The Latin word “simulatio” has the meaning of deception. In this respect, at the beginning of the 20th century, “simulation” still referred to the feigning of illnesses. In our time, “acting as if” in the sense of reproducing a process has mutated into an honorable and extremely important scientific principle, the current meaning of which has even been laid down in a VDI guideline: According to VDI 3633, simulation is the “emulation of a system with its dynamic processes in an experiment-capable model in order to arrive at findings that are transferable to reality”. Instead of real models, mathematical and physical models are examined accordingly.
Thermal simulation is an important tool for the planning and dimensioning of buildings and systems. Many real systems cannot be described accurately enough with stationary calculations, whereas a thermal building simulation calculation (transient) simulates the real processes very well. Building simulation takes into account the complex dynamic interactions between building, system, control technology, outdoor climate and building users.
