Thermal simulation programs for buildings have been available for many years. They vary from simple methods that can be performed at the sketch design stage using a spreadsheet through to sophisticated dynamic thermal simulations requiring mainframe computers. However, these methods are not widely used by building designers during the early stages of design when the most important decisions are made. Explanations for this are that the preparation of the data can be time consuming and few building designers are confident in interpreting the results of the simulations.

Starting from the basic governing equations for fluid flows, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code is described. The pre-processing and post-processing software was integrated with the CFD code to form a more user-friendly computer package. This new computer package has been used to carry out several simulations on air and smoke movement in atrium with balconies. It has been found that the pre?processing and post-processing software can greatly reduce the data preparation and analysis time. It can also reduce the likelihood of making errors in data entry.

Currently, building energy analysis programs employ models of fluorescent lighting systems which are much oversimplified and potentially inaccurate. One important factor neglected by all whole-building programs is the variation of lamp power and light output with lamp wall temperature. This means that the lighting component of zone load and artificial lighting levels are both calculated incorrectly. Additionally, the latter implies that the predicted energy saving for systems that automatically reduce artificial lighting when daylight is available is also incorrect.

Over the past decade developments in the building simulation field have given rise to the prospect of a new generation of design tool which has the potential to allow rigorous hypothesis testing at the design stage. While powerful at their core, simulation based design tools suffer from several user interface limitations. This paper describes an attempt to solve some of these problems by developing an Intelligent Front End authoring environment for building performance appraisal in general.

The limited development potential of current building simulation programs has spurred the design of a new generation of tools: object oriented simulation environments, where the latest in software technology and numerical methods is employed to provide users with a framework for more flexible, and thereby more appropriate, simulation models. Some of these tools provide the sophisticated user with a rich graphical environment for interactive model design. We call these model-lab simulation environments.

The efficacy of dynamic thermal simulation tools in practice is dependent not only on the facilities offered by the tools and the rigour of the underlying calculations but also on the skills of the user vis-a-vis abstracting the essence of the problem into a model, choosing appropriate boundary conditions, setting up simulations and interpreting their results.

The application, design, and sizing of commercial water heating systems has been hampered by the lack of an accessible tool for evaluating long-term performance and operating energy costs. This lack of resources has limited the application of high-efficiency alternative water heating systems such as heat pump water heaters, refrigeration heat reclaim units or desuperheaters, and waste heat recovery systems. The Electric PowerResearch Institute and the Empire State Electric Energy Research Corporation have developed the HOTCALC microcomputer software to fill that need.

Several older buildings have been found to violate the building code requirements with respect to health and safety of occupants. In order to ensure compliance, building managers and inspectors require a thorough knowledge of code documents and expertise to assess the seriousness of violations. The present study aims at developing a computer tool integrating hyperlext and knowledge-based system techniques to facilitate code compliance checking and provide access to case studies of problem scenarios.

Field measurements of the thermal performance of five low cost houses in Malaysia were carried out. Thermal simulation tests were performed on two of the houses, a traditional Malay village house, and a modem urban Cluster-Link house. "Me measured and the modelled results were found to agree, indicating a significantly higher overnight internal temperature in the modem house compared to the traditional house. The model was then used to predict the thermal performance of a new design low cost house, which was shown to perform similarly to the traditional house type.

A new service has been developed to assist new home?builders to examine the design options with a view to improving the energy efficiency and comfort of their new home. The service combines the skills of a trained advisor with versatility of a new computer package that enables thermal evaluation of the options within a one hour consultation. The developments that make this possible are described.