ABSTRACT
Energy modelling is the discipline that models the energy flows in buildings and between a building and its (local) environment, with the aim of studying the heat and mass flow within buildings and their (sub)systems under given functional requirements that the building must satisfy. Most of the current models are computational in nature. This means that the models are implemented in the form of a computer simulation that replicates a part of physical reality in the machine. To do this efficiently, energy models idealize, quantify and simplify the behaviour of real-world systems such as buildings by describing them as a set of internal variables, distinct system boundaries and external variables. The application of physical laws leads to a set of relations between the variables of this physical model, which together constitute the mathematical model. This is then coded in some programming language and subsequently run as a computer programme (commonly named tool). In energy modelling, the area of interest is the thermal behaviour of buildings, especially in terms of energy efficiency and thermal comfort.
