An Approach to the Calibration of Building Energy Simulation Models

As part of the model validation and development activities of a European research initiative in the area of passive solar architecture, a validation/calibration methodology has been developed which emphasises the use of empirical data in the model proving process and, if necessary, model calibration before use. This procedure has been applied to the ESP-r system in order that it might be used to investigate the replication potential of several passive solar components most notably conservatories and advanced glazing systems. It is believed that the technique can equally be applied to the performance of building components other than passive solar. This paper describes the validation/calibration methodology. A major feature of the approach is the depth of detail: high quality, high resolution data is used throughout. This is in contrast to the more general approaches which use data from a large number of sparsely monitored buildings. The paper also describes the application of the methodology to the ESP-r system and the program's subsequent use to investigate the benefits to accrue from the use of conservatories in a domestic context.