Contrasting the capabilities of building energy performance simulation programs

For the past 50 years, a wide variety of building energy simulation programs have been developed, enhanced and are in use throughout the building energy community. This paper is an overview of a report, which provides up-to-date comparison of the features and capabilities of twenty major building energy simulation programs. The comparison is based on information provided by the program developers in the following categories: general modeling features; zone loads; building envelope and daylighting and solar; infiltration, ventilation and multizone airflow; renewable energy systems; electrical systems and equipment; HVAC systems; HVAC equipment; environmental emissions; economic evaluation; climate data availability, results reporting; validation; and user interface, links to other programs, and availability

The Implementation of Industry Foundation Classes in Simulation Tools for the Building Industry

Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) provide an envi-ronment of interoperability among IFC-compliant software applications in the architecture, engineering, construction, and facilities management (AEC/FM) industry. They allow building simulation software to automatically acquire building geometry and other building data from project models created with IFC-compliant CAD software. They also facilitate direct exchange of input and output data with other simula-tion software. This paper discusses how simulation software can be made compliant with version 1.5 of the IFC. It also describes the immediate plans for expansion of IFC and the process of definition and addition of new classes to the model

The Implementation of Industry Foundation Classes in Simulation Tools for the Building Industry

Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) provide an environment of interoperability among IFC-compliant software applications in the architecture, engineering, construction, and facilities management (AEC/FM) industry. They allow building simulation software to automatically acquire building geometry and other building data from project models created with IFC compliant CAD software. They also facilitate direct exchange of input and output data with other simulation software. This paper discusses how simulation software can be made compliant with version 1.5 of the IFC. It also describes the immediate plans for expansion of IFC and the process of definition and addition of new classes to the model

The provenances of your simulation data

This paper proposes a set of principles for an international database of building materials that would meet Quality Criteria for use in building performance simulation. The proposal draws inspiration from the International Glazing Data Base, but suggests that this inspiration goes as far as the quality assurance goal, not the practice. Rather than propose new means of storage of existing information, or new means of guaranteeing the quality of that data, it proposes instead that all data used in simulation should have an associated quality score based upon the quality of the tests used to derive the data; the quality of the testing laboratory; and the reliability of the error estimates. It includes examples of how this form of Meta-Data might be included into a range of different Building Performance Simulation Packages, and how a commercial building product search engine might deliver the quality score as well as the data