Method and apparatus for improving building energy simulations

An article of manufacture for improving a building simulation, comprising:

• a computer-accessible storage medium;
• computer programming stored on said storage medium;
• wherein said computer programming is configured to be accessible from said computer-accessible storage medium by a processor and thereby cause said processor to operate so as to:
• receive as input an audit shell description of a building to be simulated;
• receive as input at least one measured driving function of said building to be simulated;
• calculate at least one heat flow of said building based, at least in part, on said audit shell description and said at least one measured driving function;
• calculate at least one corrective flow based, at least in part, on said at least one heat flow, wherein said at least one corrective flow can thereby improve an accuracy of said building simulation;
• and
• provide said at least one corrective flow as an input to a building simulator as at least one different value of a driving function.

An article of manufacture for improving a building simulation, comprising:

• a computer-accessible storage medium;
• computer programming stored on said storage medium;
• wherein said computer programming is configured to be accessible from said computer-accessible storage medium by a processor and thereby cause said processor to operate so as to:
• receive as input an audit shell description of a building to be simulated;
• receive as input at least one measured driving function of said building to be simulated;
• calculate at least one heat flow of said building based, at least in part, on said audit shell description and said at least one measured driving function;
• calculate at least one shell calibration parameter, said at least one shell calibration parameter associated with said at least one heat flow of said building;
• execute a building simulator to produce at least one simulated result based, at least in part, on at least one input to said building simulator, said at least one input responsive to said at least one heat flow and the at least one associated shell calibration parameter;
• and
• after producing said at least one simulated result and responsive at least partly thereto, calculate at least one Heating/Ventilating/Air Conditioning calibration parameter.

A computer-aided method for calibrating a building simulator with corrective flows, comprising the steps of:

• inputting, into the building simulator, data representative of attributes of a building to be simulated;
• inputting, into the building simulator, data representative of measured driving forces that are capable of impacting the building to be simulated;
• performing a simulation of the building to be simulated using the building simulator with the data representative of attributes of the building to be simulated and the data representative of measured driving forces that are capable of impacting the building to be simulated to produce at least one output;
• performing an analysis to estimate at least one calibration parameter based, at least in part, on the at least one output;
• and
• introducing a variable to the building simulator as a driving force, the variable being responsive to the at least one calibration parameter.

A data processing apparatus for calibrating a building simulator with corrective flows, comprising:

• means for inputting, into the building simulator, data representative of attributes of a building to be simulated;
• means for inputting, into the building simulator, data representative of measured driving forces that are capable of impacting the building to be simulated;
• means for performing a simulation of the building to be simulated using the building simulator with the data representative of attributes of the building to be simulated and the data representative of measured driving forces that are capable of impacting the building to be simulated, said means for performing a simulation producing at least one output;
• means for performing an analysis to estimate at least one calibration parameter based, at least in part, on the at least one output;
• and
• means for introducing a variable to the building simulator as a driving force, the variable being responsive to the at least one calibration parameter.

A computer-aided method for calibrating a building simulator with corrective flows, comprising the steps of:

• performing a simulation of a building to produce at least one first output;
• estimating at least one calibration parameter and determining at least one first heat flow based, at least in part, on the at least one first output;
• re-performing the simulation of the building using a product comprised of the at least one calibration parameter and the at least one first heat flow to produce at least one second output;
• determining at least one second heat flow based, at least in part, on the at least one second output;
• and
• re-performing the simulation of the building using another product comprised of the at least one calibration parameter and the at least one second heat flow to produce at least one third output.

A computer-aided method for calibrating a building simulator with corrective flows, comprising the steps of:

• inputting, into the building simulator, data representative of attributes of a building to be simulated;
• inputting, into the building simulator, data representative of measured driving forces that are capable of impacting the building to be simulated;
• performing a simulation of the building to be simulated using the building simulator with the data representative of attributes of the building to be simulated and the data representative of measured driving forces that are capable of impacting the building to be simulated to produce at least one output;
• performing an analysis to estimate at least one calibration parameter based, at least in part, on the at least one output;
• performing a different analysis to determine at least one heat flow based, at least in part, on the at least one output;
• introducing a variable to the building simulator as a driving force, the variable being responsive to the at least one calibration parameter and the at least one heat flow;
• re-performing the simulation of the building to be simulated using the building simulator with the data representative of attributes of the building to be simulated and the data representative of measured driving forces that are capable of impacting the building to be simulated along with the variable to produce at least one intermediate output;
• re-performing the different analysis to re-determine the at least one heat flow based, at least in part, on the at least one intermediate output;
• and
• iteratively repeating said steps of re-performing the simulation and re-performing the different analysis until a selected convergence is attained to produce at least one calibrated output.

An article of manufacture for improving a building simulation, comprising:

• a computer-accessible storage medium;
• computer programming stored on said storage medium;
• wherein said computer programming is configured to be accessible from said computer-accessible storage medium by a processor and thereby cause said processor to operate so as to:
• receive as input audit values of a building to be simulated, said audit values comprising at least shell audit values and Heating/Ventilating/Air Conditioning system audit values;
• receive as input driving functions, said driving functions impacting the building to be simulated;
• perform said building simulation using said audit values and said driving functions to produce a plurality of outputs;
• determine a plurality of primary heat flows based, at least in part, on said plurality of outputs;
• estimate a plurality of shell calibration parameters based, at least in part, on said plurality of outputs and said plurality of primary heat flows by a executing a best fit analysis;
• calculate a plurality of corrective heat flows responsive to said plurality of primary heat flows and said plurality of shell calibration parameters;
• introduce said plurality of corrective heat flows into at least one input of said building simulation;
• and
• re-perform said building simulation using said audit values and said driving functions, along with said plurality of corrective heat flows, to produce a different plurality of outputs.

A computer-aided method for calibrating a building simulator with shell calibration parameters, comprising the steps of:

• inputting, into the building simulator, data representative of attributes of a building to be simulated;
• inputting, into the building simulator, data representative of measured driving forces that are capable of impacting the building to be simulated;
• performing a simulation of the building to be simulated using the building simulator with the data representative of attributes of the building to be simulated and the data representative of measured driving forces that are capable of impacting the building to be simulated to produce at least one first output;
• performing a first best fit analysis to estimate at least one first shell calibration parameter based, at least in part, on the at least one first output and an expected value thereof;
• modifying at least a portion of the data representative of attributes of the building to be simulated responsive to the at least one first shell calibration parameter to produce once-modified data representative of attributes of the building to be simulated;
• and
• re-performing the simulation of the building to be simulated using the building simulator with the once-modified data representative of attributes of the building to be simulated and the data representative of measured driving forces that are capable of impacting the building to be simulated to produce at least one second output.