Automated Building Energy Efficiency and Thermal Performance Analysis in OpenBIM
Extracting thermal transmittance (U-values), material layer properties, and window-to-wall ratios automatically from IFC building models.
Evaluating building energy performance early in design phases ensures compliance with sustainability standards. Parsing semantic material layers and thermal properties from IFC models enables web tools to calculate overall heat transfer coefficients automatically.
1. Extracting Thermal Transmittance (U-Values) from IFC
Traversing `IfcMaterialLayerSet` and thermal property sets across walls, roofs, and slabs computes composite U-values based on material thickness and conductivity coefficients.
2. Window-to-Wall Ratio (WWR) & Solar Heat Gain Calculations
Comparing total fenestration areas (`IfcWindow`, `IfcDoor`) against exterior envelope surface areas calculates Window-to-Wall Ratios (WWR) to assess solar heat gain and daylighting performance.
3. Exporting gbXML for Energy Simulation Engines
Converting spatial zones and envelope thermal boundaries into standardized gbXML or JSON schemas enables seamless integration with external energy simulation tools for annual heating and cooling load calculations.