Dynamic integration between building energy simulation (BES) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation for outdoor conditions

Different site conditions create a site specific microclimate which has great influence on building energy consumption. However, current energy simulation lacks a response to microclimate and buildings are treated with outdoor conditions based on weather data from nearest metrological site. This paper describes the coupling methodology between building energy simulation (BES) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation in order to analyze the impact of microclimate to building performance. A BES and a CFD exchange parameters in a dynamic time step base manner. The external surface of the building is the interface through which parameters are exchanged between BES and CFD. BES provides surface temperatures as the boundary conditions for CFD, while CFD calculates the heat transfer coefficients as the input to BES in each time step through a controller. This paper reviews the recent development in integration between BES and CFD methodologies. After an overview of coupling, the paper develops an approach of outdoor integration between BES and CFD. The proposed integration method is tested for case building and the result will be discussed.