Validation of dynamic building energy simulation tools based on a real test-box with thermally activated building systems (TABS)

Towards the EU emissions targets of 2050: optimal energy renovation measures of Finnish apartment buildings

“…Increasingly common, however, is the use of dynamic building simulation software such as EnergyPlus, TRNSYS or IDA-ICE (Nageler, et al, 2018). Typically, studies on optimal building designs and retrofitting have been done by calculating the performance of a set amount of pre-defined design packages, such as in (Ferreira, et al, 2016).…”

Building Energy Performance Analysis: An Experimental Validation of an In-House Dynamic Simulation Tool through a Real Test Room

“…Although empirical validation procedures, based on real metering and auditing data, are considered as very reliable procedures [47], they are often used for the validation of tools and mathematical models developed for simulating specific phenomena. In this regard, the literature shows several examples of such a procedure applied to the validation of models relative to thermally activated building systems [48][49][50], daylighting or HVAC interactions with respect to window or solar gain [51,52], double skin facades or ventilated cavity [53][54][55][56], activities of occupants and their interaction with the building loads [57], etc. It is worth noting that though experimental validations of single mathematical models for the simulation of the energy performance of a specific new building's technology, component or material, can be often easily carried out, the experimental validation of whole BEPS tools is mostly unfeasible.…”

“…For these reasons, experimental validation procedures through suitable test cells or scale building models are becoming more and more frequent [59]. For novel thermal models few empirical validation-works are available in the literature, as reported in references [48,60,61]. Here, suitable test cells are often used for analyzing the accuracy of the related results, whereas idealized test cells are built for suitably taking into account the effects of specific building features to be studied [37].…”

“…• a reliable dynamic simulation tool for the building energy performance analysis capable of reliably predicting the related energy demands and the indoor environmental conditions [67][68][69]; • a flexible tool to be used for the implementation of new add-on models able to suitably assess the energy performance of future building research challenges (e.g., innovative envelope integrated technologies and strategies, new energy efficiency construction materials, real users' interaction with the building indoor environmental control systems, innovative building plants, etc.) [48,70,71].…”

“…Typically, in order to develop straightforward tools through such an approach, only few system phenomena are modelled and only the most significant physical aspects occurring in the dynamic building thermal behavior are considered. In order to simulate the building dynamic interactions within a reasonable computing time, one-dimensional modelling approaches of heat transfer phenomena within the building envelope are often employed [48,100]. A summary about assumptions, features, and limitations of such models is reported in references [16,101,102].…”