Conference Paper

Proceedings of Building Simulation 2019: 16th Conference of IBPSA

Space Boundary Topology Simplification for Building Energy Performance Simulation Speed-up

Georgios Nektarios Lilis ¹, Georgios I Giannakis ¹, Kyriakos I Katsigarakis ¹, Dimitrios V Rovas ^2
1 Technical University of Crete, Greece
² University College London, UK

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26868/25222708.2019.210693
Abstract: In recent studies, methodologies for automated Building Energy Performance simulation model generation, utilizing Building Information Model data, have received considerable attention. In most cases, each space of a building is treated as a thermal zone, and each 2nd-level space boundary as an inter-zone boundary surface. This results in increased computational effort that scales with the number of zones and surfaces, but without necessarily improved simulation accuracy. Geometry simplification can be quite beneficial to reduce complexity; however, its effectiveness relies on the modeler experience and the building’s geometric characteristics. In prior work, zone merging approaches have been investigated but the topic of geometric simplification has remained relatively unexplored. In this work, an algorithmic process is introduced for simplification of the 2nd-level space boundary topology, and consequently reduction of the number of surfaces.
Keywords: BIM, IFC4, BEPs, EnergyPlus
Pages: 175 - 181
Paper: