Airbase publication

Based on six years of continuous measurements, we have analysed in detail the occupancy, thermal and visual parameters influencing blind usage behaviour. This paper begins by presenting some of the key findings from these analyses. Informed by other developments in the literature, we go on to propose an approach for a comprehensive stochastic model for simulating blind usage.

This paper describes a new methodology in calculating accurately the time series utility loads (energy, power, city water, hot water, etc.) in a dwelling. This calculation takes into account the behavioral variations of the dwelling inhabitants. The proposed method contains a procedure for cooling load calculations based on a series of Monte Carlo simulations where the HVAC on/off state and the indoor heat generation schedules are varied, time-step by time-step.

The integration of techniques for uncertainty and sensitivity analysis in building performance simulation (BPS) has a number of potential benefits  related to design. It allows assessing the accuracy of performance predictions; it can be used to provide concept specific design guidance, and it enables a robustness assessment of the design proposal to different future climate scenarios. The later is considered here.

Climate Modelling is a complex task. One of the most important reasons is the presence of a large variety of spatio-temporal scales. There are climatic changes that take place over a time period of a few months and then there are gusts which might last only a few seconds.

The paper examines the importance of using site-specific data in computer simulation of building energy performance. The CAT (Canyon Air Temperature) computer model, which is designed to predict site-specific air temperature in an urban street canyon for extended periods on the basis of data from a reference station exposed to the same meso-scale weather, was used to provide modified input to a series of Ener-Win simulations of the energy performance of a hypothetical office building.

This paper provides a brief, non-exhaustive overview of the status of the application of CFD in building performance simulation for the outdoor environment. It focuses on four topics: (1) pedestrian wind environment around buildings; (2) wind-driven rain on building facades; (3) convective heat and mass transfer coefficients at building surfaces; and (4) air  pollutant dispersion around buildings. For each topic, some specific difficulties, advantages and disadvantages of CFD are addressed.

A jet of cold air is denser then ambient air but it adheres to the ceiling of the room over the given distance when it is blown horizontally close to it. Such behaviour of fluid jets is well-known as Coanda effect and it is widely used in practice like in the case of ventilation and air-conditioning of rooms. This phenomenon is not sufficiently known both in terms of mechanism and quantitative effects.

Indoor climate has a three-dimensional spatial distribution caused by three-dimensional airflow. To obtain the accurate knowledge of building performance, it is demanded to integrate the spatial distribution into building simulations. Thus, CFD analysis is necessary in design process. However, usually only a few case of CFD could be executable in real design process, because of the large computational load.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been introduced to the architectural engineering and HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) industry for decades. Its effectiveness in assisting the architects and engineers in the design process has been well acknowledged. However, the mesh generation process is complicated and time consuming, especially for modeling free form geometric artifacts, e.g., buildings in complex terrains or human bodies in the room. This paper presents the effort to apply quality mesh generation to CFD simulations in architectural applications.

The paper describes results from a reference study that focuses on the application of the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD-) technique for heat and smoke transport in practice. Goal of the study is to obtain insight into the amount and causes of the spread of CFD-results when applied by different users. In this study several CFD-practitioners have solved the same relatively well described flow problem. The obtained results have been compared. They show a clear spread which to some extent can be explained by the assumptions made for the modelling and solving of the problem.