Simulation

Building planners and designers have long faced the challenge of harmonizing architectural designs with technical building services. In any project, this challenge presents itself from start to finish, from the earliest design phases to the building's commissioning. This challenge is commonly addressed by integrated planning teams, with resources that include simulation software, which can help achieve the following:

• Assess facades with regard to absorbed solar energy and to energy losses
• Minimize the energy requirements for cooling and heating
• Support assessment of distribution networks, including hydraulic and acoustic assessment
• Optimize energy generation (performance class in kW, running time in h and system efficiencies in %)
• Analyze building services systems in terms of investment and operational costs (lifecycle costs)
• Assess the comfort levels (thermal and visual comfort) that persons in the building would experience
• Explore the potential for using natural ventilation instead of mechanical ventilation

Normally, numerous different types of simulations have to be carried out for each building, to cover a diverse range of areas and aspects. Some issues call for iterative use of different (software) programs, while others can be addressed with a single program.

Building simulations can be used for planning both new buildings and renovations. In the following, we describe the power of the planning tools we use.