EMA: A user-friendly tool for reliable simulations of building energy performance in dynamic conditions by coupling EnergyPlus and MATLAB®

The reliable simulation of building energy performance is a complex issue because the behavior of building components and systems is highly dynamic. Therefore, simplified steady-state methods are unsuitable and dynamic simulations should be conducted by employing proper programs. Normally, these latter ensure high accuracy but they are not user-friendly, and thus common building practitioners do not have the know-how for using these programs. The paper addresses this issue by proposing a user-friendly tool for reliable dynamic simulations of building energy performance. The tool is denoted as EMA, since it couples EnergyPlus and MATLAB®. For an established building, the user has only to set: -) the desired outcomes, -) the location weather data file, -) the values of building parameters affecting energy performance. These input parameters are subdivided into four groups, related to geometry, envelope, operation and energy systems, respectively. EMA is tested against reliable data taken from scientific literature for different case studies. The results are very satisfying since the discrepancy is lower than 8%, except for one case (15.54%). Finally, EMA can provide a strong support to proper energy designs and retrofits of buildings, by ensuring a good trade-off among computational burden, modeling complexity and reliability of outcomes.