Building and systems simulations

In building and systems simulations, the thermal conditions in individual rooms, buildings or systems are considered – either as an individual simulation (building or systems simulation) or as coupled models (building and systems simulation). It is possible to adapt the extent of the considered level: from individual rooms up to various buildings (e.g. on residential district level), or individual system components (e.g. heating and cooling systems, solar collectors, storage) up to complex systems (e.g. combination of HVAC systems with heat generation and cold generation).

In building services, the heating and cooling energy demand can be determined for one or more buildings. Thus, amongst others, different building concepts or refurbishment measures can be evaluated from an energetic and economical perspective. Furthermore, the effort of the benefit transfer for heating (e.g. floor heating, radiators), cooling (e.g. cooling ceilings, thermal component activation) and for air conditioning technology (e.g. power demand for fans) can be determined. A variety of models is available for heat and cold generators (e.g. solar collectors, gas-fired boilers, heat pumps), ventilation components (e.g. heat recovery devices or dehumidification and humidification) as well as different heat sources (e.g. outside air, soil, tunnel). As to solar collectors and installation engineering, different thermal storages can be simulated, from buffer storage to seasonal storage. Furthermore, thermal solar collectors of various constructions can be considered (e.g. flat collectors, tube collectors, and PVT collectors).

IGTE have been using the TRNSYS simulation program for building and systems simulations for many years. Due to this experience, our institute owns a large library of mathematical models programmed at IGTE. With these models, a large variety of issues can be modeled in the areas of heating, ventilation, climate, heat storage, heat transfer, and solar heat.