The use of Matlab, a tool for mathematical programming, is actually increasing in a large number of fields. Together with its dynamic simulation toolbox Simulink, originally developed for control and automation applications, it has become a powerful tool that is suitable for a large number of applications. In the field of building and HVAC, the number of users of Matlab/Simulink has also been increasing rapidly in the last years.

In this paper, microscopic and macroscopic flow analyses have been employed to identify and analyze the causes of discrepancies of power law zonal models. The analyses show that the use of constant flow coefficient (Kf ) is one of the reasons for the discrepancy. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) was employed to estimate Kf for isothermal condition. The variations of Kf as function of room height were investigated for two types and locations of diffusers. Five levels of Reynolds numbers (Re) were used.

It is beneficial for the safe and optimal operation of system and energy conservation to find out and eliminate the faults existing in HVAC systems in time. For a large-scale and complex HVAC system, an automatic fault detection and diagnosis system is needed to ensure it to operate safely and reliably. Principal component analysis (PCA) approach has been used to detect and recover sensor faults in central chilling system through simulation data. However, it is found that sensor validation index (SVI) of PCA cannot identify the flow meter fault in the system.

Communications between buildings and their occupants through multimodal Human Computer Interactions (HCI) can dramatically enhance the way buildings are experienced. Although building performance data is becoming more readily available, no research has been established to enable visualization of and interaction with this information in a robust way. This paper will present a method that will allow users to visualize and interact with building performance data in real space.

This paper reports on progress of an ongoing research project, which aims to achieve better control modeling in building performance simulation by integrating distributed computer programs. Recent developments show that there is a need to enhance building performance assessments by integrating new simulation features in order to predict the overall effect of innovative control strategies for integrated building systems. However, both domain independent control modeling environments and domain specific building performance simulation, have their own restrictions.

Stand-alone software for predicting contaminant transport and behaviour is well developed, but to be more effective, it needs to be integrated within whole building simulation. This paper describes implementation of such a model within whole building dynamic simulation. The model is further enhanced by allowing specification of filter efficiencies, source/sink models, first order chemical reactions, contaminant based control and scheduled ambient concentration profiling. The model was validated against analytical solutions and for complex cases against CONTAM and COMIS.

This paper gives an overview of recent developments and results of a new integrated heat, air and moisture (HAM) modeling toolkit in Matlab named HAMLab. The recent developments include integration of a whole building model with building systems and controllers, 2D/3D HAM transport in constructions and 2D airflow respectively. The results include a short review on HAM models, a motivation of the selected simulation environment Matlab and extensive verification/ validation results. Furthermore, the integration capabilities are demonstrated by applications.

This paper represents the next step in the development of occupant responsive optimal control for double-skin systems that was presented at the IBPSA 2003 conference. The presented occupant responsive optimal control (Park et al, 2003b) optimizes in real-time the performance of the facade in terms of energy, daylighting, visual comfort and thermal comfort.

Burn Intensive Care Units (ICU) have among the most stringent design criteria for patient rooms in hospital design. Communication between the healthcare professionals, the architect designing the room layout and the mechanical engineer designing the HVAC system is critical to ensure that their design converges to meet the required therapeutic criteria. A Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analysis played an important part in this process for a University Medical Center, and a physical test of the final set-up helped to fine-tune and confirm the design.

Among  the  tools  which  serve  to  predict  heat  and mass transfer in a mechanically ventilated room, the CPD is increasingly used . However, this type of tool needs a correct description of  the  boundary conditions, especially concerning the air inlet. The ventilation inlet is often geometrically complex and many  models  exist   in   order   to   simplify   their eq uivalent bou ndary conditions included in CFD codes.