This paper explores effective means to opt for the optimum design solutions of commercial buildings through developing a Based-Simulation Design Support System (BSDSS). The system is established by the integration between EnergyPlus and Radiance software programs. The design alternatives of a typical private office are developed and evaluated based on multi-attribute life-cycle analysis. Results show that there is still a potential to improve the building design especially at the early stage.

Participants in building simulation supported projects are diverse (e.g. design teams, clients, project managers and simulation practitioners) and often geographically dispersed. There is much about conventional approaches to building performance assessments and work practices that reduces productivity and obscures useful indicators of performance. Often, the goal of understanding how the building works and the impact of design decisions is hampered by limitations in the presentation of performance data.

This paper aims to analyze an office building energy performance at Rio de Janeiro. Electrical power consumption profile of a building, resulting from a simulation using building energy-use simulation software, is obtained during a typical year and is shown on an hourly basis and pursuant to final uses. Thus, power consumption figures are obtained through the following final uses: lighting, office equipments, air conditioning and others.

This article presents a simulation study comparing the thermal interior comfort performance, the energy consumption and the efficiency of (i) nighttime ventilation concepts considering varying air change rates, (ii) three thermo-active building systems (TABS) and (iii) ceiling mounted radiant cooling panels in a low energy office building for a chosen climate of the Test Reference Year (TRY) weather database as well as for the hot summer 2003 in South-West Germany.

There is an increasing demand for energy efficient and environment-friendly buildings with a high  thermal comfort. On the other hand, the Kyoto protocol binds the developed countries to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases at least by 5% by 2008-2012.

Significant progress has been made in the area of common data exchange in the building industry with the development of information technology. Currently, the Industry Foundation Class (IFC) and Green Building XML (gbXML) are two prevalent informational infrastructures in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.

This paper deals with a common moisture problem in Swedish houses – the occurrence of high moisture levels in attics, and with a remedy proposed by building authorities – the ventilation of attic by outdoor air. The aim of the work is to identify  operating scenarios for an attic that lead to a moisture accumulation on internal side of the roof and to investigate whether ventilation (governed by wind) may help in removing the moisture excess. The role of the attic ventilation is analyzed by comparing attics with different air infiltration rates from a dwelling.

Energy consumption by residential sector of 20 Japanese cities was modeled at the city-scale. In the model, households were classified into 228 categories based on the family and building type. We evaluated the effectiveness of energy conservation measures, such as improving energy efficiency of home appliances, improving heat insulation of buildings, changing preset temperature, and all family members watching TV together. In addition, we also discussed differences in energy saving effects between cities.

In case contaminants are found in an aircraft cabin, it is useful to identify the contaminant source location and strength. This can be done through inverse Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling. Since inverse CFD equations are ill-posed, this study proposes to solve a quasi-reversibility (QR) equation and a pseudo-reversibility (PR) equation. The QR equation improves the numerical stability by replacing the second-order diffusion term with a  fourth-order stabilization term in the governing equation of contaminant transport.

This paper provides an overview of Daylight1-2-3, a new daylighting/energy analysis software for design professionals and architectural students with an interest in daylighting and sustainable design, but no required previous knowledge of either daylighting concepts or simulations. The initial version of Daylight 1-2-3 focuses on private offices, open-plan offices, and classrooms.