A Real-Time Building HVAC Model Implemented as a Plug-In for SketchUp

摘要

One of the greatest challenges faced by humanity is the impact on climate due to human activity. Among the most prominent of these activities is the construction of buildings. As time and technology progress, the need for more efficient and environmentally-friendly processes and materials is gaining favor among the general population. In line with this, various government protocols have been implemented which have led to development of various software applications that assist in designing better buildings. However, the reach of these applications is limited owing to the cost and expertise needed to actually use these software applications. For instance, architects have multiple tools at their disposal for designing an energy efficient building. But most of these tools are costly to operate, time-consuming and require extensive and software-specific training. This has a greater impact in the initial stages of design, where the amount of data is very limited. The focus of this paper is to develop a plugin for SketchUp~®, which is the CAD design software most commonly used by architects, so as to give insight into building energy consumption during the initial design stages. The challenge is to develop a calculation methodology that is sufficiently accurate, requires very little data from the user, requires no prior training to use, and consumes less time than the state of the art simulation methods. The main component of energy consumption modeled using the developed software is the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning [HVAC] operation. The HVAC system is modeled using design and analysis methods developed by ASHRAE [Radiant Time Series], coupled with real-life time series solar data from NSRDB. This toolset will help architects evaluate design features like the placement and size of fenestration, materials for construction, building orientation, and more, to enable early design decisions to improve the building's lifecycle energy consumption.