IFC-based setup of interior spaces for thermal comfort simulations using CFD

In building simulations, interoperability challenges in the model setup lead to severe manual efforts, which are ad- dressed in related research by BIM-based processes us- ing the open exchange format IFC. However, IFC-based approaches rarely incorporate computational fluid dynam- ics (CFD), crucial for detailed performance evaluations of local indoor environmental quality.

The IFC-based CFD setup requires interior design details often not provided in IFC data, particularly in multi-purpose spaces where fur- niture layouts vary with usage. Therefore, we propose al- gorithms to automatically generate variable furniture se- tups for these spaces.

Our algorithms are tested on a multi-purpose space and evaluated for indoor environmen- tal quality. Our methods enhance the performance evalu- ation of air distribution and indoor thermal comfort in the design stage of buildings, supporting optimized, energy- efficient air system desig