A Building energy simulation methodology to validate energy balance and comfort in zero energy buildings

Abstract

The construction of Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) is one of the objectives in the road to the low-carbon economy by 2050. NZEB design includes a reduction of current energy demands and the balance between consumption and on-site energy generation without compromising indoor comfort conditions. Building designers are using building information modeling (BIM) and building energy simulation (BES) tools to validate design decisions and to evaluate energy balance in buildings. However, the flow of information between BIM software and BES tools has not been solved yet. This work proposes a method to address the decision-making process at three different stages of the building design. Initially, the use of BIM over the architectural design process helps architects to make meaningful decisions related to the passive solar heat gains and envelop materials. Secondly, a more advanced BES is used to analyze the strategies of ventilation and the influence of heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. Finally, a new method to integrate water flow glazing (WFG) is implemented to increase the comfort in those areas of the building with a large area of glass. Applying the right strategy for natural ventilation can reduce the thermal loads by 45% in Summer. Using WFG minimizes the gap between indoor air temperature and operative temperature according to the results.