Object technology in building environmental modelling

The advances in object technology offer alternatives in system modelling within the context of a building and its environment. The application is described of the object technology underlying the development of the infra-structure of the Energy Kernel System, an object-oriented environment for simulation model creation, maintenance and validation. The main features include the following: the abstraction and encapsulation of data in building energy modelling. The outcome of this leads to the core element—the EKS taxonomy, the development of knowledge identification and representation mechanisms to enable the compatibility and extensibility, while ensuring the legality, of the physical reality, the concept of “atomic” and “modular” approaches that enable the creation of application programs of completely different modelling system architectures.