CLIM2000: modular software for energy simulation in building

The CLIM 2000 software environment was developed by the Electricity Applications in Buildings Branch of the French utility company, Electricité de France. This software, which has been operational since June 1989, allows the behaviour of a whole building to be simulated. The building is described by means of a graphics editor providing multi-windowed dialogue in the form of a set oficons representing the models chosen by the user These models are taken from a library containing about one hundred elementary models supplied on a standard basis by the software. Furthermore, the software's modular structure means that new models can be developed quickly and made available to users. Four years experience operating CLIM 2000 confirms the advantage of the model assembly approach in defining and in solving a building thermal problem. This experience is an encouragement to continue increasing the software's potential in response to users requirements and according to the disciplines involved. Indeed, certain users favour a technological approach to describe a problem before making their modelling choice. This approach is the aim of an upgrading project for the CLIM 2000 preprocessor, to be completed for 1995. While retaining the possibility of conducting studies by assembling models, this will also allow the technological description of a building by means of geometric views of its frame and principle diagrams of its equipment. After explaining how to conduct a study using the current version of CUM 2000, we state the problems to be solved in preparing the software's future version.