Advanced Tools for Building Simulation
Energy performance
The building energy performance concerns the energy required for the use of the building. It can include – as expressed by the EPBD recast for a standard use – the energy used for space heating, space cooling, ventilation, domestic hot water production, electric lighting.
The energy performance can be expressed by means of indicators that quantify, in function of the aim and the field of application, the useful energy need, the primary energy use, the energy delivered to the building by energy service and energy carrier, the energy produced by renewable energy sources, etc.▸ Read more...
The energy performance modelling of buildings is a topic still deeply investigated by the research community. From literature analysis, the available methods for the energy performance assessment are classified in simplified methods (e.g., those derived from technical standards), simulation models (e.g., detailed dynamic numerical simulation tools), statistical methods (e.g., regression models), machine learning techniques (e.g., neural networks), and other methodologies.
Software | notes |
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The APACHE application in the IESVE software provides an intuitive graphical interface for interacting with the APACHE engine, enabling 3D modeling, building assignment, and energy gains. | |
COMSOL Multiphysics® is software with a uniform interface that supports various engineering applications and physical phenomena. It includes add-on modules for electromagnetics, structural mechanics, acoustics, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, and chemical engineering, and allows connection to CAD software. | |
DEROB-LTH is a design tool for analyzing the dynamic behavior of buildings. It allows modeling the building shape with flexible 3D geometries and supports up to 8 zones. | |
EC700 enables calculation of building energy performance by both monthly method according to UNI/TS 11300 and hourly dynamic method according to UNI EN ISO 52016-1. | |
EnergyPlus™ is a building energy simulation program used by engineers, architects, and researchers to model energy consumption (heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, and electrical loads) and water use in buildings. | |
ESP-r (Environmental Systems Performance - Research) is a modeling tool for building performance simulation. It allows the evaluation of heat, air, moisture, light, and power flow with user-specified spatial and temporal resolution. | |
IDA ICE (Indoor Climate and Energy) is an innovative simulation tool that elevates building performance. It accurately models the building, its systems and controllers, ensuring minimum energy consumption and maximum occupant comfort. | |
The TERMUS software is a thermotechnical tool that enables the design and verification of the energy performance of buildings, supporting APE energy certification, energy diagnosis, and upgrading and efficiency measures. | |
TRNSYS is a transient system simulation program with a modular structure. It allows users to describe system components and their connections through a specific language. |
Environmental Comfort
When dealing with environmental comfort, building simulations are useful to predict the time trends of dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, air velocity and possibly pollutant concentration in indoor and outdoor spaces. In this case, building simulations are frequently performed with the same software tools that are used to estimate the energy performance, but they are conducted under “free running” conditions, i.e. without considering any mechanical systems able to control the above parameters.▸ Read more...
Then, the results of the building simulations must be post-processed through suitable tools that can assess a series of comfort parameters and indicators, according to International Standards that integrate well-known comfort theories, such as ANSI ASHRAE Standard 55-2020 and EN Standard 16798-1:2019.
Software | notes |
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Tool for assessing Thermal Comfort according to ANSI/ASHRAE 55-2020 and EN 16798-1:2019, designed by the “Center for the Built Environment.” | |
Climate Consultant is a simple tool with an engaging graphical interface that supports architects, builders, planners, and students in understanding and analyzing local climate. | |
ENVI-met's software is a powerful 3D modeling tool designed to analyze and simulate the interaction between urban elements and the atmospheric environment. | |
Ladybug Tools is a collection of free applications that support environmental comfort design and analysis. |
Sustainability
The analysis of the sustainability of buildings involves a holistic view that includes the entire life cycle of the building (production, use, decommissioning) according to the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) approach..
The software tools used for this kind of analysis typically make use of eco-labels of building materials and products available on the market, according to the International Standard of the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD), with the possibility of considering alternative scenarios for the recovery and reuse of waste materials that are specific to the site where the building is located.▸ Read more...
Multi-criteria and analytical scoring tools are also used, typical of the most common environmental certification schemes such as LEED (https://www.usgbc.org/leed), BREEAM (https://kb.breeam.com/) and WELL, capable of assigning a score according to sustainability criteria such as the consumption of embodied energy, drinking water and land use.
Software | notes |
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Easy-to-use life cycle assessment and environmental product declaration software with all the data in the world. | |
It is a leading software in the field of life cycle assessment (LCA) and environmental sustainability. Developed by PRé Sustainability, SimaPro is a powerful tool used by companies, consultants and researchers to analyze and improve the sustainability of products and processes. |
Heat and mass transfer
Combined Heat, Air and Moisture Transfer (HAMT) simulations are useful when one needs to investigate the transient hygrothermal performance of buildings and building components, with a special focus on moisture transfer and storage both in vapor and liquid form. This allows, for instance, to predict possible moisture-related damage either in wood-based materials (or other organic moisture-sensitive ones) or in historical buildings. HAMT simulations can be also used to quantify heat losses in thermal bridges.▸Read more...
HAMT simulations tools numerically solve combined heat and mass balances in 1D or 2D geometries over medium-to-long time spans, and require the availability of reliable updated weather data. The results (in terms of temperature, relative humidity, and moisture content in the various wall layers) can be post-processed to assess a series of risk indicators widely available in the literature, while also investigating the effectiveness of possible mitigation strategies, such as waterproof and vapour-open membranes.
Software | notes |
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ODEON is a comprehensive room acoustics software. It can be used to simulate (in 3D) and measure the interior acoustics of buildings, including concert halls, theaters, churches, open space offices, and restaurants. | |
Ramsete was the first “open” acoustic simulation software for acoustic simulations based on the Pyramid Tracing computational scheme to solve sound propagation problems in large buildings or outdoors. Ramsete is also equipped with a powerful auralization tool. | |
SoundPLAN can be used for noise assessment studies, both inside and outside buildings. It supports street planning, urban planning, permitting procedures, noise action plans, noise mapping, acoustic assessment of outdoor events, or open office space planning. |
Acoustics
Acoustic simulation software allows modeling of sound wave propagation mechanisms, reconstructing the spatial and temporal distribution of sound pressure levels.
They can be used to assess acoustic comfort and speech intelligibility inside buildings, and to support the acoustic design of schools, churches, theaters, auditoriums, cinemas and shopping malls.
Software | notes |
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ODEON is a comprehensive room acoustics software. It can be used to simulate (in 3D) and measure the interior acoustics of buildings, including concert halls, theatres, churches, open-plan offices and restaurants. | |
Ramsete was the first ‘open’ acoustic simulation software based on the Pyramid Tracing calculation scheme for solving sound propagation problems in large buildings or outdoors. Ramsete also features a powerful auralisation tool. | |
SoundPLAN can be used for noise assessment studies, both inside and outside buildings. It supports road planning, urban development plans, authorisation procedures, noise action plans, noise mapping, acoustic assessment of outdoor events or the planning of open-plan offices. |
Lighting
In the field of lighting, simulations can be used to evaluate different aspects related either to electric light or natural light. Depending on your specific goal, you need to choose the most appropriate software.
A first distinction must be made between software based on a static calculation approach and those based on a dynamic approach. Thanks to the former, it is possible to evaluate the distribution of electric or natural light in the environment; calculate the parameters for which the standard provides the limit values in order to meet the conditions of visual comfort in the presence of electric light (such as the values of illuminance and uniformity on the surfaces of the space or the values of UGR);▸ Read more...
Evaluate the availability of natural light in specific weather conditions (e.g. clear or overcast sky) and at specific times and days of the year. Thanks to dynamic calculation software, on the other hand, it is possible to evaluate the availability of natural light in indoor environments over the course of an entire year and with a generally hourly interval, considering the variations in the specific climatic conditions of a given geographical area, modeled from the data contained in the climate files. In this way, it is possible to obtain more complete information on the distribution of natural light in the environment during the year, to evaluate the amount of electric light necessary to integrate natural light over time, to calculate the corresponding energy consumption, to analyze the performance of automatic control systems or shading systems and to evaluate, with a statistical approach, the occurrence of any risks of uncomfortable conditions due to the presence of natural light. Finally, it should be emphasized that researchers are paying great attention to the so-called “non-visual effects” of lighting (effects on mood, work performance, circadian rhythms), which has led to the development of some software capable of accurately simulating the spectral interactions between light and matter and then evaluating the spectral irradiance to the eye of the occupants of a space, thanks to which it is then possible to estimate the non-visual effects of light.
Software | notes |
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ALFA is a plugin for Rhinoceros 3D that enables the analysis of nonvisual effects of lighting, evaluating spectral interactions between light and matter by considering 81 channels of the spectrum and extending the Radiance calculation engine. | |
ClimateStudio is a plugin for Rhinoceros 3D that enables dynamic daylight simulations, evaluation of electrical lighting system performance and visual comfort. | |
DIALux is a software tool for designing, calculating and visualizing electric light in indoor and outdoor spaces. It also enables static simulations of natural light. | |
Lark is a plugin for Grasshopper that allows you to evaluate the non-visual effects of light. | |
Radiance is a suite of tools for performing electrical and natural lighting simulations. | |
Relux is an application for simulating artificial and natural light with a static approach. |