@article {75, title = {Co-simulation for performance prediction of integrated building and HVAC systems - An analysis of solution characteristics using a two-body system}, journal = {Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory}, volume = {18}, year = {2010}, month = {08/2010}, pages = {957-970}, chapter = {957}, abstract = {

Integrated performance simulation of buildings and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems can help in reducing energy consumption and increasing occupant comfort. However, no single building performance simulation (BPS) tool offers sufficient capabilities and flexibilities to analyze integrated building systems and to enable rapid prototyping of innovative building and system technologies. One way to alleviate this problem is to use co-simulation to integrate different BPS tools. Co-simulation approach represents a particular case of simulation scenario where at least two simulators solve coupled differential-algebraic systems of equations and exchange data that couples these equations during the time integration.

This article analyzes how co-simulation influences consistency, stability and accuracy of the numerical approximation to the solution. Consistency and zero-stability are studied for a general class of the problem, while a detailed consistency and absolute stability analysis is given for a simple two-body problem. Since the accuracy of the numerical approximation to the solution is reduced in co-simulation, the article concludes by discussing ways for how to improve accuracy.

}, doi = {10.1016/j.simpat.2010.02.011}, author = {Marija Trcka and Jan Hensen and Michael Wetter} } @article {68, title = {Co-simulation of innovative integrated HVAC systems in buildings}, journal = {Journal of Building Performance Simulation}, volume = {2}, year = {2009}, pages = {209-230}, chapter = {209}, abstract = {

Integrated performance simulation of buildings HVAC systems can help in reducing energy consumption and increasing occupant comfort. However, no single building performance simulation (BPS) tool offers sufficient capabilities and flexibilities to analyze integrated building systems and to enable rapid prototyping of innovative building and system technologies. One way to alleviate this problem is to use co-simulation, as an integrated approach to simulation. This article elaborates on issues important for co-simulation realization and discusses multiple possibilities to justify the particular approach implemented in the here described co-simulation prototype. The prototype is validated with the results obtained from the traditional simulation approach. It is further used in a proof-of-concept case study to demonstrate the applicability of the method and to highlight its benefits. Stability and accuracy of different coupling strategies are analyzed to give a guideline for the required coupling time step.

}, keywords = {building performance simulation, co-simulation, hvac simulation, innovative building system modelling and simulation}, doi = {10.1080/19401490903051959}, url = {http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section?content=a913244253\&fulltext=713240928}, author = {Marija Trcka and Jan Hensen and Michael Wetter} } @proceedings {60, title = {An implementation of co-simulation for performance prediction of innovative integrated HVAC systems in buildings}, journal = {Proc. of the 11th IBPSA Conference}, year = {2009}, month = {07/2009}, pages = {724-731}, address = {Glasgow, Scotland}, abstract = {Integrated performance simulation of buildings and heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC)systems can help reducing energy consumption and increasing level of occupant comfort. However, no singe building performance simulation (BPS) tool offers sufficient capabilities and flexibilities to accommodate the ever-increasing complexity and rapid innovations in building and system technologies. One way to alleviate this problem is to use co-simulation. The co-simulation approach represents a particular case of simulation scenario where at least two simulators solve coupled differential-algebraic systems of equations and exchange data that couples these equations during the time integration. This paper elaborates on issues important for co-simulation realization and discusses multiple possibilities to justify the particular approach implemented in a co-simulation prototype. The prototype is verified and validated against the results obtained from the traditional simulation approach. It is further used in a case study for the proof-of-concept, to demonstrate the applicability of the method and to highlight its benefits. Stability and accuracy of different coupling strategies are analyzed to give a guideline for the required coupling frequency. The paper concludes by defining requirements and recommendations for generic co-simulation implementations.}, url = {http://www.ibpsa.org/proceedings/BS2009/BS09_0724_731.pdf}, author = {Marija Trcka and Michael Wetter and Jan Hensen} } @conference {3390, title = {Comparison of Co-Simulation Approaches for Building and HVAC/R System Simulation}, booktitle = {Proc. Building Simulation 2007}, year = {2007}, month = {09/2007}, address = {Beijing, China}, author = {Marija Trcka and Michael Wetter and Jan Hensen} } @proceedings {63, title = {Comparison of co-simulation approaches for building and HVAC/R system simulation.
}, journal = {Proc. of the 10th IBPSA Conference}, year = {2007}, month = {09/2007}, pages = {1418-1425}, address = {Beijing, China}, abstract = {Appraisal of modern performance-based energy codes, as well as heating, ventilation, air- conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) system*design require use of an integrated building and system performance simulation program. However, the required scope of the modeling library of such integrated tools often goes beyond those offered in available simulation programs. One remedy for this situation would be to develop the required models in an existing simulation program. However, due to the lack of model interoperability, the model would not be available in other simulation programs. We suggest co-simulation for HVAC/R system simulation as an approach to alleviate the above issues. In co-simulation, each subsystem is modeled and simulated in the appropriate simulation program, potentially on different computers, and intermediate results are communicated over the network during execution time. We discuss different co-simulation approaches and give insights into specific prototypes. Based on the prototypes, we compare the approaches in terms of accuracy, stability and execution time, using a simple case study. We finish with results discussions and recommendations on how to perform co-simulation to maintain the required accuracy of simulation results.}, url = {http://www.ibpsa.org/proceedings/BS2007/p503_final.pdf}, author = {Marija Trcka and Michael Wetter and Jan Hensen} }