We are pleased to announce the release of the Building Controls Virtual Test
Bed 1.0

The Building Controls Virtual Test Bed (BCVTB) is a freely available
open-source software environment that allows expert users to couple
different simulation programs for co-simulation, and to couple simulation
programs with actual hardware. For example, the BCVTB allows to simulate a
building in EnergyPlus and the HVAC and control system in Modelica, while
exchanging data between the software as they simulate. The BCVTB is based on
the Ptolemy II software environment. The BCVTB allows expert users of
simulation to expand the capabilities of individual programs by linking them
to other programs. Due to the different programs that may be involved in
distributed simulation, familiarity with configuring programs is essential.

Programs that are linked to the BCVTB are
* the EnergyPlus whole building energy simulation program,
* the Modelica modeling and simulation environment Dymola,
* the MATLAB and Simulink tools for scientific computing,
* the Radiance ray-tracing software for lighting analysis,
* the BACnet stack, which allows exchanging data with BACnet compliant
Building Automation System (BAS),
* the analog/digital interface USB-1208LS from Measurement Computing
Corporation that can be connected to a USB port.

In addition to using programs that are coupled to Ptolemy II, Ptolemy II's
graphical modeling environment can also be used to define models for control
systems, for physical devices, for communication systems or for
post-processing and real-time visualization.

For free download and more information, please visit
http://SimulationResearch.lbl.gov/bcvtb

Best regards,

Michael Wetter