THE UK APPLICABILITY STUDY - AN EVALUATION OF THERMAL SIMULATION PROGRAMS FOR PASSIVE SOLAR HOUSE DESIGN

The predictions of three detailed thermal simulation programs, ESP, HT B2 and SERIRES, are compared for a range of passive solar dwellings su bjected to U.K. weather conditions. From the variations in predictions , the Simulation Resolution (SR) of the programs was estimated. SR val ues are given for predictions of annual heating energy demands and int ernal air temperatures. The influence of internal convective heat tran sfer and glazing algorithms on inter-program variability is shown. The wider utility of SR for interpreting the significance of program pred ictions is discussed. Copyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.