States a building emulator has been developed as part of a project to produce simulation-based tools for the evaluation of building environmental control systems. The emulator consists of a real-time simulation of the building shell and HVAC plant together with a hardware interface that is used to connect the simulation to separate control equipment. Discusses the applications of testing of control strategies implemented in commercial energy management and control systems and the assessment of procedures for the automated commissioning of HVAC equipment.

KEYWORDS: Computer programs, controls, commissioning, energy management, automatic, heating, ventilation, air conditioning.