André De Herde

A simple design tool for the thermal study of an office building

The objective of the OPTI program (the office building module) is to help architects, engineers and design departments to take into account the impact of design choices on energy consumption designing a project. In order to do so, the program must: be highly user-friendly (language based on drawings); need a minimum of data; be very fast. The computation of energy needs and overheating estimation require dynamic thermal programs. These are often slow and need a large amount of data. The use of many parametric studies realized with a dynamic thermal program along with the application of a method used in experimental research (method of experimental design) allowed us to create software providing the user instantaneously with results from a dynamic thermal program without subjecting architects to the disadvantages of this type of program. Indeed, the program provides annual thermal needs and thermal comfort (winter and summer) in relation with orientation, building footprint, window area and type, internal gains, presence of external or internal shading devices, ventilation strategy applied and thermal mass. This design tool is based on Belgian climatic weather data but the same step could be transposed to other climatic data

A simple design tool for the thermal study of dwellings

The objective of the OPTI program (the dwellings module) is to help architects to take into account the impact of design choices on energy consumption designing a dwelling project. In order to do so, the program must: be highly user-friendly (language based on drawings); need a minimum of data and be very fast. The computation of energy needs and overheating estimation require dynamic thermal programs. These are often slow and need a large amount of data. The use of many parametric studies realized with a dynamic thermal program allowed us to create software providing the user instantaneously with results from a dynamic thermal program without subjecting architects to the disadvantages of this type of program. Indeed, the program provides annual thermal needs and thermal comfort (winter and summer) in relation with orientation, building footprint, window area and type, insulation level, presence of external or internal shading devices, ventilation strategy applied and thermal mass. This design tool is based on Belgian climatic weather data but the same step could be transposed to other climatic data

Design of a new single patch sky and sun simulator

The design of a new sky simulator and its construction are described in detail. The simulator, comprising 91 tungsten halogen lamps placed in a hexagonal array, is based on the modelling of one patch of the Tregenza sky hemisphere distribution. This concept allows illuminance measurements from one geometric configuration to be used for every sky model. The sun simulator, which is also comprised of halogen lamps placed in a hexagonal array, is also described. Parallax error measurement and validation studies show that the sky presents low errors. The paper includes a review of existing skies and suns.

IDEA: Interactive Database for Energy‐efficient Architecture

The project IDEA – Interactive Database for Energy‐efficient Architecture – is a multinational collaborative project to build a European knowledge base on advanced energy conscious building design. At the core of this project are two earlier multimedia developments, the Swiss program DIAS and the German adaptation NESA which present the principles and applications of solar architecture in the respective national contexts. IDEA aims to improve know‐how of European professionals and exchange of information between them. The database includes information on exemplary buildings, their technical concepts and on other specific conditions. IDEA presents the existing state of the art in the field of energy‐efficient architecture by means of a multimedia database of built examples, an encyclopedia of design concepts and a set of interactive design support tools. The built examples have been selected from around Europe. IDEA assembles technical information on materials and energy‐related standards and regulations and provides climatic data from all relevant European regions.