Efficient radiation simulation for thermal comfort

Efficient radiation simulation for thermal comfort. The presented work analyses the local effects of asymmetric shortwave and longwave radiation in complex 3D building models. The new simulation tool provides thermal loads caused by non-uniform radiant temperatures and solar irradiation in indoor environments. The method implements efficient raytracing and viewfactor calculation on programmable graphic processing units. Therefor temperature based longwave radiation exchange and heat gains from direct and diffuse solar radiation are computed. Models of globethermometers are placed in selected room positions, in order to investigate local radiation impacts. Accurate analysis of local thermal conditions is enabled by detailed virtual manikin models. Radiant temperatures are evaluated by means of directional quantities, since asymmetric radiation is known to effect thermal comfort.