Helps size any system for heating and air conditioning of a building, i.e., the terminal units, the zone units and the total capacity of the cooling or heating plants. DPClima performs a 24 hour calculation of the steady state value of the cooling and heating loads of a building for a typical day of each month (either the coldest or the hottest). DPClima organizes the spaces into several zones inside the building so that the designer is able to adapt its system best to the thermal response of those zones.
The calculations are done using the heat transfer functions methodology. Inside the spaces schedules are defined for; occupancy, lights and other loads. A database is distributed with information about types of walls, glasses, human activities, type of lights, etc.
Screen Shots
Keywords
thermal load calculation, equipment sizing
Validation/Testing
N/A
Expertise Required
High level of computer literacy not required; engineering background needed for analysis of the results.
Users
More than 250.
Audience
Mechanical, energy and architectural engineers working for architect/engineer firms, consulting firms, national agencies, research universities and laboratories.
Input
Size of building elements (walls, windows, doors) and their thermal properties. Their tree relationship (this walls has this windows, this space has this walls etc.) and their orientation (North, Northwest, etc) or marked as under the shadow. (Many default values and databases).
Output
More than 50 print-ready reports. The user can select different categories of loads (external, internal, people) in order to analyze the problem. Graphical and numerical hourly load for each category of load and for each element (or group of elements, i.e., zones, building) is available.
Computer Platform
PC-compatible. Windows 98/ME/NT/XP.
Programming Language
C++
Strengths
Rigorous methodology employed. The data is introduced very easily and friendly. A lot of feedback from users is already present in the current version of the program. The data can be introduced in quite a short time.
Weaknesses
It has no information about the geometry. This would need a CAD connection. It is in Spanish.
Contact
Availability
900 Euros + Taxes (inside Spain), format: CD, technical support available.
|
