Building Performance Simulations and Architects against Climate Change and Energy Resource Scarcity

In Europe, 40% of the total energy is consumed by buildings; in this sense, building performance simulation tools (BPSTs) play a key role; however, the use of these tools by architects is deficient. Therefore, this study aims to detect the architects’ perception on BPSTs. To this end, an online survey was conducted to determine the selection criteria of these BPSTs and non-users, to investigate the reasons for not using the tools. The outcomes showed that there was a wide gap between architects and the management of simulation programs in Spain, mainly due to the lack of training. BPSTs are described as a kind of intellect amplifiers, as they are perceived as powerful allies between professors and students of architecture and between architects and architectural design; therefore, through BPSTs, sustainability is taken very much into consideration to make buildings more energy efficient. Therefore, it is primarily concluded that further and higher education must undergo significant improvement to use simulations as part of the architectural design.

Digitalization as a driver for supporting PV deployment and cost reduction

Digitalization is providing advantages to all sectors around the world and it can be of relevance also for the photovoltaic (PV) sector. As an example, the current value chain of the European PV sector is often characterized by analogue and fragmented processes that should be overcame to support greater PV deployment. The adoption of a more open and collaborative digital-based approach characterized by data-sharing among different stakeholders and more integrated information thread from the design till O&M can provide direct benefits in optimizing the PV process, increasing performances, and reducing of costs. Therefore, a novel PV Information Management (PIM) approach has been drawn within the European H2020 project “SuperPV”. In accordance with PIM objectives, a workflow for seamlessly transferring data along main PV work-stages has been developed, as well as new digital features to specifically address collaborative approach in the PV sector such as: (i) advanced functionalities introduced in the existing BIMSolar® software for improving the simultaneous design, performance simulation and cost assessment of medium and large PV systems, (ii) a proof-of-concept for aggregating all relevant information into a Digital Twin platform aimed at setting the ground for post-construction management and lifecycle assessment of the whole PV system.

Energy Performance Simulation in Buildings Composed of Natural and Organic Materials Within the Moroccan Rural Areas of the Atlas Mountains

The construction field uses up over one-third of the global energy consumption and contribute to 40% of CO2 emissions according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the 2020 annual reporter of United Nation, Goal 11 (Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable) which discusses sustainable, safe and efficient buildings. Therefore, Morocco has a commitment to this program by publishing the law 47-09 of energy efficiency. This work aims to study the energy efficiency of two types of building, a conventional and a natural building. Conventional building is constructed using concrete, while the natural one uses sand clay and straws. As for the technique of making the natural building, it perpetually follows the same approach accustomed in rural zones of Atlas Mountains in Morocco. In this research we also simulate, temperature and humidity variation inside these buildings using TRNSYS software. Sketch Up software was employed to design these houses. The weather database is used for a typical meteorological year (TMY). In the case of natural building, many building configurations were simulated: roof insulation, floor insulation, different types of glazing and sun protection. What's more, the thermal comfort is revealed to be more conspicuous in the case of natural building.

Architectural Models as a Base for Reliable Early Stage Energy Simulation

<p>Designers from the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industries have shown a desire to allow for quantitative data to back up sustainable decision-making (Braasch, 2016). Methods and software used to reach this goal often do not provide all the information to make informed design decisions or require a complete remodelling of designs at each stage. These factors make Building Performance Simulation (BPS) feasible at early design stages, where it is most beneficial for Architects. This thesis explores the current process to translate Architectural models constructed within a Building Information Modelling (BIM) environment into Building Energy Models (BEM) so that performance simulations can take place. Within the aim of exploring translation processes, the objectives were to document: • Whether current processes can facilitate modelling of environmental building performance during early design, as well as during developed design? • Whether there are any common problems or successful approaches that might form the basis of future improvements in the way Architect’s and consultant’s models work together? This thesis has identified 19 translation processes from current literature and examined a range of representative processes for exchanging information between Architectural modelling and BPS programs. It concluded that translation issues can be classified into similar groups based on the overall processes used. The eight categories of issues can be used by future developers to determine their priorities in development, and those looking for a current solution can adopt one for themselves. None of the processes tested allowed for issue-free modelling of building performance during sketch design. The two types of building translation schema evaluated in this thesis divided identified references between a dedicated and generalised approach. The dedicated approach of gbXML and the generic approach of IFC identified similar issues; however, IFC contained more of these problems because it communicates with all modelling programs at a lower information quality. Due to the generic approaches containing more issues that take longer to solve, it is currently more complicated to generate an energy model out of IFC data. While the gbXML schema can only provide benefits for BPS related translations, it is the most viable way to provide the service.</p>

Architectural Models as a Base for Reliable Early Stage Energy Simulation

<p>Designers from the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industries have shown a desire to allow for quantitative data to back up sustainable decision-making (Braasch, 2016). Methods and software used to reach this goal often do not provide all the information to make informed design decisions or require a complete remodelling of designs at each stage. These factors make Building Performance Simulation (BPS) feasible at early design stages, where it is most beneficial for Architects. This thesis explores the current process to translate Architectural models constructed within a Building Information Modelling (BIM) environment into Building Energy Models (BEM) so that performance simulations can take place. Within the aim of exploring translation processes, the objectives were to document: • Whether current processes can facilitate modelling of environmental building performance during early design, as well as during developed design? • Whether there are any common problems or successful approaches that might form the basis of future improvements in the way Architect’s and consultant’s models work together? This thesis has identified 19 translation processes from current literature and examined a range of representative processes for exchanging information between Architectural modelling and BPS programs. It concluded that translation issues can be classified into similar groups based on the overall processes used. The eight categories of issues can be used by future developers to determine their priorities in development, and those looking for a current solution can adopt one for themselves. None of the processes tested allowed for issue-free modelling of building performance during sketch design. The two types of building translation schema evaluated in this thesis divided identified references between a dedicated and generalised approach. The dedicated approach of gbXML and the generic approach of IFC identified similar issues; however, IFC contained more of these problems because it communicates with all modelling programs at a lower information quality. Due to the generic approaches containing more issues that take longer to solve, it is currently more complicated to generate an energy model out of IFC data. While the gbXML schema can only provide benefits for BPS related translations, it is the most viable way to provide the service.</p>

Current Protection Applicability Analysis of Flexible DC Power Supply Network

In the flexible AC/DC distribution system supplying passive network, when the modular multi-level converter (MMC) inverter AC line fault occurs, the MMC short-circuit current amplitude is greatly affected by the control strategy, which may affect the operation performance of three-stage current protection. In view of this, a flexible AC/DC distribution network system supplying power to the passive network is built on the RTDS platform, and then the AC fault traverse strategy is designed in the MMC controller. Based on the thinking of coordinated control and protection of the fault through the strategy into two cases with no input to higher current protections performance simulation contrast, the simulation results show that asymmetric fault occurred when MMC inverter AC line, under the effect of communication failure through the strategy, the current main protection I, II period of refusing action, only by this line nearly backup protection current section III delay removal of fault. The three-stage current protection based on the fault current characteristics of pure AC system has poor action performance and is no longer suitable for the AC line of MMC inverter station.