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Interoperable software makes it possible to seamlessly exchange data among diierent compliant applications. Among other beneÿts, this ooers opportunities to increase the quality of building energy simulation through simultaneous... more
Interoperable software makes it possible to seamlessly exchange data among diierent compliant applications. Among other beneÿts, this ooers opportunities to increase the quality of building energy simulation through simultaneous interaction of multiple design and simulation tools, possible because of direct data exchange among them. This paper discusses the new IFC HVAC extension schemata that are included in the latest release of the IFC data model (IFC2 × 2) and the new functionalities and industry processes it now supports. It describes an example of interoperable software environment, possible gains from interoperable simulation, and discusses current issues in data exchange for such simulation. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
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The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) model of the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI)-an object data model of buildings-is in its seventh year of development. The last three releases of the model (IFC 1.5.1, 2.0 and 2x)... more
The Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) model of the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI)-an object data model of buildings-is in its seventh year of development. The last three releases of the model (IFC 1.5.1, 2.0 and 2x) have been implemented by a number of ''mission critical'' industry applications. The deployment of such software in real life projects is just starting. The author is exploring lessons from early deployment that are related to end user and general industry readiness for software interoperability, project model population with data and issues with compatibility of project data, built-in limitations in applications and in the data model, exchange file size and the selection of interoperable software for a project, as well as benefits attainable today from the use of interoperable software. He concludes that software interoperability is beginning to work in this industry, although not as smoothly as first expected.
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ABSTRACT: A Virtual Building Environment (VBE) is a place where building industry project staffs can get help in creating Building Information Models (BIM) and in the use of virtual buildings. It consists of a group of industry software... more
ABSTRACT: A Virtual Building Environment (VBE) is a place where building industry project staffs can get help in creating Building Information Models (BIM) and in the use of virtual buildings. It consists of a group of industry software that is operated by industry ...
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ABSTRACT The title of this text immediately reveals who it is written for: architects who are interested in computer applications. The author is assuming that the general reader in the field of architecture has absolutely no background in... more
ABSTRACT The title of this text immediately reveals who it is written for: architects who are interested in computer applications. The author is assuming that the general reader in the field of architecture has absolutely no background in the field of computing and the text is therefore written on a very low level of sophistication, at which the simplicity is exaggerated. Though the text as a whole is probably helpful for an uninformed reader to learn about applications of computers to architecture, a more sophisticated reader will find reading of all but a few sections a waste of time. For a person with specific interests in the field of architecture and computer applications, those few more successful parts are probably quite worth reading, if for nothing else, then just for exposure to what is actually being done in that area. Besides that, an uninformed reader may find it interesting to get exposure to British hardware and ALGOL-based programming practice, as well as British terminology.
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Recent demand for higher energy efficiency within the building sector has led to the use of Building Energy Performance Simulation (BEPS) tools. These powerful predictive tools enable investigation of environmental and energy performance... more
Recent demand for higher energy efficiency within the building sector has led to the use of Building Energy Performance Simulation (BEPS) tools. These powerful predictive tools enable investigation of environmental and energy performance for different design and retrofit design alternatives. However, integrating BEPS with Building Information Modelling (BIM) based building design tools still experiences limitations due to a lack of standardised methods of information exchange between these domains. As a result, this paper presents a Model View Definition (MVD) for advanced BEPS. In doing so this work enables a standardised exchange of data from BIM to BEPS tools, such as Modelica, using the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) standard. The entire process becomes available through the open source software framework emerged from the IEA EBC Annex 60.
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The primary factors that determine the net thermal performance of a window system are its overall heat transfer rate (U-value), its air leakage characteristics and its sun control capability. With managed window systems these basic... more
The primary factors that determine the net thermal performance of a window system are its overall heat transfer rate (U-value), its air leakage characteristics and its sun control capability. With managed window systems these basic properties may be drastically altered on an hourly basis as movable insulating and shading devices are deployed over the prime windows. A large building energy analysis computer program, DOE-2, has been modified to model the thermal performance of a variety of window management devices. The deployment of these devices is simulated based upon fixed hourly schedules or the value of critical climatic factors such as solar intensity. Automatic operation may be modeled or manual operation with varying degrees of human fallibility may be simulated. The model couples reductions in infiltration rate to the deployment of an insulating or shading device. Results of heating load calculations are presented for the cases of single- and double-glazed windows in a typical house with glass-to-floor area ratios of 15 to 40%, and for window management devices with varying thermal resistance, air leakage rates, and different modes of operation.
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... Original data that describe the components, flows, linkages and dependencies, performance ... of building design is depicted in Figure 2. The process starts with the population of the BIM; this is ... The methodology contains five... more
... Original data that describe the components, flows, linkages and dependencies, performance ... of building design is depicted in Figure 2. The process starts with the population of the BIM; this is ... The methodology contains five essential steps, some of which can be concurrent: ...
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Building information modeling (BIM) offers multiple tangible benefits to the construction segment of the AECO industry. It offers easier use of interoperable industry software tools, fewer errors and omission, and time and cost savings... more
Building information modeling (BIM) offers multiple tangible benefits to the construction segment of the AECO industry. It offers easier use of interoperable industry software tools, fewer errors and omission, and time and cost savings that can cumulatively result in earlier building delivery. It can facilitate discussion, checking, analysis and communication about a building project much earlier and in much clearer
The U.S. National Institute for Building Sciences (NIBS) started the development of the National Building Information Model Standard (NBIMS). Its goal is to define standard sets of data required to describe any given building in necessary... more
The U.S. National Institute for Building Sciences (NIBS) started the development of the National Building Information Model Standard (NBIMS). Its goal is to define standard sets of data required to describe any given building in necessary detail so that any given AECO industry discipline application can find needed data at any point in the building lifecycle. This will include all
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A major purpose of Building Information Models (BIM) is to serve as a comprehensive depository of data that are retrievable by multiple software applications that participate in the same AECO industry project. Data placed in a BIM by one... more
A major purpose of Building Information Models (BIM) is to serve as a comprehensive depository of data that are retrievable by multiple software applications that participate in the same AECO industry project. Data placed in a BIM by one software application are retrieved and used by other applications. Retrieved data are at times not useable by the recipient application in
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Interoperable software makes it possible to seamlessly exchange data among different compliant applications. Seamless data exchange substantially saves time and resources that makes the use of energy software feasible in industry projects... more
Interoperable software makes it possible to seamlessly exchange data among different compliant applications. Seamless data exchange substantially saves time and resources that makes the use of energy software feasible in industry projects where it normally is not used. Software interoperability offers another important benefit: opportunity to increase the quality of building energy simulation through simultaneous interaction of multiple design and
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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... more
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.
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Interoperability among software tools that are used in building design can make the use of building energy simulation tools more frequent and more effective. Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) are an object- oriented data model of... more
Interoperability among software tools that are used in building design can make the use of building energy simulation tools more frequent and more effective. Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) are an object- oriented data model of buildings that provides an environment for such interoperability. This paper reports on a "live" demonstration of the use of five commercially available IFC-compatible software applications
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Tedious manual input of data that define a building, its systems and its expected pattern of use and operating schedules for building energy performance simulation has in the past diverted time and resources from productive simulation... more
Tedious manual input of data that define a building, its systems and its expected pattern of use and operating schedules for building energy performance simulation has in the past diverted time and resources from productive simulation runs. In addition to its previously released IFCtoIDF utility that semiautomates the import of building geometry, the new IFC HVAC interface to EnergyPlus (released at the end of 2003) makes it possible to import and export most of the data that define HVAC equipment and systems in a building directly from and to other IFC compatible software tools. This reduces the manual input of other data needed for successful simulation with EnergyPlus to a minimum. The main purpose of this new interface is to enable import of HVAC equipment and systems definitions, generated by other IFC compatible software tools (such as HVAC systems design tools) and data bases, into EnergyPlus, and to write such definitions contained in EnergyPlus input files to the original I...
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ABSTRACT We provide an algorithm based on graph theory to convert a three-dimensional architectural building model without defined thermal space boundaries into geometry suitable for import into a whole-building energy performance... more
ABSTRACT We provide an algorithm based on graph theory to convert a three-dimensional architectural building model without defined thermal space boundaries into geometry suitable for import into a whole-building energy performance simulation engine such as EnergyPlus. Our algorithm expects input specified as an Industry Foundation Classes model, accepts a wide variety of input geometry, and is capable of accounting for a building’s construction material configuration as well as its geometry. The described approach is limited to solid-to-solid heat exchange; solid-to-fluid and fluid-to-fluid heat exchanges are not considered. We analyze the performance of our algorithm on some test building models.
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Building geometry is essential to any simulation of building performance. This paper examines the importing of building geometry into simulation of energy performance from the users' point of view. It lists performance requirements... more
Building geometry is essential to any simulation of building performance. This paper examines the importing of building geometry into simulation of energy performance from the users' point of view. It lists performance requirements for graphic user interfaces that input building geometry, and discusses the basic options in moving from two- to three-dimensional definition of geometry and the ways to import that geometry into energy simulation. The obvious answer lies in software interoperability. With the BLIS group of interoperable software one can interactively import building geometry from CAD into EnergyPlus and dramatically reduce the effort otherwise needed for manual input.The resulting savings may greatly increase the value obtained from simulation, the number of projects in which energy performance simulation is used, and expedite decision making in the design process.
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A major purpose of Building Information Models (BIM) is to serve as a comprehensive depository of data that are retrievable by multiple software applications that participate in the same AECO industry project. Data placed in a BIM by one... more
A major purpose of Building Information Models (BIM) is to serve as a comprehensive depository of data that are retrievable by multiple software applications that participate in the same AECO industry project. Data placed in a BIM by one software application are retrieved and used by other applications. Retrieved data are at times not useable by the recipient application in exactly the same form as received; in such cases the received data are manipulated and/or transformed before they can be used. This paper discusses data transformation issues that arise when transformation is necessary for "downstream" applications that use data authored by model based CAD and/or other interoperable software. These include manual and semi-manual data transformation, as well as rules for data set reduction and simplification, and rules for data translation and interpretation. The rules can be imbedded in data model views and middleware to become part of a seamless process of data exchang...
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The primary factors that determine the net thermal performance of a window system are its overall heat transfer rate (U-value), its air leakage characteristics and its sun control capability. With managed window systems these basic... more
The primary factors that determine the net thermal performance of a window system are its overall heat transfer rate (U-value), its air leakage characteristics and its sun control capability. With managed window systems these basic properties may be drastically altered on an hourly basis as movable insulating and shading devices are deployed over the prime windows. A large building energy analysis computer program, DOE-2, has been modified to model the thermal performance of a variety of window management devices. The deployment of these devices is simulated based upon fixed hourly schedules or the value of critical climatic factors such as solar intensity. Automatic operation may be modeled or manual operation with varying degrees of human fallibility may be simulated. The model couples reductions in infiltration rate to the deployment of an insulating or shading device. Results of heating load calculations are presented for the cases of single- and double-glazed windows in a typic...
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ABSTRACT Building energy performance is often inadequate given design goals. While different types of assessment methods exist, they either do not consider design goals and/or are not general enough to integrate new and innovative energy... more
ABSTRACT Building energy performance is often inadequate given design goals. While different types of assessment methods exist, they either do not consider design goals and/or are not general enough to integrate new and innovative energy concepts. Furthermore, existing assessment methods focus mostly on the building and system level while ignoring more detailed data. With the availability and affordability of more detailed measured data, the increased number of measured data points requires a structure to organize these data. This paper presents the Energy Performance Comparison Methodology (EPCM), which enables the identification of performance problems based on a comparison of measured data and simulated data representing design goals. The EPCM is based on an interlinked building object hierarchy that structures the detailed performance data from a spatial and mechanical perspective. This research is developed and tested on multiple case studies that provide real-life context and more generality compared to single case studies.