Complete energy analytical model building information modeling (BIM) integration

1. A computer implemented method for providing a complete energy analytical model comprising:

(a) acquiring an input model, wherein the input model comprises a combination of one or more architectural building elements (ABEs) and one or more conceptual massing elements (CMEs), wherein:

(1) the ABEs comprise individual objects that represent individual physical components of a building without explicitly modeling 3D spaces for the input model;

(2) the individual physical components comprise walls, floors, windows, and roofs;

(3) the ABEs represent characteristics of physical and geometric forms of architectural elements of the building; and

(4) inaccuracies between ABEs exist in the input model;

(5) the CME comprises a representation of the input model as a single composite 3D solid;

(b) pre-processing the input model, wherein the pre-processing:

(1) extracts information from both the ABEs and the CMEs in the input model; and

(2) constructs a virtual element that encapsulates the extracted information;

(c) determining a discrete set of points in three-dimensional (3D) space, distributed over boundary faces of the ABEs or CMEs;

(d) providing, using the discrete set of points, a representation of the input model that is used to analyze a spatial structure of the input model;

(e) approximating a geometry of the input model utilizing a two-dimensional (2d) discrete approach;

(f) based on the spatial structure and the approximated geometry of the input model, determining surfaces of the energy analytical model wherein the energy analytical model is not a precisely accurate airtight energy analytical model, wherein in a precisely accurate airtight energy analytical model analytic faces meet without any gaps to bound 3D spaces;

(f) outputting the energy analytical model comprised of the spatial structure and the surfaces; and

(g) simulating energy usage of a building represented by the energy analytical model.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the information comprises a surface and a material/thermal property.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the surface comprises a face of one or more of the CMEs or the ABEs.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the information comprises a category of one of the CMEs or one of the ABEs.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the information comprises a level associated with one of the CMEs or one of the ABEs.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the virtual element comprises a list of faces defining a three-dimensional (3D) shape and a separate list of faces used to construct surfaces.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

the discrete set of points comprises a point cloud.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the providing the discrete set of points further comprises: determining the spatial structure of the input model using a 3D voxel grid.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising:

utilizing the 3D voxel grid to discretize the spaces and surfaces of the energy analytical model at a perimeter of the input model to represent differences in heat loss and gain.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the determining surfaces comprises:

defining a rectangular grid in a 2D coordinate plane for a representative face of one of the ABEs or one of the CMEs;

for each cell in the rectangular grid, moving to a side of the representative face, examining 3D voxels until a voxelized space is reached, while tracking the ABEs and CMEs passed through;

deciding if a current cell should be part of a surface;

if the current cell should not be part of the surface, process a next cell in the rectangular grid;

if the current cell should be part of the surface, encoding information needed to determine which surface the current cell will be part of; and

determining connected sets of cells having a same encoding, wherein connected sets of cells approximate the surfaces associated to a portion of one of the ABEs or CMEs.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

utilizing a building information model (BIM) representation of the energy analytical model within a building design software application;

querying the energy analytical model, within the building design software application; and

updating the BIM representation before running an energy simulation.