 700m2 naturally-ventilated library building using short-term monitored BMS and sensor data. The paper concludes with a discussion of how this methodology differs from existing approaches and the benefits it offers over traditional calibration techniques. 

In this study, the sensitivity of occupancy behaviour on building energy simulation is investigated. Given the changing nature of the office environment as well as advances in technology, standardised user patterns may have become out dated. This research investigates the importance of reliable occupancy patterns by simulating a representative office building in the Adelaide CBD, varying the hours of use, thermostat settings, lighting use and ancillary appliances, which are all largely user dependant, and comparing the results against variations in the building envelope.