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Proceedings of BauSim Conference 2014: 5th Conference of IBPSA-Germany and Austria

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Multiscale Co-simulation of EnergyPlus and CitySim models derived from a Building Information Model

D. Thomas, C. Miller, J. Kämpf, A. Schlüter

Abstract: We present an approach for rapidly assessing the performance of early design stage building information models (BIM) from both the building and urban systems scale. This effort builds upon two previously developed tools, the Design Performance Viewer (DPV) and the CitySim urban simulation engine. It couples them to produce a more informed model. The DPV is a plugin for Autodesk Revit Architecture that creates a model for the EnergyPlus building performance engine based on information contained in the BIM. We combine the two simulation engines using the Functional Mock-up Interface (FMI) co-simulation framework to improve the accuracy of both simulations. This work extends the DPV to extract a CitySim model in addition to the EnergyPlus model. The CitySim model contains not only the building being investigated, but also a simplified representation of the surrounding buildings. We extend the CitySim solver to use the FMI standard for co-simulation to exchange simulation variables with the EnergyPlus model at Scale Urban environment MM model COSMOCLM UC model OpenFoam UMC model OpenFoam City / building energy CES model CitySim BES model DPV EnergyPlus Databases Meteo GIS BIS Revit each time step. This process includes an automated workflow that enables simulation driven design employing these techniques. We compare the results of the coupled and uncoupled simulations and explain discrepancies. We then discuss further refinements to the models such as more accurate representation of the long wave radiation exchange.
Pages: 469 - 476
Paper:
bausim2014_1184