Impact of including pre-defined object on high resolution assessments

Many simulation teams create models of empty buildings e.g. without the thermophysical and visual artefacts which are observed in the built environment or with highly abstract representations. This paper explores the impact of including explicit representations of furniture and fittings on multi-domain assessments vis-à-vis environmental control response, support for comfort and visual assessments and model clarity. Typically increasing model resolution is a tedious process and added detail if included, may not be fully utilised. The concept of pre-defined entities, which include visual form, explicit thermophysical composition, IESNA light distributions and mass flow attributes has been introduced in ESP-r. ESP-r facilities for calculating view-factors and insolation distributions have been updated to include this extended data model. Issues related to creating and managing such entities is discussed and the impacts quantified via case studies.