Integrated Building and System Simulation Using Run-Time Coupled Distributed Models

In modeling and simulation of real building and heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system configurations, it is frequently found that certain parts can be represented in one simulation software, while models for other parts of the configuration are only available in other software. However, very often quality assurance dictates that the configuration should be modeled in an integrated fashion due to thermodynamic and other interactions between the various subsystems. This paper gives an overview and presents initial results of an ongoing research project that aims to improve the applicability and use in a design context of building performance simulation software by addressing this problem. The objective of the work is to research, enable, and validate run-time external coupling of distributed building and system simulation software. Although the research uses specific simulation environments, the coupling mechanism(s), data-exchange procedure, and protocol(s) that are being developed ensure that the approach has a wide and general applicability. This paper also discusses some of the domain-specific theoretical and numerical issues regarding run-time interoperability and parallel coupling of distributed HVAC component models. A prototype is presented. The initial results for a practical case study are used to demonstrate the prototype and to illustrate the usefulness of the approach. The paper concludes with indicating directions for future work.

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