Computation of sound propagation in enclosed spaces is needed for a variety of purposes such as noise exposure in industrial spaces, acoustic privacy conditions in open-plan office settings, and speech intelligibility in auditoriums. In this context, the present paper offers a twofold contribution: First, the concept of a prototypical computational environment (SEMPER) is described in which the informational basis for performance simulation is derived from the structurally homologous general (architectural) building representation without additional user intervention.

This paper presents a calibration methodology using only two to four weeks of hourly monitored and monthly utility records. The methodology was developed and tested using two case study buildings. The building and HVAC systems data were collected from the building drawings and site visits. “On-off “ tests were conducted to accurately determine the power densities of the temperature-independent loads.

Earth heat exchangers are advantageous features to reduce energy consumption in residential buildings. In winter they pre-heat ventilation air with minimal operation costs - necessary for low energy architecture , in summer they help to prevent passive houses with relevant solar gains from overheating by pre-cooling ventilation air. The goal of GAEA (Graphische Auslegung von ErdwärmeAustauschern, German for Graphical Design of Earth Heat Exchangers) is to provide an easily usable calculation tool for to match earth heat exchangers and buildings.

Passport  Plus  is  a  new  design  tool  for  building thermal analysis which was developed within the European research project PASCOOL of the European Commission. The program is structured in such a way as to be able to easily handle future additions and enhancements. Some of the program's features include a more detailed treatment of thermal mass, the building's surrounding external environment, small scale micro climate, external remote obstacles, external shading devices like louvers, improved treatment of natural ventilation phenomena.

Modal-based model reduction techniques have been modified in order to improve their performance when applied to building thermal models. The basic idea is to take the spectral characteristics of meteorological inputs into account in such reduction techniques, which are very sensitive to the hypothesis concerning inputs nature. The resulting modified modal-based reduction methods have been implemented in Matlab and tested. From the performed analyses, it may be concluded that the introduced modifications significantly improve results.

Heat losses from foundations are poorly considered in many whole-building energy programs which are used to model houses. This despite the fact that foundations contribute significantly to residential heating requirements. A regression-based algorithm known as BASESIMP has been developed to improve the state of foundation heat-loss modelling in whole-building energy programs.

This paper reports the first results of an ongoing project aimed at generating design information /knowledge for wet central heating (WCH) refurbishment in multi-family houses in Central Europe. In that practical context, integral modelling and simulation of a building and its heating system is demonstrated. Given the underlying importance of the dynamic thermal interactions, building and plant are modelled at a high level of resolution.

This paper gives an introduction into the simulation of the thermic behaviour of a modernized building including the calculation of both single and two pipe heating by a new TYPE57 for simulation of heating pipe systems within the program TRNSYS. The data simulated are compared with measurements. The occupancy behaviour and the kind of decentral control have a decisive influence on heat consumption within a building.

This paper briefly reviews recent research into the modelling of complex fenestration systems, before presenting some results obtained by the use of a new (developing) simulation model, utilising Monte Carlo Methods and Geometric Optics (ray tracing).

The CLIM 2000 software environment [1] was developed by the Electricity Applications in Buildings Branch of the French utility company, Electricité de France. This software, which has been in operation since June 1989, allows the behavior of a whole building to be simulated. During the last phase of development, special attention, and hence research resources, were devoted to developing an open-ended software package, where new models of regulator could be added in a user friendly way.