Energy Simulation Tools for Buildings: An Overview

Energy simulation is used in building design and has the potential to be used to support building operation. It is also used in product development and in scenario analysis to inform policy development. The wide variety of phenomena in buildings that need to be modeled in order to simulate building performance are discussed briefly, along with the variety of numerical methods that are used. There is a need to improve the computational speed of building simulation, particularly for use in optimization and parametric studies. Examples of the use of simulation in support of both building design and building operation are presented. The needs for further development of both tools and practices in order to improve the accuracy, robustness and effectiveness of simulation modeling are summarized.