SUMMARY OF RECENT ACTIVITIES ON BUILDING ENERGY SIMULATION ANALYSIS IN NORTH AMERICA

摘要

Thermal modeling of building energy performance has played a key role in the development of energy conservation strategies and standards in North America. Background for the development of various building energy simulation computer programs is given in this paper together with current and projected activities in both public and private sectors. The approaches taken by different developers of energy analysis computer programs, such as those of the finite difference network procedures, time and frequency domain thermal response or conduction transfer procedures, and simplified calculation methods are discussed. Needs for a comprehensive and small time scale calculation procedure to study interactions among various components of building, such as envelope heat transfer, thermostat performance, control of air distribution systems and heating and cooling plants are emphasized. Emergence and popular acceptance of microcomputers are likely to have significant impacts on the next generation of building thermal simulation programs. A list of currently avaiable microcomputer based building energy analysis computer