IMAGE: a simulation, based tool for the appraisal of advanced glazing

The IMAGE (IMplementation of Advanced Glazing in Europe) project was funded by the European Commission and involved glass manufactures, onsultants and research organisations (see acknowledgements). The aims were to encourage appropriate applications of advanced glazings, to raise awareness of existing products amongst designers and to improve building simulation in relation to combined thermal and lighting appraisal [IMA1998]. A principal outcome of the project was the release of a PC application – hereinafter termed the IMAGE tool - for use by the glass industry to assess  the impact on energy use, thermal comfort, daylight availability, glare, etc. of applying any advanced glazing component to any building type in any climate. The IMAGE tool comprises a user interface, which gives access to databases of building types, glazing components and climates. This interface supports the rapid composition of building/glazing/climate combinations and controls the commissioning of fully dynamic thermal/lighting simulations. This paper describes the principles inherent in the design of the IMAGE tool, the adaptations made to the ESP-r system to support automatic multivariate performance assessment, and the protocols developed to manipulate building models, glazing components, climates and performance appraisal returns.