Simulation settings

What are simulation settings?

bim2sim uses prescribed settings which define how a specific simulation should be handled. For basic setup we have a BaseSimSettings, which is extended for the different simulation types (e.g. BuildingSimSettings) and this domain simulation type specific settings can also be further specified for each Plugin (e.g. TEASERSimSettings or EnergyPlusSimSettings) via class inheritance.

Each Plugin has a set of predefined settings. But the different settings can easily be changed (see below)

How do settings work?

Each instance of a simulation settings owns a SettingsManager to manage all simulation specific Settings. A setting can be used to concretize the way how tasks are executed. E.g. the level of detail (LOD) of the setting layers_and_materials with which the layers of building elements and their materials should be inspected can be defined either set LOD.low or LOD.full. Currently, each Setting has a specified number of choices from which one or multiple can be chosen.

Additionally, to the settings itself, a simulation setting instance holds the relevant_elements. These define, which of the existing bim2sim elements will be taken into account for the simulation model creation.

How to set simulation settings?

There are two different ways to set a workflow setting:

Define the settings inside the config.toml file that is part of every FolderStructure of every Project.
Define the settings after the project creation by overwriting the existing ones

project = Project.create(project_path, ifc_path, 'teaser', open_conf=True)
project.sim_settings.layers_and_materials = LOD.low

If you want to overwrite the specified relevant_elements you can do this in the same way

project.sim_settings.relevant_elements = {<classes of elements of interest>}

The first way is useful if you want to work in an interactive way, the second is more fitting for automated tasks.

Want to set up your own workflow?

The pre-implemented workflows hold the needed settings for the simulation with the pre-implemented Plugins. For further customization you can add your own Workflow (from scratch or by inheriting from the existing ones) and add your own settings that you might miss from the existing ones.

List of current simulation settings:

The following tables provide an overview of simulation settings for the different simulation types.

BaseSimSettings

Setting Name	Type	Default	Description
dymola_simulation	Boolean	False	Run a Simulation with Dymola after model export?
create_external_elements	Boolean	False	Create external elements?
max_wall_thickness	Number	0.3	Choose maximum wall thickness as a tolerance for mapping opening boundaries to their base surface (Wall).
group_unidentified	Choice	‘fuzzy’	To reduce the number of decisions by user to identify elements which can not be identified automatically.
fuzzy_threshold	Number	0.7	If using fuzzy search in the `group_unidentified` setting, set the similarity threshold.
reset_guids	Boolean	False	Reset GlobalIDs from imported IFC if duplicate GlobalIDs occur in the IFC.

PlantSimSettings

Setting Name	Type	Default	Description
aggregations	Choice (MultipleChoice)	[list]	Choose which aggregations should be applied on the hydraulic network.

BuildingSimSettings

Setting Name	Type	Default	Description
layers_and_materials	Choice	LOD.low	Select how existing Material information in IFC should be treated.
construction_class_walls	Choice	‘heavy’	Select the most fitting type of construction class for the walls of the selected building.
year_of_construction_overwrite	Number	None	Force an overwrite of the year of construction as a base for the selected construction set.
construction_class_windows	Choice	‘Alu- oder…’	Select the most fitting type of construction class for the windows of the selected building.
heating	Boolean	True	Whether the building should be supplied with heating.
cooling	Boolean	False	Whether the building should be supplied with cooling.
deactivate_ahu	Boolean	False	If True, the AHU unit will be deactivated for all thermal zones.
prj_use_conditions	Path	None	Path to a custom UseConditions.json for the specific project.
prj_custom_usages	Path	None	Path to a custom customUsages.json for the specific project.
setpoints_from_template	Boolean	False	Use template heating and cooling profiles instead of setpoints from IFC.

TEASERSimSettings

Setting Name	Type	Default	Description
zoning_setup	Choice	LOD.low	Select the criteria based on which thermal zones will be aggregated.
zoning_criteria	Choice	ZoningCriteria.usage	Choose the zoning criteria for thermal zone aggregation.

EnergyPlusSimSettings

Setting Name	Type	Default	Description	Choices
cfd_export	Boolean	False	Whether to use CFD export for this simulation or not.
split_bounds	Boolean	False	Whether to convert non-convex space boundaries or not.
add_shadings	Boolean	True	Whether to add shading surfaces if available or not.
split_shadings	Boolean	False	Whether to convert non-convex shading boundaries or not.
run_full_simulation	Boolean	False	Choose simulation period.
ep_version	Choice	‘9-4-0’	Choose EnergyPlus Version.	‘9-2-0’, ‘9-4-0’
ep_install_path	Path	Path(‘/usr/local/EnergyPlus-9-4-0/’)	Choose EnergyPlus Installation Path.
system_sizing	Boolean	True	Whether to do system sizing calculations in EnergyPlus or not.
run_for_sizing_periods	Boolean	False	Whether to run the EnergyPlus simulation for sizing periods or not.
run_for_weather_period	Boolean	True	Whether to run the EnergyPlus simulation for weather file period or not.
solar_distribution	Choice	‘FullExterior’	Choose solar distribution.	‘FullExterior’, ‘FullInteriorAndExterior’
add_window_shading	Choice	None	Choose window shading.	‘Interior’, ‘Exterior’
output_format	Choice	‘CommaAndHTML’	Choose output format for result files.	‘Comma’, ‘Tab’, ‘Fixed’, ‘HTML’, ‘XML’, ‘CommaAndHTML’,’TabAndHTML’, ‘XMLAndHTML’, ‘All’
unit_conversion	Choice	‘JtoKWH’	Choose unit conversion for result files.	‘None’, ‘JtoKWH’, JtoMJ’, ‘JtoGJ’, ‘InchPound’
output_keys	Choice (MultipleChoice)	[‘output_outdoor_conditions’, ‘output_zone_temperature’, ‘output_zone’, ‘output_infiltration’, ‘output_meters’]	Choose groups of output variables (multiple choice).	‘output_outdoor_conditions’, ‘output_internal_gains’, ‘output_zone_temperature’, ‘output_zone’, ‘output_infiltration’, ‘output_meters’, ‘output_dxf’
add_natural_ventilation	Boolean	True	Activates natural ventilation if cooling is not activated.

CFDSimSettings

No specific settings provided.

LCAExportSettings

No specific settings provided.

ComfortSimSettings

Setting Name	Type	Default	Description
prj_use_conditions	[Path]	‘UseConditionsComfort.json’ in PluginComfort	Path to a custom UseConditions.json for the comfort application.
use_dynamic_clothing	Boolean	False	Use dynamic clothing according to ASHRAE 55 standard.
rename_plot_keys	Boolean	False	Rename the space names for optimized plotting results. By default, rename_plot_keys.json file is used for renaming, unless rename_plot_keys_path is specified.
rename_plot_keys_path	[Path]	‘rename_plot_keys.json’ in PluginComfort	Path for renaming the zone keys for plot results. Path to a json file with pairs of current keys and new keys.