Energy building consumption represents a very important part of the total national energy budget consumption for European Countries. Space heating and air conditioning can represent the main consumption of a building. Therefore, computing accurately the thermal gains and losses through the skin of the building represents a critical necessity. The experimental information extracted from prototypes although necessary, is not enough to draw conclusions. In addition, prototypes are expensive and the information obtained takes a long time. Thus, the use of a simulation tool to predict the thermal behaviour of facades is very useful. The code AGLA allows to predict both the overall and the detailed analysis of a facade or a set of facades with a cost of typically a few minutes of computer time to analyse a whole year. AGLA provides, by default, the most interesting values: maximum and minimum temperatures at the indoor surface, and the main heat fluxes integrated monthly and yearly. However, more detailed information can be required if necessary. The most outstanding aspect of AGLA is its capacity to analyse ventilated façades with the possibility to incorporate new technologies.
This exploitable result is software. It can be classified within the specific field of science that is heat transfer. It allows predicting the thermal behaviour of a great variety of facade solutions of a building. No comparable product, as far as we know, exists. The existent software of this subject does not allow the existence of a ventilated facade or does not allow taking into account the presence of thermal insulation materials, solid-liquid phase change materials or photovoltaic panels.
The basic input data are: geometry, thermo-physical and optical properties of every material and meteorological and indoor information. A bank data with most of the properties is going to be incorporated. The meteorological data can be daily values monthly integrated from which the code computes instantaneous values. The basic assumption of the models introduced is the one-dimensionality of every zone. Different zones in the height of a facade can be given, although its only connexion is through the existence of a ventilated channel. The indoor information can be computed from a overall energy balance at the building taken into account infiltrations, internal gains and heating or cooling loads. A regulation system to keep the indoor temperature in a certain range is incorporated.