The Use of Multiple Building Performance Simulation Tools during the Process - a Case Study in Singapore

This paper discusses the use of multiple building performance simulation tools to support the design of a state-of-the-art intelligent library building in Singapore. Building performance simulation tools that include energy analysis program, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and daylighting models are utilized throughout the design process to evaluate various proposed design schemes, to study the impact of multiple design parameters and to assess the potential of certain design strategies and proposed systems on energy, ventilation, thermal comfort as well as day-lighting performance of the building. The paper also highlights the difficulties encountered during the process and recommendations to overcome the difficulties are discussed. INTRODUCTION The design and evaluation of the environmental quality of buildings has become increasingly complex over time. Such complexity arises from the rapid advances in technology, changing perception and demands of building owners, operators and tenants as well as the increasing importance of the building as a facilitator of building occupant control, productivity and information interchange. One of the challenges in the design process is to understand the interaction between various aspects of building performance and their implications on complex building control systems. This paper discusses the use of multiple building performance simulation tools for the evaluation of design concepts and options at the early design phase for a state-of-the-art intelligent library building in Singapore. This new National Library Board Building is designed by Ken Yeang using the bioclimatic approach to provide a building which is environmentally friendly (Yeang 1999). Most of all, it will provide an excellent indoor environment that could be achieved with the use of sophisticated control and environmental technology. The building is located just outside the Central Business District (CBD) in Singapore (see Figure 1). The site is bounded by two major roads, Victoria street and North Bridge road and two side roads Bain street and Middle Road. In order to fulfill the objectives of the design, multiple computational simulation tools are utilized throught out the design process to evaluate multiple proposed design schemes, to study the impact of various design parameters and to assess the potential of certain design strategies and proposed systems. The types of building performance simulation tools used include: • DOE2 energy simulation, • FLUENT computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation and • LUMINA daylighting simulation. DOE2 ENERGY SIMULATION The energy simulation using DOE2 (DOE2 1994) covers mainly the comparative study of two proposed design schemes, the "Plaza Scheme" and the "Street Scheme". The performance indicators for comparison include: • Energy consumption (kWh/m/year) • Overall Thermal Transfer Value (OTTV) (W/m) • Space temperatures (C) • Space relative humidity (%) Victoria Street North Bridge Road Middle Road Figure 1: Site location of the new NLB building NLB Site Seventh International IBPSA Conference Rio de Janeiro, Brazil August 13-15, 2001