Granlund Software Help

RIUSKA
Energy and thermal simulation tool for buildings

INTRODUCTION
RIUSKA is a building energy simulation software developed by a building services consulting company Olof
Granlund http://www.granlund.fi

With the software you can do thermal simulations, meaning comfort calculations for spaces and calculate whole
building energy consumption.

One of the main goals in the development process has been to create an easy to use application interface. This
means for example using the benefits of the Windows environment and using as much library databases (i.e.
default input values) as possible, when defining input values for the simulation.

RIUSKA is an IFC based software, meaning that all the simulations are done using the imported IFC building
geometry. IFC files can not be created in RIUSKA, they must be created with some IFC compatible modelling
software.

The calculation engine used currently in RIUSKA is DOE 2.1E, which can handle building thermal dynamics at
hourly level in design day, or whole year calculations.

RIUSKA is a license protected software and cannot be copied to another PC. You need to get new license
numbers, if you have to reinstall or move RIUSKA.

See also:
What can you do with RIUSKA
First steps

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WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH RIUSKA
RIUSKA is a database based software to perform thermal simulations for buildings and to create reports and
summaries of the results.

RIUSKA supports three main types of simulations.

Energy simulation

Energy simulation calculates annual energy consumptions of heating, cooling and fan energy of the defined
ventilation systems (AC unit and space devices). RIUSKA uses simulation engine DOE-2.1E. with hourly weather
data to calculate the heating and cooling needs. Fan electricity simulation is based on a calculation method within
RIUSKA.

You can also define additional energy consumptions for the building. See the "Systems" level in the tree view.
Define the desired consumptions and a schedule for it. These additional energy consumptions and the simulated
consumptions will be combined and written to the RIUSKA output reports.

Comfort simulation

A space comfort simulation is always done only one space at the time. The comfort simulation is performed with
DOE-2.1E using the design day weather data. It lets you to size e.g. needed airflows to guarantee a certain
temperature inside a space, or it tells you what happens with the temperature during the design day with a certain
airflow or space cooling capacity.

Space comfort simulation is optimal to make comparisons for example between different window types or air
handling unit types. You can easily see whether the temperature gets critical, or not with the selected parameters.
See more about comfort simulation report.

Heat loss calculation

Heat loss calculation is a steady-state heat loss calculation, done in the defined winter outdoor design temperature.
When one of the heat loss reports is selected, the calculation is done automatically based on the U-values of the
constructions, infiltration and temperature difference between spaces and outdoor air.

First steps

After installation of RIUSKA you can find a demo project (DemoEng.rsk) in the RIUSKA program folder. Start
RIUSKA (use your initials as login). Select Open from the menu File and open the demo project to see and test the
features of RIUSKA.

See also:
How to start new project

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USING RIUSKA

New project

After you started RIUSKA you can either select an old

project from the shown list, or select New Project. You have
to first specify the target folder and name of the new
RIUSKA database. Browse to your target folder and type a
name in the file name box. Click save. After that you are
prompted to fill in general project information like project
name and description. You have to select also the location
of the new project. Click OK to save this data. You can edit
all this information at any time later by clicking the "…"
button next to the Project label in the main form.

Import IFC - Geometry

In the menu File choose Import IFC-Geometry. This will open a new form, where you can select one or more IFC
files to be imported in to RIUSKA. A new simulation case will always be created for the imported geometry.

Simulation cases

You can Add, Edit or Remove simulation cases. If you Add a new simulation case you have to give a name for it
and you can describe the new case. With Edit you can only edit the case name and description. Remove will
remove the whole simulation case and all its information from the database. Be aware, that there is no rollback
function to get the deleted case back.

A new case will always be a full copy of the selected case, from which the copy will be made of. You can change
every possible parameter in the new case. This feature allows you to easily make comparisons between e.g.
different windows types in different simulation cases.

Weather data

Define the location for the building in this simulation case. The location also defines the annual and design day
weather data.

Building orientation

Changing the orientation (azimuth) of the imported building geometry can be done by double-clicking the 2D view
window in the main form. On top of the opened form you find buttons, which allow you to change the azimuth value
of the building. All the storeys in the current building will be updated automatically.
• 0 = North
• 90 = East
• 180 = South
• 270 = West

Space groups

When you want to add a new space group, select either the Air conditioning space groups level or the Electrical
space groups level and click Add.

When you want to add/remove spaces in a space group, select the desired service area and click Spaces.
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When you want to remove a space group, select the desired service area and Remove.

Ventilation zone

To create a new AC ventilation zone, select the Air conditioning

space groups from the system hierarchy treeview. Click Add. A
new service area will be created and a new form opens,
allowing you to add space(s) to this new ventilation zone. By
default there is one ventilation zone containing all the spaces in
the building.

See also:
Ventilation zones
Temperature Gradient

Electrical space group

By default there is one electrical space group containing all the

spaces in the building.

See also:
Electrical space groups

Space type and Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) level

Select one or more spaces in the space list and click Edit. Select from the Space type pull down list the one, which
matches most the selected space(s). By default, all spaces are defined with same type, if the space type was not
defined in the imported geometry model. The space type defines the desired heating and cooling set point
temperatures and design temperatures.

See also:
Space type library

Space constructions

Walls, roofs, floors

In the topmost list on Space constructions tab are listed the walls, roofs and floors of the selected space(s). The
properties of the selected construction items can be edited. If there are any windows or doors in a certain
construction, the total area of them can be seen in the same list, and a detailed list in the list below.

New roof(s) can be added to selected spaces. Currently RIUSKA places one horizontal roof for each space. Here
you can add new roofs and set the proper azimuth and tilt values.

If there is any underground floors or walls in the building, you must be aware to define these constructions
correctly. DOE-2.1E can calculate underground floors correctly, but it cannot know, whether some spaces are
located in the middle of a basement in a large building, where the heat transfer to the ground is not so big.
Therefore, you must consider what kind of an ground floor construction to specify for a space based on its location.

See also:
Construction library

Windows, doors

There are several additional settings that can be changed for each window. Special settings are:
• Window size (default size came in with the 3D model of the building/space)
• Recess (describes the inset of the window in the wall)
• Frame type (frame size will be subtracted from window size, default is without frame)
• Fins, position and size (default slope is 90°)
• Blinds, position, size, coverage area (default coverage rate is 80%)
• Cover plates, coverage area, transmittance (default coverage area is 50%, default transmittance is 20%)
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See also:
Window library

Space thermal loads

In the Space loads tab are listed the thermal loads of the selected space(s). You can define people, lighting and
equipment loads for each space. It is possible to have several loads of same type in a space.

See also:
Loads library

Air conditioning system

The air conditioning system type has to be defined in the AC system - tab. Select an AC ventilation zone from the
system hierarchy and then the desired AC system type.
Select a schedule which describes the working time of the AHU. If the needed schedule is not existing, you have to
make your own schedule.
Check the following parameters for the AHU by clicking on the equipment picture:
• Heat recovery unit - Temperature efficiency [%]
• Heating coil - Power [W], (default is 9999999, which stands for max. power)
• Cooling coil - Power [W], (default is 9999999, which stands for max. power)
• Fans - Different settings for different control systems (e.g. VAV different from CAV)
• Supply air temperature setpoint - Supply air temperature depending on outdoor temperature [°C]
• Night cooling/ventilation - There are a few parameters for night cooling/ventilation you have to check:
o Day schedule: hourly schedule
o Monthly schedule: months when the night ventilation is allowed
o Air flow ratio compared to the daytime air flow rate (0...100%)
o Minimum difference required between outdoor and indoor temperatures: night ventilation will only
turn on, if the difference between outdoor and indoor temperatures is big enough i.e. if outdoor
temperature is cold enough
o Temperatures indoors, when the night ventilation will be turned started and stopped

See also:
AC ventilation zone

Simulations

Space Comfort Simulation

Space comfort simulation is used to analyse thermal conditions inside spaces. RIUSKA runs for each selected
space its own simulation to get the thermal conditions during the current design day conditions. The used outdoor
conditions during the design day are specified in the weather library, where you can also change them. Usually
the design day data is available from weather books or other design books.

To run a space comfort simulation, select one ore more of the spaces and click Calculate to run the simulation for
the selected spaces.

RIUSKA is able to run a space comfort simulation in two different ways:

Conditions calculation is to calculate the thermal conditions with the defined parameters, like airflow rate and
cooling capacity.

Sizing calculation is to size the cooling capacity or airflow rate to fulfill the indoor air quality requirements for the
selected space(s). RIUSKA will iterate until e.g. the needed cooling capacity is reached. After the iteration, a
normal condition simulation is automatically done to show the effect of the iterated results. If the space belongs to
such air handling system type, which has space cooling devices, then the needed space cooling capacity will be
calculated, otherwise the needed airflow rate will be calculated.

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In each space simulation is also done an annual simulation using the currently selected hourly weather data.

You have also other options to choose before running the simulation:
• Edit input file before simulation will open in Notepad the created input file for DOE2.1E. You can modify
values. After closing the file, the simulation will automatically start. The file will be shown twice, because
the design day and annual calculations are done in sequence. Therefore you should make the needed
changes to both simulation runs.
• Create yearly data file will save a file named DataYearSpc.out to the project folder (same place where
project database is currently running). This file contains many different simulated hourly values (e.g. loads,
temp. etc.) for the whole year (8760h) for the simulated space. Open this file with a text editor, or import the
file into a spreadsheet program.

Note:
Editing the simulation engine input file may cause conflicts, when RIUSKA is reading simulation results from the
output file to the database. Changing values of numbers (withing appropriate limits) is in most cases OK, but for
example adding/deleting report variables, etc. may in most cases cause errors.

See also:
Space comfort simulation report

Space group energy Simulation

Energy simulation means, that the energy consumption is calculated for the whole or part of the building. The
annual energy consumption is calculated for heating energy, cooling electricity and fan electricity. The energy
simulation can be done by clicking either the main air conditioning system, or the desired subsystem. Start the
simulation by clicking the Calculate button next to the space group tree view. This will automatically calculate an
annual energy consumption and also the design day simulation for all the spaces below the selected level.

You have also other options to choose before running the simulation:
• Edit input file before simulation will open in Notepad the created input file for DOE2.1E. You can modify
values. After closing the file, the simulation will automatically start. The file will be shown twice, because
the design day and annual calculations are done in sequence. Therefore you should make the needed
changes to both simulation runs.

Note:
Editing the simulation engine input file may cause conflicts, when RIUSKA is reading simulation results from the
output file to the database. Changing values of numbers (withing appropriate limits) is in most cases OK, but for
example adding/deleting report variables, etc. may in most cases cause errors.

See also:
Results

Results

See the Results menu for the different report types. The first item in
the menu shows results on-line in the RIUSKA interface. The other
ones create Excel report from the selected report type using results of
the currently selected simulation case.

In the on-line results you can copy the shown chart or the data it
contains to the clipboard by clicking either of the buttons shown on
the top left corner of the chart, when you move the mouse cursor on
top of the chart. You can paste the data to another application (e.g.
Excel).

Comfort simulation report

The space comfort simulation report can be found in the Results

menu. You have to specify the space you want to report. Depending
on the simulations done for the selected space, you get a list of 1..n
cases. You can select and compare max. 2 cases at the time. Define
also the hours of the day that should be shown in the constancy
curve.

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Export data to IFC

You can export the simulation data back to the same IFC file, where the building model was read from. In the File
menu select Export to IFC to save data. IFC files must be located to the same folder, where they were, when
geometry was imported into RIUSKA.

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Libraries

RIUSKA data input relies greatly on using libraries. It means that you can choose for example schedules from an
existing list and use them in your project. If for example the needed schedule does not exist in the list, you can
create it in the schedule library, and then use it in the project. RIUSKA copies the libraries from the default
database to your new project database every time you create a new project.

Weather library

Weather library is different from the other libraries, because you can edit the weather parameters independently in
each simulation case.

RIUSKA uses two different types of weather data:

• Design day weather data. It is used:
o In space design day simulations, when calculating space thermal indoor conditions.
o In space group simulations, where (together with the annual energy consumption) the space
group's design day cooling capacity and air flow rate is calculated.
• An annual (binary) weather file for every building location is needed to simulate space group energy
consumptions and space annual temperature constancy. A binary weather file contains hourly weather
data for one whole year (8760h). If more annual weather files is needed, please contact the software
provider.

Construction library
• External wall
• Internal wall
• Roof
• Ground floor
• Intermediate floor/ceiling
• External door
• Internal door

Constructions are defined in the RIUSKA library. The walls shown in the constructions list are a part of the projects
library. You can import from the general library other wall types. Click Import and select from the wall type list the
wall type, which matches best for your needs. The most important parameters for each wall are shown in the lists
below the construction type list.

You can modify each imported wall, as well as you can create a completely new wall according to your needs. The
Construction material layers list shows all the wall layers from inside (+) to outside(-). You will get the details of a
wall layer by clicking it. The Material list shows the construction material which was selected for this layer.

Window library
• Glass types
• Frames

Glass construction types of windows are defined in the library tab Window. You can import other window types to
your project from the general library by clicking Import. You'll get a list of all windows currently supported by
RIUSKA. Choose (multi-selection possible) the needed window(s) to import them to your project library. To find the
most suitable window you can sort them by any parameter by clicking in the list view on the header of the
parameter you want sort.

Note:It's not possible to modify window parameters. Windows to be used in the simulation engine (DOE2.1E) have
to be specially generated and imported to the RIUSKA general library database. If you need additional windows to
your library, contact your software provider.

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Schedule library
• Thermal loads (occupancy, lighting and equipment)
• AC system operation
• AC system night ventilation
• Space heating setpoint
• Space infiltration

Schedules are defined on hourly basis. Year schedule consists of week schedules and week schedule of day
schedules. If you need such a schedule in your project, that you can't find in the schedule lists, you have to create
one by yourself. Select Schedules in the Library menu. This will open you a new window, where you can manage
your existing schedules and add new ones.

Year schedule:
• Can have several week schedules
• One week schedule can be used several times during the year
• Select a desired week schedule and click Update to add it to the week schedule list of the year schedule
• Hold the left mouse button down and drag one of the weeks (1..8) to the desired week number of the year.
Same week will automatically be filled to the rest of the weeks in that year schedule.

Week schedule:
• Can have several day schedules
• One day schedule can be used several times during the week
• Select a desired day schedule and click Update to add it to the selected day of the week

Day schedule:
• Drag sliders to set the desired value for the selected hour
• Press Ctrl while dragging to enable multiselect function

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Space type and Indoor air quality level library

• Space types
• Indoor air quality levels

Space types and their indoor air quality levels are defined in RIUSKA Library. The idea of using space types is to
speed up the definition part for the spaces and to be able to change settings for many similar spaces at the same
time.

Space types have predefined definitions for the following parameters:

• Indoor air quality: Normal, Good, Demanding
• Airflow (l/s,m2): Min., Max.
• Design values (°C): Min., Max.
• Temperature setpoints (°C): Min., Max.
• Humidity setpoints (°C): Min., Max.
• Air velocity, max. (m/s): Winter, Summer

Loads library
• People
• Lighting
• Equipment

Loads define the thermal loads in spaces. The load can be from people, lighting, equipment, through walls or
through windows.

You can specify some of the loads; some other ones are calculated by the simulation engine.

User specified loads:

• Occupancy load
• Lighting load
• Equipment load

Calculated loads:
• Energy flow through walls
• Energy flow through windows
• Energy flow through floors
• Energy flow through roofs

While you can define the internal loads by intensity and time schedule, the calculated loads are according to the
weather file used by the simulation engine. However, you can affect the calculated loads as well by selecting e.g.
different window types or changing the construction type.

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DEFINITIONS

Simulation

Simulation is used to represent or imitate a system or process through another. In the case of thermal building
simulation the energy flow in buildings is represented through a computer based calculation engine.

The engine (DOE 2.1E) uses weather data on hourly basis for outdoor conditions and includes building data like
constructions, masses and thermal properties as well as system data like air handling unit strategies and set points
to the simulation.

The result of a simulation can only be as good as the input for the simulation is itself. The result depends strongly
on some parameters and less on others. Anyhow, the experience of an engineer cannot be replaced with a
simulation. It needs some understanding of the performed processes to analyse the results and evaluate them
about their correctness.

Space groups

Space group is defined as a group of spaces. The Air conditioning space groups level has one or more ventilation
zones, which define an Air Handling Unit (AHU) and the spaces in it. Similarly space groups can be created under
the Electrical space groups level.

Ventilation zones

Ventilation zone is a group of spaces under one air handling unit. You define the type of AHU and all its parameters
like operating hours, setpoints and type of night ventilation. Click one of the ventilation zones below the Air
conditioning space groups level in the tree view to see the spaces and the AC system defined for that ventilation
zone. The AHU's equipment parameters can be changed by clicking the parts of the AHU system.

If there are spaces with big internal heights, they should be placed into their own AC subsystem and have their
temperature gradient defined.

See also:
Temperature Gradient

Electrical space groups

You can create one or more space groups under this level. The lighting and equipment energy consumptions,
which are shown in the reports will be taken only from those spaces, which belong to some electrical space group.

Temperature Gradient

Temperature gradient calculation in a space: Temperature gradient value takes into account the temperature rise in
the space from the floor level to the ceiling (should be used only in high spaces, e.g. auditoriums, etc.). It is
assumed to be linear.

In the simulation temperature gradient is used the following way: The supply air temperature will be lowered
according to the gradient to compensate the warmer air to be removed in the exhaust vent. (assumption: supply
device on the floor, exhaust device close to the ceiling).

The temperature gradient value (e.g. 0.5 C/m) affects only the LOWER supply air setpoint temperature. Because
the supply air temperature is defined as a curve, depending on the outdoor air temperature, the "gradient effect" will
be greatest in the summer time and linearly smaller, when approaching cold winter temperatures. When the
outdoor air temperature is equal or lower than the UPPER supply air setpoint temperature, the gradient effect will
be zero.

This is clear in the space simulation, because each space is calculated in a separate calculation run.

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In building simulation a space with temperature gradient would be best to be placed under its own air handling unit.
However, if there are several spaces under the same air handling unit, the temperature gradient of the group will be
the average of the defined gradients in the spaces, weighted by the air flow rates in those spaces.

Comfort calculations (PPD)

Work intensity, or the metabolic rate [met]

In thermal comfort calculations the metabolic rate describes the heat which a person releases during present
activity. In RIUSKA calculations four different kind of work intensities are determined in context of the people loads.
The work intensities are the following:
• Sitting/resting, 0.8 Met
• Normal office work, 1.0 Met
• Light industrial work, 1.33 Met
• Heavy industrial work, 2.2 Met

1 Met= 58.2 W/m² (in watts per square metre of body surface area).1 met denotes 105 W heat load of a medium
length person (length 1.75 m, weight 75 kg and the surface of the skin 1.8 m²).

Clothing [Clo]

In RIUSKA calculations the thermal resistance of the clothing can be determined in context of the people loads
when the outdoor temperature are, T>15°C, T=5..15°C and T<5°C. The clothing levels are presented in the table
below.

clo
Clothing levels Description
m²K/W

Nude Nude 0.0

Briefs, shorts, open-neck shirt with short sleeves, light

Tropical clothing 0.3
socks and sandals

Briefs, long light-weight-trousers, open-neck shirt with short

Light summer clothing 0.5
sleeves, light socks and shoes

Light underwear, cotton work shirt with long sleeves, work

Light work clothing 0.7
trousers, woollen socks and shoes

Underwear, shirt with long sleeves, trousers, jacket or

Heavy work clothing
Very heavy work clothing
1.0
sweater, heavy socks and shoes
Underwear with long legs and sleeves, shirt, suit including
trousers, jacket and waistcoat, woollen socks and heavy 1.5
shoes

Operative temperature To

Indoor conditions should be planned in the way that the room temperature is optimal. In this case the optimal
temperature means the temperature in which a large group of people is satisfied and the number of dissatisfied
people is minimised. In reality the proportion of dissatisfied people depends on the clothing of the people and
people’s different working intensity. When an individual person is concerned, the optimal temperature means the
temperature in which the sense of heat is neutral.

Optimal temperature is usually denoted with the operative temperature. The convection of the air and the
temperature of the room surface influences to the operation temperature. The location of the person affects on the
person’s sense of the radiation heat. In RIUSKA calculations the location of the person can be chosen in the menu
of space simulation report under the button, thermal comfort.

The operative temperature is defined as:

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To = a * Ti + (1 – a) *Ts

where a=0.5 when the velocity of the air relative to person’s crop is v>0.24 m/s, a=0.6 when v=0.2…0.6 m/s and
a=0.7 when v=0.6..1.0 m/s. Ti is the temperature of the air [°C] and Ts is the mean radiant temperature of the
room surfaces [°C].

The mean radiant temperature is defined as:

Ts = T1 * F0-1 + T2 * F0-2 + T2 * F0-3 + … + Tm * F0-m

1∑
m
F0-m = 1

where m is a number of surfaces in the room. A person locates in the point 0. The view factor between the person
and the surface has a large influence on the radiant temperature. For example, if the person is located near a cold
window surface, the view factor between window and person increases as well as the influence of the window
temperature to the radiant temperature increases. Thus, the mean radiant temperature and the operative
temperature decreases. In other words, the thermal comfort near the cold window deteriorates.

In winter when the clothing is 1 clo and the work intensity 1.2 met, the operative temperature is 21.5°C.
Respectively, in summer when the clothing is 0.5 clo the optimal operative temperature is 24.5°C. The
temperatures above are valid when the relative humidity of the air is 50% and the mean air temperature is 0.1 m/s.

PMV (Predicted Mean Vote)

The PMV is an index that predicts the mean value of the votes of a large group of persons with the 7-points thermal
sensation scale. In optimal temperature the person’s sense of heat is neutral. In Table below the PMV- indexes and
corresponding PPD-indexes are presented.

PMV Predicted Percentage of

Sense of heat
index Dissatisfied, PPD [%]
+3 hot 100

+2 warm 75

+1 slightly warm 25

0 neutral 5

-1 slightly cool 25

-2 cool 75

-3 cold 100

PPD (Predicted Percentage of Dissatisfied)

In RIUSKA calculations, besides the operative temperature, the PPD-index of the warmest hour of the design day
is used as an indicator of thermal comfort. The PPD-index establishes a quantitative prediction of the number of
thermally dissatisfied people. The results of the PPD-indexes are based on extensive experimental measurements.
The following factors affects on the PPD-index:
• The work intensity
• The clothing of the person
• The temperature and the relative humidity of the air
• The velocity of the air
• The location of the person in the room and radiant temperature from the room surface to the person

To enable calculation of the PPD-index the following factors has to be determined in RIUSKA Space Simulation:
• The work intensity (Heat loads)
• The clothing in different outdoor temperature level (Heat loads)
• The location of the person (Space simulation report/ Thermal comfort)

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The space simulation represents the operative temperatures, the PPD- index in the warmest hour during the design
day, and the location of the person. In thermal comfort calculation the quality of the PPD-index is classified in the
following way:

PPD, % Classification
0-10 Excellent
10-20 Good
20-30 Normal
30-40 Satisfactory
40-50 Poor

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