Comparison of different coupling variants for building and HVAC simulation

Coupled building and HVAC simulations applying the FMI standard promise many advantages in terms of system design and optimisation. In this paper, a systematic analysis of possible options for such couplings is presented. For one of these options, a case study is carried out where a quantitative comparison between the uncoupled reference system and the corresponding coupled system with different communication step sizes is carried out. Based on the simulation results, recommendations and challenges for such couplings are derived. In particular, the correlation between the communication step size of the FMUs and the computing time, as well as the deviations of the simulation results compared to the results of an uncoupled simulation are analysed.