A critical review on building performance simulation tools

This is a scientific article with a full introduction to quality simulation software that professionals can refer to for guidance on the job in the energy-efficiency building field.

Building Performance Simulation (BPS) is an effective tool for informed decision-making and providing feedback in all stages of the building lifetime due to its ability to evaluate the effects of multiple parameters per multiple evaluation criteria. The energy, exergy, economy, environment, and occupant comfort (thermal and visual) are evaluation criteria in high-performance building design. The decision variables or multiple parameters include architectural parameters, building materials traits, indoor and outdoor conditions, economic and ecological indicators, and the characteristics of building services. Yet state-of-the-art BPS tools still need to overcome challenges to become more user-friendly and improve simulation capabilities and tool interoperability.

This paper surveys BPS tools by investigating their key features and limitations to help guide experts from all domains with energy-efficient building design. Tool categorization based on multiple criteria is done and key findings are summarized in tables. Future development opportunities are elaborated.

The detailed article can be downloaded here.