and diagnostic method on a rooftop air conditioning unit. When faults occur in the unit, the measured thermodynamic states differ from the states which are predicted by a model for normal system behavior, generating residuals. The magnitude and statistical uncertainty of the residuals determine the detection sensitivity of the technique. The directional changes in the residuals are statistically compared with a set of rules in order to diagnose a fault.

Hydrocarbon (HC) refrigerants are environmentaly safe, readily available, non toxic, and have good thermodynamic and transfer properties. However, they are also flammable. The subject of this paper is the effect of leakage of refrigerant into the passenger compartment of a vehicle from an assumed fracture in the refrigerant circuit. If the resultant mixture in the passenger compartment is close to stoichiometric, it can be ignited and create sufficient overpressure to damage structures.

Cooled beams are used to provide cooling of the spaces by means of natural or forced convection. Cooling capacity of static beams, which are working by natural convection, strongly depends on the thermal environment of the room they are installed in. The effect of the cooled beams location in the room and distribution of heat sources on the cooling performance of the beams is illustrated by the computational fluid dynamics - CFD calculations with reference to measurements.

The current French energy conservation regulation for non-residential buildings was elaborated at the end of the 80 s. Since then, many parameters have changed (energy prices, emergence of new techniques, growing public concern for the environment, ...). It is the reason why the public authorities have decided to reinforce the energy conservation regulation. The expected result is a global reduction in energy consumption of about 25% as regards the current situation.

Building owners and design offices wish to be provided with relevant and objective data on the quality of BEMS systems (Building Energy Management Systems) available on the market. As for BEMS manufacturers, they would like to have their products recognised in terms of quality. To reach this twofold objective, CSTB and EDF (French Electricity Board) have developed a procedure for assessing these systems. This procedure is based on tests performed on CSTBs SIMulator for Buildings And Devices (called SIMBAD).

An office building with electrical and fan coil heating system is designed to test Building Management System (BMS). This tool called SIMBAD (SIMulator of Building And technical Devices) is used in order to realise performance monitoring control tests. The building consists of 6 zones and is equipped with electrical convectors or fan coils.

Nowadays an air-conditioning design engineer is faced with a challenging task to minimise energy consumption and capital costs. One of the most common solutions is to apply heat recovery device. However, simple application of heat recovery device may not always produce energy cost savings. Sometimes investment costs may overcome energy savings, and feed-back period may be longer than equipment lifetime. Usually, the conditions in which use of heat recovery device, in the air-conditioning systems, is economical, is not strictly and clearly defined.

This paper aims to advance the knowledge related to the simulation of electrochromic glazing switching control. First, a critical evaluation of existing control strategies currently available in the DOE-2.1E program was performed to study the effect of several driving variables on the cooling load of an existing large office building. Second, the present capabilities of the DOE-2.1E program were expanded using the Functional Values approach which enables the user to introduce new algorithms (e.g., control strategies) without recompiling the program.

A simplified tool for estimating energy consumption of a whole air conditionned building is presented. It is developped to help design engineers to quickly estimate HVAC solutions till initial design. HVAC systems as fan coils, variable and constant air volume are available. The model is developped to need few inputs in such a way that it could be used very soon in the design process, when materials and building characteristics are not fixed in details.