English

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.

Air velocity and air temperature are, in large glazed spaces, very heterogeneous and time dependant. Indoor and outdoor thermal conditions, localized solar radiation effects and ventilation systems are the conditions for mixed convection situations which produce, in large enclosures, significant velocity and temperature gradients. In this paper we describe the numerical techniques and processes that enable us to take these three types of conditions into account.

This paper explores three significant software development requirements for making the transitionfrom standalone lighting simulation/analysis tools to simulation-based design aid tools. These requirements include specialized lighting simulation engines, facilitated methods for creating detailed simulatable building descriptions, and automated techniques for providing lighting design guidance. Initial computer implementations meant to address each of these requirements are discussed to further elaborate these requirements and to illustrate work-progress toward fulfilling them.

Multizone airflow modelling is used for IAQ analysis as well as evaluation of cooling potential in buildings. A detailed evaluation of the wind pressure distribution on the envelope of a building is important for multizone: airflow modelling. There are a number of variables affecting the pressure distribution around a building due to natural wind. Wall-averaged values of Cp usually do not match the accuracy required. for multizone: airflow models.

In this paper we review the basic concepts of the Neutral Model Format for component description, of the SPARK objet-based simulation environment, and present a translator from NMF to SPARK. The purpose of the above is to document the NMF claim that translation from NMF to any simulation environment is easy, and also get a feeling of the effort needed to obtain a workng translator. The translator presented handles most NMF constructs (equations, loops, sums, embedded controls) with the notable exception of events. Working examples of translator-generated code are then presented.

This paper deals with the model validation methodology used at the Gaz de France Research & Development Division. The primary emphasis is on the latest developments, concerning different statistical methods for model validation and diagnosis. The corresponding computer implementation is called DVM standing for "Diagnostic et Validation de Modles".