What`s next for building energy simulation -- a glimpse of the future

The US Departments of Energy and Defense (DOE and DOD) are jointly developing EnergyBase, a new building energy simulation tool that builds on the capabilities of BLAST and DOE-2. EnergyBase will include innovative simulation features, including variable time steps of less than an hour, built-in template and external modular systems simulation modules integrated with a heat balance-based zone simulation, and input and output data structures tailored to facilitate third party interface development. EnergyBase will also have models for a number of processes not available in both BLAST and DOE-2, including interzone air flow, indoor air quality, foundation heat transfer, and atmospheric pollution. To provide input to EnergyBase and future planning efforts, DOE and DOD sponsored workshops in August 1995 and June 1996 on next-generation building energy simulation tools. Workshop participants generated and ranked applications, capabilities, methods and structures, and interface concepts for next-generation simulation environments. The authors first describe the results from the two workshops of simulation developers and users from around the world. The methods used in the workshops and the resulting recommendations are presented. The authors then give an overview of the organization and capabilities of EnergyBase and describe the restructuring process.