Communicating building simulation outputs to users

Copious amounts of data are generated by contemporary building simulation (BS) programs and the translation of these data to information that may be acted upon is problematic. Although graphs are an effective way of displaying quantitative information, they are unable to support experiential appraisals whereby building performance can be fully comprehended. To achieve this requires the use of multimedia techniques, including colour, sound and animation. This paper reports the interim results from a PhD project that is developing a Web-enabled program to assist in the interpretation of the performance trends inherent in large data sets as produced by BS programs. The aim is to identify and link key performance concepts and support an intercomparison of alternative design hypotheses.