Energy simulation (ES) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) can play an important role in building design by providing complementary information of the building performance. However, separate applications of ES and CFD usually cannot give an accurate prediction of building thermal and flow behavior due to the assumptions used in the applications. An integration of ES and CFD can eliminate many of these assumptions, since the information provided by ES and CFD is complementary. This paper describes some efficient approaches to integrate ES and CFD, such as static and dynamic coupling strategies, in order to bridge the discontinuities of time-scale, spatial resolution and computing speed between ES and CFD programs. This investigation further demonstrates some of the strategies through two examples by using the EnergyPlus and MIT-CFD programs.

Article Outline

1. Introduction

2. Fundamentals of ES and CFD thermal coupling

2.1. The principles of ES

2.2. The principles of CFD

2.3. The coupling approaches

3. Staged strategies for ES/CFD code coupling

4. Case studies

4.1. An office in Boston

4.2. An indoor auto-racing complex in Pittsburgh

5. Conclusions

References

• building: simulation of building processes
• CFD - computational fluid dynamics
• energy

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