Software Aspects of a Multi-Microprocessor Simulation System

Abstract

During the last decade the cost of energy has become an increasingly important factor in building design, and increasing resources are being allocated to the measurement, analysis and prediction of the thermal characteristics of buildings. Presently available methods and facilities are adequate for the mainly research oriented measurement and analysis purposes. Prediction, however, poses very different problems because its main objective is to enable the builder/architect to balance the extra costs of energy-saving designs against the actual savings in energy consumption. Hence the requirement is for an essentially interactive computing system on which he can rapidly assess the effects of design modifications, in terms of the annual fuel bills and the cost of materials.