Factors Influencing Thermal Behaviour
Some of the factors which influence the thermal behaviour of a building and whose influences the Building Simulator allows the user to investigate are given below:
• Thermal insulation
• Thermal capacity (also known as "thermal mass")
• Glazing properties
• Built form and orientation
• Climate
• Shading from nearby buildings and self-shading
• Infiltration
• Natural ventilation
• Mechanical ventilation
• Solar gain
• Gains from lights, occupants and equipment (both sensible and latent)
• Control setpoints & bands, optimum start, frost protection
• Available plant capacities for heating and cooling
• Plant schedules
• Plant radiant/convective characteristics
• Performance of boilers and heat pumps
The Building Simulator will output data showing the effects of these factors on:
• Air temperature
• Mean radiant temperature
• Resultant temperature
• Surface temperatures
• Humidity
• Condensation risk
• Sensible and latent loads
• Energy consumption
• Required plant size
The output generated by the Building Simulator may be used by other programs for further processing, formatting, and generating reports:
• Results Viewer
• Tas Systems
• UK Building Regulations Studio
• ASHRAE 90.1 Studio