Computational Support
for the Selection of Energy
Saving Building Components
By Pieter de Wilde
May 2004
Delft University Press
ISBN: 90-407-2476-8
236 pages, Illustrated, 6 ½" x 9 ½"
$77.50 Paper Original
OUT OF PRINT
This is a Ph.D. dissertation. Buildings use energy for heating, cooling and lighting, contributing to the problems of exhaustion of fossil fuel supplies and environmental pollution. In order to make buildings more energy-efficient and extensive set of 'energy saving building components' has been developed that contributes to minimizing the energy need of buildings, that helps buildings to access renewable energy sources, and that helps buildings to utilize fossil fuels as efficiently as possible.
Examples of such energy saving building components are heat pumps, sunspaces, advanced glazing systems, thermal insulation layers, etc. Building simulation tools appear to be a suitable instrument to support decisions regarding the selection and integration of energy saving building components: they can provide detailed information on the thermal performance of buildings that have not yet been built, thereby allowing objective comparison of different design options under identical conditions.
However, in general the actual use of simulation tools to provide information to support the selection of energy saving building components does not live up to this expectation. The development of new building energy simulation tools shows a continuous increase of capabilities and complexity. This trend increases the dependency on adequate modeling and expertise, and thereby increases the barriers to integration of building design process and building simulation even further.
Contents include: Introduction, Previous Research in Integration of Building Simulation and Building Design, Analysis of Current Energy-efficient Building Design Projects, Underpinning the Selection of Energy Saving Building Components, Tools to Support the Selection of Energy Saving Building Components, Strategy and Prototype Development, Closure, Bibliography.
Civil Engineering
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