English

Building simulation supported projects are difficult to manage when there are many different participants involved (e.g. simulation specialists, project managers, design teams with engineers and/or architects and clients). These participants are often dispersed and have a diverse knowledge level.  In addition, the goal of understanding how the building works and the impact of design decisions is often hampered by limitations in the presentation of performance data.

The use of computer simulation has increased rapidly within the construction industry over the last few years and this trend is set to continue.  However, it is important not to forget that physical testing methods still have a vital role in establishing the validity of and confidence in simulation modelling results. This paper reports on the experience of modelling in excess of 10 large shopping centres where for the majority, natural ventilation and wind driven air movement was a principal means of ventilation and cooling.

Large modern sports stadia are often multifunctional buildings that are not only used for sports purposes but also for other events such as concerts, conferences and festivities. Some of the stadia that have been built in recent years in north-western Europe are equipped with a semi-transparent roof that can be opened and closed, depending on the weather conditions and on the type of event. Whereas the roof is often open for sports events, it is often closed for concerts, conferences and festivities. This allows sheltering the indoor stadium environment from wind, rain and snow.

In this paper we present a case study about the application of dynamic simulation to asses the energy performance of a building in the context of a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certification. The project is a multifamily building of 74 dwellings located in Madrid – Spain. 

The Aldo Leopold Legacy Center is designed to be a net-zero energy building.  This paper explains how simulation modelling was integrated into the design process to achieve the design goals.  Simulation was used to evaluate the building shell, including natural ventilation potential as well as evaluate individual HVAC components.  The simulation model was also used to size HVAC equipment and evaluate control strategies. The simulation model underestimated actual energy use.  Differences between model and actual energy use are discussed. 

Extensive energy modeling was used during the design process of the Aldo Leopold Foundation Legacy Center in Baraboo, Wisconsin (USA) both to minimize the building’s overall projected energy use and in a number of instances to determine whether proposed subsystems were viable for maintaining comfort.

This paper outlines a novel methodology for calibrating building energy simulation (BES) models through the use of an evidence-based approach and detailed simulation modelling. The proposed calibration methodology is applied to a 30,000m2 office building. The case study illustrates the results of calibrating the model to Energy Monitoring System (EMS) and other readily accessible data. The paper concludes with a discussion on the current state of calibrated BES modelling and building measurement frameworks. 

Decisions made in the very first stages of a building’s design often have a significant impact on energy efficiency and internal environment of the building.

Today, many building software tools for evaluating energy efficiency are available. More than three hundred are listed by the US Department of Energy. Despite the diversity of the tools and their users, they generally share the same goals: to reduce the consumption of energy and even to produce surplus energy. We were interested in comparing the information provided by five softwares programmes that are widely used in France: EnergyPlus, TrnSys, CoDyBa, Pleiades + Comfie and PHPP.

The drive to reduce UK Carbon Emissions directly associated with dwellings and to achieve a zero carbon home dictates that Renewable Energy Technologies will have an increasingly large role in the built environment.  Created by the Building Research Establishment (BRE), the Standard Assessment Procedure (SAP) is the UK Government’s recommended method of assessing the energy ratings of dwellings.  This paper presents an evaluation of the advantage given to SAP ratings by the domestic installation of typical Photovoltaic (PV) and Solar Domestic Hot Water (SDHW) systems in the UK.