[Bldg-sim] (No Subject)

Kathy Ellington kathy at srge.lbl.gov
Thu Sep 26 10:31:46 PDT 2002


Apologies for cross-postings


                        VisualSPARK 1.0.2 RELEASED!

Version 1.0.2 of the VisualSPARK environment for simulation of advanced
building energy systems has just been released. 

For more information or to download the program free of charge please go
to http://SimulationResearch.lbl.gov > VisualSPARK

                            New Features Include:

SPARSE LINEAR SOLUTION METHOD
This method reduces calculation time by orders of magnitude on large
simulation problems with a sparse Jacobian matrix.

AUTOMATIC JACOBIAN REFRESH
An option has been added to automatically recalculate the Jacobian when
needed to ensure robust and fast convergence.

NEW SCALING METHOD
A fully-affine invariant scaling method has been added that makes the
SPARK equation solver less sensitive to cases where the variables have
very different orders of magnitude.

STATISTICS LOG FILE
A log file is produced with information that can be used to "tune" the
solver for optimum performance. Statistics include:
 o  calculation times of linear and nonlinear solver
 o  average sparsity of Jacobian
 o  number of times Jacobian was recalculated

PROBLEM DRIVER API
A problem driver Application Programming Interface (API) has been added
that allows advanced users to:
 o  perform sensitivity analysis
 o  manage and solve multiple problems
 o  retrieve solution values and specify new inputs for a new simulation
      of the same problem
 o  customize the sequence of operations to re-solve the same problem

---------------------------------------------------------------------
SPARK was developed by the Simulation Research Group of Lawrence
Berkeley National Laboratory and by Ayres Sowell Associates, with
support from the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy, Office of Building Technology Programs of the U.S. Department of
Energy, program manager Dru Crawley.


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