Modular simulation of buildings with an object-oriented tool

Abstract

The objective of this work is to develop a modular object-oriented building simulation tool “NEST” (Numerical Edifice Simulation Tool) which can be coupled with a parallel CFD software. To do so, a building is modelled as a collection of basic elements (walls, rooms, outdoor, openings, etc.). These elements are capable of solving themselves for given boundary conditions and can be linked to each other to form a specific building configuration. A modular approach gives flexibility of choosing a model for each element and to have different levels of modelling for different elements in the system. Also, new configurations can be made by adding or removing the required elements. Moreover, elements developed can be used for applications not restricted to buildings only. The object-oriented methodology, element descriptions, code validation with BESTEST cases, and transient thermal simulations of two different cases are presented in this paper.