This study aims to verify the advantages of district heating and cooling (DHC) systems in terms of energy efficiency. From the measurement data, the parameters that characterize the energy efficiency of a heating/cooling plant are identified for DHC and an individual building. A Simulation model that considers the difference in these parameters is developed. This model examines both the advantages and disadvantages of DHC systems and the effect of each parameter.

When designing district heating serving different buildings, an architectural engineer should suggest optimal operation policy of heating, based on social aspects and on minimizing costs for used energy and for investment in building heaters. In this paper by using HTB2 software, the energy simulation was carried out for two small Serbian residential buildings with different heating timing (starting and ending time of heating). These buildings had different types of partitions: one with thermal insulation layer and one with bricklayer.

Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are major indoor air pollutants. Physical models that have been developed to predict VOC source (emission) and sink behavior (sorption) of building materials, commonly adopt the conventional convection approach using third-kind boundary condition assuming quasi-steady convective mass transfer in fluid (air). In this study, conjugate mass transfer models were developed to investigate the validity and application limit of the assumption.

An 'active façade' responds to (and anticipates on) changing indoor and outdoor conditions. To assess the potential of such a façade for minimising energy consumption and improving indoor comfort, a simplified building simulation model has been developed, that combines the simplicity and understanding of easy to use programs with the flexibility and possibilities of advanced programs. To validate the program, it is applied to two ECN research facilities. The model appears to be able to adequately describe the thermal behaviour of both.

Traditional night cooling control strategies relies on the knowledge of the current situation – indoor and outdoor. The building is ventilated – passive or as free cooling via a mechanical ventilation system - with cool night air, hoping that the building  will warm up the  following day due to excess of free gains. In cool or moderate climates this often results in a thermal discomfort the next morning due to un- der-cooled constructions. As a consequence the sys- tem is often turned off.

This paper describes how a multi-zone air flow simulation program has been used for the evaluation of the performance of a hybrid ventilation system in a Swedish school. The idea was also to determine whether it is feasible for an HVAC consultant to apply a multi-zone air flow simulation program in a straight forward way. Before the analysis the tool was used to simulate the present state i.e.

This paper presents the application of multi-objective genetic algorithms for green building design to minimize two conflicting criteria: the life-cycle cost and the life-cycle environmental impact. Environmental impact categories considered in this study include energy and non-energy natural resources, global warming, and acidification. Variables focus on building envelope-related parameters. The application of multi-objective genetic algorithms is divided into two phases.

The aim of the presented work is to compare two solution methods of specific and latent heat transfer in building components e.g. walls, ceilings or floors. The effect of latent heat storage results from one or more layer made from composites with heighten heat accumulation. This additional heat accumulation follows that the selected layer is modified by incorporating Phase Change Materials (PCM) into its porous structure. The thermal behavior of phase change storage composites has been studied using numerical techniques.

This paper presents two DOE-2 functions to expand the modeling capability of DOE-2.1E, a popular calculation engine for building energy simulations. The first function models sensible and total heat recovery between outside air and exhaust air, with optional evaporative precooling of exhaust air before the heat recovery. The existing heat recovery of DOE-2 only allows preheating outside air when exhaust air is more than 10°F warmer than outside air.

Building simulation tools (energy, lighting, plant simulation, CFD, etc) have long been the preserve of a few specialist consultancies rather than being used where they can have the greatest impact - by construction design practices. This has resulted in additional costs for designers (time and financial) in terms of buying in specialist services.