Extract

Site is known as one of the important factors which influence the energy performance of buildings. However, in many cases when energy simulation modelling is included in the design process, it does not consider site factors. The consequences of this are unknown. Frequently, the weather data used in the energy simulation is based on the local weather-station rather than the site-specific micro-climate. In the case of Wellington, New Zealand, micro-climates vary widely as they are influenced by the local topography. Different sites are highly likely to have different access to sun, wind, temperature, etc which all strongly affect the heating energy use of houses. This paper reports on the initial findings of a study into the impact of site factors in energy simulation software, EnergyPlus. Some EnergyPlus limitations were found in modelling site factors. To solve this limitation, three approaches to the generation of site-specific weather files were investigated: ENVI-met, UWG (Urban Weather Generator) and CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics). The paper explores the importance of different site parameters, and diagrammatically sets out how they can be included in the energy simulation.

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