The Delimitation and Coherence of Functional and Administrative Regions

The aim of this paper is to examine the coherence between and within functional as well as administrative regions in a labour market context. The larger the coherence of the local labour markets within the delimited regions, the larger the heterogeneity between the delimited regions is expected to be for particular measures related to the economy and the labour market. Contrary to previous delimitation studies we test for labour market coherence. The functionally defined regions are compared with the administratively defined regions with respect to four economic indicators: (i) income level; (ii) housing prices; (iii) employment rate, and (iv) unemployment rate. It turns out that the administrative delimitation of the Netherlands performs, on average, equally well as the functional delimitation. The hypothesis that the municipalities within the administratively defined regions show less coherence than the municipalities within the functionally delimited regions, cannot be rejected. We find some minor evidence that the coherence is greater for the average income level of municipalities within functional regions than within administrative regions. It can be concluded that there is not much to be gained in labour market policies by using functional instead of administrative divisions of regional labour markets. Therefore we doubt the usefulness of other studies on functional delimitations of labour market regions. Finally, our results imply that it may be better for regional labour market policies not to use a highly differentiated division of regions for such a small country as the Netherlands.education, training and the labour market;

Uncertainties due to the use of surface averaged wind pressure coefficients

A common practice, adopted by several building energy simulation (BES) tools, is the use of surface averaged wind pressure coefficients (Cp) instead of local Cp values with high resolution in space. The aim of this paper is to assess the uncertainty related to the use of surface averaged data, for the case of a cubic building with two openings. The focus is on wind-driven ventilation and infiltration, while buoyancy is not taken into account. The study is performed using published empirical data on pressure coefficients obtained from wind tunnel tests. The method developed to calculate the uncertainty is based on comparison of: the flow rate calculated using the averaged values (fAV), and the one calculated using local values (fLOC). The study considers a large number of combinations for the opening positions in the facade. For each pair of openings (i), the values of fLOC_i and fAV_i are calculated. Based on the ratio between fLOC_i and fAV_i the relative error (ri) is calculated. The relative error is presented statistically, providing probability density graphs and upper and lower bounds for the confidence interval (CI) of 95%. For this CI, the conclusion is that 0.24 fAV <fLOC <4.87 fAV

External coupling between BES and HAM programs for whole building simulation

This paper discusses a procedure for the two-way runtime external coupling between Building EnergySimulation (BES) and building envelope Heat, Air and Moisture (HAM) programs for enhanced wholebuilding simulation. The coupling procedure presented here involves a description of the relevant physical phenomena at the interface between the programs, domain overlaps, coupling variables, coupling strategy and types of boundary condition. The procedure is applied using the programs ESP-r and HAMFEM, where the implementation and verification issues are discussed. This work concludes that the coupling between BES and HAM programs is feasible, and it can potentially enhance the accuracy in whole-building simulation

Performance simulation of climate adaptive building shells - Smart Energy Glass as a case study

As opposed to traditional building shells, climate adaptive building shells (CABS) do have the ability to change their properties and behavior over time. Provided they are designed and operated effectively, CABS offer the potential for energy savings without the need for compromising comfort levels. This paper explores the role that building performance simulation (BPS) can play in designing CABS. After analyzing the distinguishing characteristics of CABS, the need for BPS is introduced. The potential role of BPS is then illustrated via the case study of Smart Energy Glass. Based on a description of underlying physics, the model abstraction process is discussed first. This results in an integrated model for performance simulations that couples TRNSYS and DAYSIM. This model is empirically validated and subsequently used to evaluate the potential of Smart Energy Glass in a renovation case under various operational scenario’s. The paper concludes with some suggestions for future research and development of Smart Energy Glass

Towards the application of distributed simulation in HAM engineering

This paper presents ongoing research about an integrated approach to perform high resolution heat, air and moisture (HAM) simulation of whole buildings. There are several HAM modelling tools, with different space and time resolution. The integrated approach establishes run-time external coupling of existing tools (building envelope HAM, BES, CFD) and utilizes the capabilities of one tool in an attempt to compensate the deficiencies of the other. The paper presents the literature review of approaches for domain integration, the physical processes as dealt with by existing tools, coupling requirements and it addresses the importance of validation and coupling necessity decision procedures

Simulation support for research and development of advanced building skin concepts

Innovations in high-performance building envelope components are an essential step towards reaching the ambitious targets for a more sustainable built environment. Enhancing product development workflows can turn out to be an invaluable resource in this process. In this paper we illustrate how building performance simulation (BPS) can be used to support research and development activities for innovative building skin concepts. The key opportunity lies in assisting informed decision-making. The increased availability of information on whole-building performance can be used as a resource for communication with internal and external stakeholders. We outline a systematic approach that shows how BPS can be embedded in all phases of the widely used Stage-Gate approach. Experiences from two case studies are discussed to show the potential of this method in practical settings

Thermal comfort optimisation of vernacular rural buildings::passive solutions to retrofit a typical farmhouse in central Italy

An adequate retrofitting of traditional rural buildings requires to preserve their formal characteristics and to understand the constructive elements that compose them and which are different in different geographical areas. This paper analyses the typical farmhouses in central Italy. Starting from the definition of a vernacular building model, the paper analyses its performance in terms of thermal comfort and energy efficiency. The methodology involves the use of energy dynamic simulations coupled with optimisation techniques aimed to identify the best combinations of insulating materials in terms of choice of material and its optimal location in the envelope. The paper demonstrates the good thermal and energy performance of farmhouses in central Italy. The results of the optimisation process showed that in these buildings, with the addition of insulation materials with low conductivity the perceived discomfort in the inhabited areas of the building can be reduced by 79% and the energy consumption related to heating can be reduced by 77%. The level of insulation of the pavement that separates the ground and first floor needs to be more moderate to promote the heat flow between floors during summer. The sensitivity analysis shows that the most influential component for thermal comfort is the roof insulation.</p

Uncertainty in airflow rate calculations due to the use of surface-averaged pressure coefficients

Mean wind pressure coefficients (Cp) are key input parameters for air infiltration and ventilation studies. However, building energy simulation and stand-alone airflow network programs usually only provide and/or use a limited amount of Cp data, which are based on several assumptions. An important assumption consists of using surface-averaged Cp values instead of local Cp values with a high resolution in space. This paper provides information on the uncertainty in the calculated airflow rate due to the use of surface-averaged Cp data. The study is performed using published empirical data on pressure coefficients obtained from extensive wind tunnel experiments. The uncertainty is assessed based on the comparison of the airflow rate () calculated using the surface-averaged Cp values (AV) and the airflow rate calculated using local Cp values (LOC). The results indicate that the uncertainty with a confidence interval of 95% is high: 0.23 AV &lt;LOC &lt;5.07 AV. In cases with the largest surface-averaged ¿Cp, the underestimation or overestimation is smaller but not negligible: 0.52 AV &lt;LOC &lt;1.42 AV. These results provide boundaries for future improvements in Cp data quality, and new developments can be evaluated by comparison with the uncertainty of the current methods

Capability and deficiency of the simplified model for energy calculation of commercial buildings in the Brazilian regulation

This paper provides a preliminary assessment on the accuracy of the Brazilian regulation simplified model for commercial buildings. The first step was to compare its results with BESTEST. The study presents a straightforward approach to apply the BESTEST in other climates than the original one (Denver, Colorado, USA). The second step consisted on applying the simplified model for common buildings, and compare the results with those obtained using a state of the art building energy simulation (BES) program. Significant errors were found when comparing the simplified model with BESTEST and the common buildings analyzed