Product related dedicated software development based on TRNSYS and TRNSED

Many building related products and systems such as insulation, solar shading, reflective roof coverings have an important impact on the energy performance of the building where it is installed. The commercial departments of these manufacturers get more and more inquiries about the energy related advantages of their products. They need specific tools to answer these questions. The goal of the tools is to assess the comfort, energy or power impact of using the product in an independent and reliable way. This paper presents the development of user-friendly dedicated software tools for building products based on dynamic simulations with a TRNSED like front end for TRNSYS. The forefront enables the simulation of any TRNSYS model, the user being able to change predefined parameters. The package includes a user specific post-processing, automatic report generation and interlinked help files. These software applications enable manufacturers to demonstrate the environmental, economical or comfort impact of their products based on independent simulations with a validated building component. This presents significant advantages for the manufacturer: no required knowledge of TRNSYS, low initial cost, no software installation required and easy update implementation for a web-based version, and better control of independency (towards their clients). This paper presents the main characteristics of the new development and of the resulting dedicated software tools. Practical examples are given including screenshots of the interface and the post-processing.