In an ideal world, engineers would establish heating and cooling loads as early as possible in the design process, ensuring optimum performance of a building and its HVAC systems. But heat loss and heat gain calculations are long and tedious, and tend to be performed only when absolutely necessary. ApacheCalc from the IES <Virtual Environment> makes life easier. Calculating heat loss and gain is simple and extremely fast – so you can get on with applying the information, testing and comparing scenarios and determining the most efficient HVAC systems. With the <VE> the ideal is standard.
What ApacheCalc does:
ApacheCalc performs heat loss and heat gain design calculations, using procedures laid down by the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE), to determine building heating and cooling loads. These calculations are performed in seconds on the model created within the <VE>.
ApacheCalc is used internationally where the CIBSE procedures are recognised.
How ApacheCalc works:
ApacheCalc Methodology
ApacheCalc uses the Integrated Data Model (IDM) generated within the IES <VE>. You can make any number of design changes within the APACHE view, which is a series of facilities inside the <VE> enabling you to edit the thermal properties of your IDM. ApacheCalc uses the IDM to undertake two principal calculations:
· Steady state heat loss calculations to predict the heating requirements for the building
· A heat gain calculation, based on the Admittance technique, to predict the building cooling requirements. The heat gain calculations can be performed for a selected design day of the week, and for a range of design months.
The results from these calculations can be interrogated. Several post-processing calculations can then be performed, such as radiator sizing and room air supply rates.
Apache View
With the APACHE view editing facilities it is extremely easy to make changes to key aspects of your model, including:
· construction
· thermal analysis parameters for any number of rooms
· room thermal templates.
Commercial Benefits
The speed at which ApacheCalc enables you to perform calculations provides you with significant productivity gains. The ability to change your model and rapidly re-calculate improves your technical capability, and helps you provide a better design.
