Development and testing of an automated tool to leverage building energy models for thermal resilience analysis

Abstract

Unlike building energy use analysis, thermal resilience analysis to understand how buildings perform during disruptive events has not been widely adopted or standardized. To ensure best practices are applied consistently, this paper proposes a new automated toolbox to leverage building performance models developed for energy analysis purposes, for thermal resilience analysis. To demonstrate the functionality and robustness of the toolbox for automating the analysis and reporting of thermal resilience, example simulations are completed with models gathered from different sources. Major contributions from this study include the establishment of a standardized transparent simulation framework for thermal resilience analysis, as well as the proposal of techniques for overcoming challenges associated with a diversity of model sources including different modelling habits/preferences by modellers and different versions of EnergyPlus. Recommended future work includes the development of standardized modelling configurations reflecting extreme events; the inclusion of more comprehensive metrics, and the refining analytics report through consultation with stakeholders.