Amongst the issues that can be addressed with ApacheSim are:
- Thermal insulation (type and placement)
- Building dynamics & thermal mass
- Building configuration and orientation
- Climate
- Glazing properties
- Shading, solar gain & solar penetration
- Casual gains
- Air-tightness
- Natural ventilation
- Mechanical ventilation
- HVAC systems
- Mixed-mode systems
Within ApacheSim, conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer processes for each element of the building fabric are individually modelled and integrated with models of room heat gains, air exchanges and plant. The simulation is driven by real weather data and may cover any period from a day to a year. The time-evolution of the building’s thermal conditions is traced at intervals as small as one minute.
Results output by the simulation include:
- Comfort statistics
- Energy consumption
- Carbon emissions
- Room load statistics
- Plant sizes
- Detailed performance measures including hourly room temperatures (air, mean radiant and dry resultant), humidities, plant loads, casual gains and air exchanges
- Surface temperatures for comfort studies or CFD boundary conditions
Simulation Principles
ApacheSim deals separately with each of the fundamental heat transfer and control processes affecting building thermal performance. The methods used to model these processes are described in the sections that follow.