Comparative analysis of energy simulation methods : Case study: Single-family house

Abstract

Finnish building industry is in the constant search for engineering tools and solutions that would allow to simulate energy consumption in a project prior to its construction. The market presents a great variety of both digital and manual energy simulation methods. In this thesis, three such methods were analysed with the intent to find out what key factors should be considered when choosing one. The chosen methods include a manual method described in the Finnish Building Code 2012, Green Building Studio cloud-based service and IDA Indoor Climate and Energy software. The methods were individually tested on a newly built single-family house provided by the Sheet Metal Centre. The methods were later weighted against each other in terms of their result accuracy, time consumption, user interface and freedom of input.

The ability to simulate house indoor environment via a 3D modelling tool is an important factor. This was best exemplified with the study of the manual method described in the Finnish Building Code. FBC method, having no means to simulate house environment with regards to its layout, position and shape performed worse when accounting for heating needs of the house.

The conformity of the method with Finnish standards is perhaps the most important factor when working on a project based in Finland. This was best exemplified with the results received from Green Building Studio.

IDA has met both of the above-mentioned criteria and, as a result, IDA performed better than the other two methods. However, its results were not fully accurate due to limited data about the project.