Transsolar’s DNA consists of not only KlimaEngineering, but also of TRNSYS software development.
Now the TRNSYS building module, in cooperation with the Chair of Architectural Informatics at the Technical University of Munich, is being developed to handle climate simulations of urban outdoor areas with a user-friendly (Grasshopper) interface.
Supported by the Zentrale Innovationsprogramm Mittelstand (ZIM) of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie, BMWi), the software will be expanded with the capability to evaluate small neighbourhoods, starting with single plazas and streets. Efforts will be concentrated on developing accurate calculations of radiant temperatures, and incorporating the impact of building thermal mass, air flows and vegetation on the urban environment.
Officially the task has the title:
Development of a simulation environment for the simulation and optimization of the urban microclimate, transient heat flows, and thermal comfort in outdoor spaces (resolution: 1-10 m) using innovative algorithms for climate optimization in cities.
In view of the increasing number of extreme weather events around the world, such a tool can be very helpful. For large cities, where the Urban Heat Island Effect (UHI) exacerbates the effects of global warming, such a tool can be used to develop and evaluate targeted countermeasures. In particular, the impact of vegetation such as green space or city trees should be quantifiable and could be increasingly used to inform urban planning.
The project runs until May 2020 (and should be available to customers for the holistic evaluation of urban climate after completion).