A demonstration of the effectiveness of inter-program comparative testing for diagnosing and repairing solution and coding errors in building simulation programs

Ian Beausoleil-Morrison*, Brent Griffith, Teemu Vesanen, A. Weber

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

    5 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    The validation of a building simulation program or model is a daunting task, and one that should receive as much attention as algorithm and code development. Previous research in this field has led to a well-accepted approach composed of analytical verification, empirical validation and inter-program comparative testing to diagnose model deficiencies, mathematical solution errors and coding errors. Through a case study using a model for predicting the thermal and electrical performance of fuel cell micro-cogeneration devices, this article demonstrates the utility of the inter-program comparative testing validation construct. It shows that by comparing program-to-program results, solution problems, coding errors and deficiencies in mathematical model descriptions can be efficiently identified, diagnosed and subsequently repaired.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)63-73
    JournalJournal of Building Performance Simulation
    Volume2
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2009
    MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

    Keywords

    • fuel-cell cogeneration
    • inter-program comparative testing
    • micro-cogeneration
    • validation
    • computerized simulation
    • simulation
    • simulation software

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